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s winter 2020 waned, the threat of the coronavirus pandemic seemed very far away. Life went on as usual here at Homestead Weaving Studio in southern Brown County, and preparations were being made for April’s Indiana Artisan Marketplace show in Indianapolis. Suddenly pockets of people infected with the virus began appearing closer to home and everything changed. With our spring show cancelled, we didn’t know what direction our home business would take. We just planned to “hunker down” and work on some projects around the house. For Bob, that included gathering geodes from the creek, reorganizing closets, and working on his massive CD, record, book, and license plate collections. For me, it meant doing things I usually didn’t have time for, including long-neglected computer work. By mid-March, local stores had cut hours or offered remote gift shopping, and many finally just closed to adhere to the stay-at-home order from the governor.
26 Our Brown County • May/June 2020
We didn’t need much convincing to stay home. We’re in the old-folks high risk category anyway, and since we live a long way from town, we’ve always stocked up on essentials. For once, having freezers and a pantry full of food, and an abundance of toilet paper, paid off. And Corrie, a big-hearted 20-something we’ve known for years, took pity on us and offered to do our shopping, Orders for our potholder loom kits started to pick up. These kits contain Bob’s handmade wooden looms and stretchy sock loops to weave potholders just like you used to make when you were a kid. Years ago, I connected with SolMate Socks and began getting “waste” from the factory to cut up and weave into rugs. But some of the socks are good enough to repair. I fix or finish them, and then give away hundreds each year to the local Weekend Backpack program, St. Vincent DePaul, homeless shelters, and other charities. Sock loops (which are the toe clips created after a knit sock is sewn shut) are an essential part of our kits but require cleaning and sorting to make them usable. The other main part of the kits is a loom, which Bob
