About Sky Loom Weavers

Penny and Peggy met at a Cub Scout meeting in the fall of 1986.  They became fast friends almost immediately.  Their families got to know each other and a twenty-five-year tradition of playing cards on Saturday night began.  They are still the best of friends to this day.

Penny’s house was flooded in the early 1990s and the repairs dragged on for months.  Peggy was concerned that her best friend needed to get out of the house, so managed to convince the higher-ups at her law firm to hire her.  Despite the fact that their husbands thought it wouldn’t last a week, Penny worked for Peggy for five great years.  Penny worked for another law firm for a year and then decided it was time to retire.  It was during this time that Peggy started spinning and weaving.

As a child, Penny’s grandmother had taught her to weave.  They attended Penland School of Craft in North Carolina when Penny was 13 years old and came home with a four harness Macomber Loom and boxes of cotton yarn.  When Penny finished college and got married, her father sent the loom along with her to Texas.  Knitting needles won Penny’s attention while the loom languished over the years.  Penny eventually tired of knitting so Peggy suggested she learn how to spin, something she had always wanted to do.  She attended spinning classes in Missouri and loved it.  Penny ordered a spinning wheel and several drop spindles and eventually taught Peggy how to spin.

Peggy and Penny both jumped full-force into spinning, weaving, and dyeing.  They each have lots of spinning wheels, spindles, and looms and use them all the time.  They created Sky Loom Weavers to be able to sell the things they produce.  Sky Loom Weavers is a vendor at fiber festivals such as Kid ‘n Ewe in Kerrville, TX,  Yellow Rose Fiber Festival in Sequin, TX, and Fiber Christmas in July in Kellyville, OK.  They also sell their wares at a fiber retreat in Florida.  Penny and Peggy teach weaving on Cricket looms, and large floor looms.  They generally have a spring and/or fall dyeing weekend using natural dyes and many dye days throughout nice weather using chemical dyes for dyeing fiber and yarn.

Penny’s studio is open for tours by children’s groups, textile classes, and many local groups interested in raising fiber animals, processing the fleeces, dyeing, spinning, and weaving.  Both Peggy and Penny demonstrate spinning at various locations including The Civil War Reenactment at Liendo Plantation in Hempstead, TX and the Katy FolkLife Festival in Katy, TX.

What We Do...

We dye, we spin, and we weave!  Sky Loom Weavers offers hand-dyed commercial yarn using both natural and commercial dyes, hand-dyed spinning fiber, and hand-spun yarn with all sorts of fabulous fibers including wool, silk, and mohair, with sequins, charms, and other fun additions.  Our handcrafted items include wonderful warm, hand-woven and hand-knitted shawls, useful and beautiful kitchen towels, and hand-knitted or crocheted scarves.  We have Schacht spinning wheels and Cricket looms for sale along with accessories for spinning, weaving, knitting, and crochet.  Dry hands?  We have Merino Lanolin Skin Cream.  Out of ideas?  We have books on weaving and dyeing.

Natural Dyes

The term "natural dye" refers to any naturally-occurring substance which gives color to fiber, including flowers, leaves, bark, roots, wood, insects, clay, rust, and metals.  Some of these substances are considered substantive dyes because they contain tannin or some other substance that helps bind the dye to the fiber.  Walnut or pecan hulls, oak galls, and onion skins are all substantive dyes.  Adjective dyes are flowers and leaves that require a mordant to adhere to the fiber.  Vat dyes, such as indigo, require a delicate chemical balance within the dye vat to color fiber.