Nancy Bird

I am a self-taught weaver living in rural Saskatchewan. While managing a large animal veterinary practice on our farm and raising cattle, I started to dye skeins of natural 3 ply wool sourced from MacAuslands Woollen Mills, PEI, using garden flowers processed in a slow cooker! Colours obtained were vibrant, worked amazing well together, and successive dye baths provided the required gradations in colour. This deeper connection to the natural world provided an ideal opportunity to weave wool rugs. An existing building was remodelled into a weaving studio/greenhouse. I owned a Saskatchewan built floor loom (Ward’s Woodworking) — a heavy, quiet, 45”, 4 harness counterbalance loom with a weighted overhead beater — perfect for weaving weft-faced rugs. Retirement gave me the opportunity to pursue my goal. Although rug weaving is a slow process, I enjoy designing on the loom to create patterns that reflect my rural lifestyle.