Kristin Munoz works at her home loom. She also has a studio in Lowell where she keeps larger looms. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
During the Industrial Revolution, Massachusetts saw an influx of young girls who came to work in the textile industry. One such girl, Madora Rouleau, hailed from Quebec and was the maternal grandmother of South Shaker Road’s Kristin Munoz. Her grandmother was known as a “mill girl.” She worked in a textile mill in Uxbridge as a weaver.
Munoz has always been drawn to crafts as a hobby. But when she learned about her grandmother’s history, she knew she had to learn more.
Weaving wasn’t her first career choice. Until 2001, the MIT graduate was an attorney at one of the “Big Three” firms in Boston. She found her work to be interesting, but as she and husband Carlos contemplated expanding their family, Munoz said she realized that she didn’t want to spend 70 or more hours a week at the office and away from her family. As she pondered her future, she found herself spending more time thinking about her grandmother and a book she had read about weaving. She began doing research about looms, and it wasn’t long before she purchased a floor loom kit from Harrisville Designs, a company based in Harrisville, NH.
Munoz fondly remembers assembling her loom in a weekend and immediately going to work making some dishtowels. In spite of now owning five other looms, she still refers to it as her “workhorse,” and it holds a place of honor in her living room where she has a view of a pasture of her neighbor’s sheep and llamas.
Munoz had no formal training in weaving.
“I’m self-taught, for the most part,” she said. “There’s a wonderful book called ‘Learn to Weave,’ by Deborah Chandler, that shows how to warp [set up] a loom, step by step. I discovered Handwoven magazine in a bookstore shortly after I learned to weave and picked up a lot of techniques and ideas from it as a beginning weaver. Beyond that, I did take a couple of classes at the Worcester Center for Crafts when my daughter Bella was little. After I already knew the technical aspects of weaving, my teacher there, Rita Steinbach, pushed me to start designing my own textiles instead of just follow instructions in publications like Handwoven magazine. This is also what got me thinking about selling my work.”
Munoz deftly pushes the shuttle through the threads on the loom.
As Munoz began to experiment more with materials and technique, her skill developed. At the outset, she made gifts for friends and family. But it wasn’t long before she had a stockpile of scarves and dishtowels. In the fall of 2006, she opened an online shop dubbed SkiingWeaver (a combination of her two favorite hobbies) on a then little-known website called Etsy. Her inventory includes scarves, shawls, wraps, and dish towels.
Her designs, unique color combinations, and eco-friendly materials quickly earned her a loyal following. She soon ventured out to fine art and craft shows, and even earned coveted spots at both the Boston Arts (The Ahts) Festival and the SoWA Holiday Market.
Munoz’s work has been sold at Lincoln’s deCordova Museum gift shop and in several area galleries, including Miller’s Thumb in Greensboro, Vt.
Now a well-established weaver, Munoz has a permanent work space housed in the Western Avenue Studios a renovated mill in Lowell. At Western Avenue, there are close to 150 studios with a variety of artisans producing everything from mixed media, fiber, photography, and painting to jewelry, glass, and weaving. On the first Saturday of each month, from noon to 5 pm, Munoz and other artists open their working studios (at no charge) for the public to browse their latest projects.
For Munoz the creative process is inherent.
“I always keep my eyes open,” she said. “When I started thinking about how color interacted in fabric, I learned to really notice when I trave how colors, shapes, lines and textures are combined in nature, in interiors, even in magazine advertisements.”
Munoz also describes herself as a “yarn hoarder.”
“I love all sorts of materials,” she said. “Different yarns are good for different projects. Silk, cashmere, alpaca, merino wool, linen, and cotton are all staples for hand weavers. I also like to venture into newer, sustainable yarns and fibers as well, like tencel, soysilk, bamboo, seasilk (made from seaweed and silk). I enjoy dying yarn, too. About the only kind of yarns I don’t like to work with are acrylics.”
Munoz also stays abreast of new techniques through weaving guilds. She is an active member in the Weavers’ Guild of Boston, the Handweaver’s Guild of America and Complex Weavers International. She also teaches through the guilds and at the biannual New England Weavers Seminar held at Smith College—although next year she looks forward to being a student instead of a teacher. And, from time to time, she publishes articles in Handwoven magazine.
Along with Handwoven, she recommends several resources for anyone with an interest in weaving.
“The last time I checked,” Munoz said, “the Fiber Loft on Mass. Avenue in Harvard had beginning weaving classes.The workshops at Harrisville Design in Harrisville, NH, are great, or if you have access to a loom and aren’t afraid to try by yourself, Deborah Chandler’s ‘Learn to Weave’ book is excellent!”
As for the future, Munoz plans to continue her primary role as stay-at-home mom to Bella (8) and Conall (5). This spring she will be challenging herself with some advanced coursework in weaving to obtain the status of Masterweaver through the Weavers’ Guild of Boston. Eventually, she would like to do more teaching, learn Jacquard weaving, and utilize her love of interior design to start a line of textiles for the home.
