Puzzles

 

latest puzzle

Yesterday the new puzzles I ordered arrived.

I found this brand by 'accident' when one was given to me, then found another of the same brand in a local shop.  Both were challenging, but not impossible and I found them pretty much the 'right' amount of challenge for me.  I bought some online, made all of them, enjoying every one, then bought more.

When I buy a puzzle I want a 'pretty' picture.  I don't like puzzles that are 'dingy' in their colours with little to distinguish between the pieces.  I tend to choose pictures that I find attractive in some way.  Sometimes they are photos, sometimes art.

When I choose a photo of a place it's either a place I've been in real life, or where I would like to go, but likely won't make it now due to health and other issues.

Peru became known to me as a textile country before I started weaving.  I was taking the spinning class at the local college and the instructor got some examples of Peruvian textiles to share with the class.  The textiles were old, many of them pre-conquistadors.  The fineness of the threads, the intricacy of the designs and the typical looms used to weave them were awe inspiring.  It was a goal to go to Peru someday.

Alas, that is not to be.  

It was my privilege to meet Ed Franquemont at a conference and attend one of his seminars and learn more about Peruvian textiles.  Later I came to meet his daughter Abby Franquemont who is doing incredible work showcasing Peruvian textiles made by modern Peruvians, in the traditional way.  She has taught techniques they use (having grown up for much of her life in Peru learning about things the way all the other kids in the village did), traveled extensively to teach.  Now, she is focusing her efforts on bringing people to Peru to learn and experience some of the richness of the culture and the history of Andean textiles as well as offering classes online.

She has an online site where people can attend classes virtually, and organizes textile oriented tours in the Cuzco region where she lives.

So with a nod to the trip that must now be virtual for me, I bought this puzzle and while I make it I think of the textiles of Peru, the modern day spinners, knitters and weavers still learning and exploring their approach to learning about Andean textiles.

And in honour of the unnamed Peruvian weaver who I came across at Convergence in 1978 at Fort Collins, CO, with his backstrap loom tied to a sapling in the middle of the university campus, weaving the most incredible textile.  From him I learned that it didn't matter where you were, if you could speak each other's language or not, textiles were universal to human beings.  And that all weavers/spinners were part of the matrix of humanity and the creation of textiles.

If you are interested in travel, textiles, and food, Abby organizes tours and is now taking bookings for the coming year.