She's worked odd jobs at restaurants, pre-schools and construction sites. She likes weaving because the hours are flexible so she can spend time at home with her two children. Six looms fill one room at the Shack Neighborhood House, a concrete-block building that looks like a factory warehouse. Women bend over the hulking machines and weave rag strips, called the weft, between the loom's stretched string fingers, known as the warp. A wooden bar, the beater bar, tightens the weft and warp together.
Foot pedals lock the weave in place with a loud lurch.
The loudest loom at the Shack is called The Monster. Some weavers are referred by welfare workers to Appalachian Rags to Rugs. No experience necessary. Rag-rug weavers wanted. Material and loom time for those who qualify.