Weaving with wool in highland Ecuador
Channel: Kathleen Klumpp
Date: 2015-12-30

Weaving in Agato, Otavalo.  Jose Rafael Maldonado, son-in-law of Master Weaver, Miguel Andrango at the Tahuantisuyo Weaving Workshop in Agato, Otavalo, Ecuador shows me how he weaves on July 25th, 2015.  Note that he is using two shed rods. When weaving with sticky handspun wool, it is easier to clear the "back" threads through the heddles, bringing them to the front of the loom if the weaver uses two shed rods.  When setting up the loom, Jose Rafael divided these back" threads in two halves along the width of the textile.   The use of two shed rods is quite typical of weaving in highland Ecuador.