A weaver chooses fiber the way a painter chooses pigment. Long before the first pass of the shuttle, the choice of material has already shaped how a piece will look, how it will feel underfoot or over the shoulders, and how it will wear over the decades.

Charles works in linen, in many kinds of wool, in silk, and in alpaca raised nearby. Each behaves differently on the loom, and each brings something the others can’t.

Wool

Wool is the workhorse of hand-weaving, and for good reason. It is warm, forgiving, and resilient, with a natural spring that helps a rug hold its shape and bounce back from foot traffic year after year. It takes dye beautifully, holds deep color, and is naturally a little stain- and flame-resistant. For a rug meant to be lived on, wool is hard to beat.

Linen

Linen is the opposite temperament: cool, crisp, and structural. Spun from flax, it is one of the oldest textile fibers in the world and one of the strongest. It has less give than wool, which makes it excellent for crisp edges and a clean hand, and it only softens with age and use. Linen brings a quiet, understated quality to a piece.

Silk

Silk is where light comes into the work. It catches and reflects it in a way no other fiber does, giving a sheen and depth that lifts a pattern off the surface. It is fine, strong for its weight, and luxurious, often used to accent rather than dominate, so that a single line of silk can make a whole piece shimmer.

Alpaca

Alpaca is the quiet luxury of the group: exceptionally soft, warm, and lightweight, without the prickle some wools can have. Sourced from animals raised nearby, it brings a local thread into the work, literally. In a poncho or a throw, alpaca is the fiber you feel before you see.

Choosing fiber like pigment

The art is not in any single fiber but in the combination. Linen for structure, wool for body and color, silk for light, alpaca for softness. Charles selects and pairs them by eye and by hand, so the material is never an afterthought. It is part of the design from the first thread.

That is what it means for a piece to be hand-woven from natural fibers: every part of it, down to the raw material, was a decision. See how those decisions come together in the gallery, or learn how a piece is built on the loom.