Maltz honored for her work with the Norfolk Makerspace 

Text by Kelly Kandra Hughes
Photo by Sue Williams

Colebrook’s Alesia Maltz has been a weaver since childhood. Her love of fiber began when her Aunt Bea told her she didn’t have to spend her weekly allowance on Barbie clothes at the store, she could knit them instead. Maltz became fascinated with the patterns, textures and colors of knitting. By junior high school, she had rented her first loom from Norfolk resident Judy Tsuscroff. 

Fast forward a few decades, and Maltz has just received a Litchfield Hills Creative Arts Award for her community efforts with Norfolk NET’s Makerspace Loom Room. Maltz says she couldn’t be more surprised. “At first I thought the email was from a used car salesman, but then I read past the words ‘congratulations, you’ve won’ and saw words like ‘award’ and ‘creative.’ The Loom Room started out as experiment when my next-door neighbor Bill Eckert offered me space to teach weaving in the basement of Battell Chapel.”

The Loom Room currently houses five looms and one spinning wheel. Maltz and her friend and fellow weaver Sue Williams have hosted open Loom Room hours every Tuesday afternoon from 1 to 3 p.m. since August. They want everyone to know the Loom Room is a place where all are welcome—from individuals who have never even picked up a skein of yarn to expert weavers. Williams encourages anyone interested or curious about weaving to visit the Loom Room. “We’re friendly,” she says. “You don’t have to have any experience. If you ever dreamed of weaving, you should come.”

Maltz enjoys the meditative practice of weaving. “When you’re weaving, you can’t really think of anything else. It puts you in the present moment, and it becomes a kind of meditation. But it’s a meditation that’s full of color, texture and joy, and at the end, your meditation is useful to other people. It’s something they can cuddle up with.” 

Making blankets has become a signature project for the Loom Room. Maltz spearheaded an effort over the summer and into the fall to make hug blankets, blankets 15” x 20” or slightly larger, for refugee children at the United States border. The children and their parents are legal immigrants who are housed at a shelter in Phoenix, Ariz., after being released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and before traveling to meet their respective families. Since September, local knitters, crocheters, weavers and sewers have sent approximately 109 blankets to the Welcome Blanket Project in Phoenix, along with 70 handmade dolls and basic toiletries like toothpaste and toothbrushes. 

Maltz is delighted with the success of the Loom Room and is grateful for everyone involved. Her hope for the Loom Room is that it will continue to serve the community and connect with other communities through fiber. 

The Loom Room’s regular Tuesday afternoon hours will be suspended for December, resuming again in January. In the meantime, anyone wishing to visit the Loom Room may contact NorfolkNETCT@gmail.com for more information.