FAR LEFT: The Jacquard loom, which used punch cards to store weaving patterns, revolutionized the weaving industry. LEFT: Paper punch cards for computers were modeled after the Jacquard loom’s wooden cards. ABOVE: This punch-card reader from the mid-20th century reads data on computer cards, working on the same principle as the Jacquard loom.

start with textile technology. Before Toyota started building cars in the early 20th century, the company built automated looms. The first computer was based on the Jacquard loom, an automated system that used a series of cards with holes punched in them to determine which thread was lifted and which one was not, making it easy to create elaborately patterned cloth with relative ease. This gave rise to the punch-card calculator and eventually those funny cards that were used to run the first computers, which took up an entire room.

Today, we don’t weave cloth because we have to; we weave because we want to. Weaving is both a connection to the past and a subversive act, linking us to our ancestors and to revolutionaries. For many, the craft is a rejection of dependence on industrial manufacturing. Learning to make cloth by hand is one way to say, “I can do this myself!”

The Next Wave of Weaving

What makes weavers giddy these days?

Green yarns Increasingly popular are yarns regenerated from byproducts of natural resources, sold through fair trade, or that are otherwise good for the environment and the people who make them.

Recycled materials Plastic bags, cassette tape innards, rags, and garden waste are all making their way onto weavers’ looms.

Shrinking on purpose Making fabric that defies two dimensions is keeping weavers busy, whether it’s weaving with yarns that have an extra twist or mixing yarns that shrink with those that don’t.

Portable looms From small peg looms that fit in your hand to rigid heddle looms that fold, there are dozens of styles that allow you to weave on the go.

Interiors Weaving for the home — curtains, pillows, rugs, bath towels — can make weavers swoon.

Liz Gipson is managing editor of Handwoven, president of the Spinning and Weaving Association, author of Weaving Made Easy (Interweave Press, fall 2008), and the spinning and weaving host of Knitting Daily TV on PBS. Needless to say, she is a wee bit smitten with weaving by hand.

Pattern Fabulous patterning techniques, from overshot to color-and-weave, create cloth that seems complicated but is actually easy and fun to weave.