Trying to keep up

 Some random textile input from the last day or so... handspun cotton on spools, which was being wound into a warp.

And an old woven piece made of cotton, in the traditional 'butterfly' pattern.

The same butterfly is being woven in silk. This is the reverse image, because the back side is on top while supplementary weft is being woven.

See? I'm underneath Kiang's loom, looking at the front of her weaving. (The other beautiful weaving is part of her sarong.)

The multi-colored supplementary wefts are wrapped by hand. Here's another example below, shown from the top (= back side of finished fabric.) It's as complicated as it looks.

Another kind of weaving being done here is... backstrap!!  I have met the backstrap weavers, all two of them, and have spent hours watching the weaving. They're from the south of Laos, and use foot-tensioned looms. More on that soon! For now, just a teaser photo of the typical weaving from that region:

And just because it's pretty, here's what was hanging in the garden, some silk dyed for weft ikat (mut-mee).