Weaving
(photos by Richard Gonzales)
Learn about our sheep-to-shawl program as our skilled weavers demonstrate how the Spanish settlers carded, spun and wove wool to make rugs, blankets and clothing— including serapes (blankets or shawls worn by men) and rebozos (shawls worn by women). These woven goods and sheep were the most important commodities exported from New Mexico. Today the weavers at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas continue this tradition.
Wool was either left its natural color or prepared with natural dyes. Dyestuffs were typically grown on the ranch, but brilliant blues such as indigo and rich reds using cochineal (cochinilla) were imported from Mexico over the Camino Real. The dye shed serves as a place to heat the large vats used to dye wool. After shearing the sheep, wool had to be carefully washed with yucca root soap to remove the lanolin. Once cleaned the wool was carded—only then was it ready to be dyed. A variety of mordants were used to prepare the fibers for the dye. The skeins of yarn would then be hung to dry, ready to be woven.
The looms at Las Golondrinas are later examples or reproductions of what was used in the past. Weaving was predominantly done by men, while carding and spinning was done by women. Spinning was almost exclusively done using a malacate (spindle). The weights or whorls for the spindles were often fashioned from broken pottery. Large bench-type spinning wheels (ruecas) were also used, but there was a certain practicality to malacates in that they could be used anywhere.
