Scharine Kirchoff, Fiber Artist 
Handweaving
My exposure to handweaving, particularly bashofu and Ryukyu kasuri weaving, began when i was very, very young. I was born in Okinawa, Japan where my grandmother was a kimono-maker, bashofu weaver, and natural dye artisan. My grandfather passed away before i was born, so my grandmother was a single mother. She also served as the […]
Handspinning
My Ryukyu spinning wheel was made by Mr. Oshiro, a 3rd generation floor loom and spinning wheel craftsman from Haebaru, Okinawa-Japan. It is handcrafted from cedar and bamboo. Initially, i learned to use my wheel to spin basho banana fibers after the fibers have been retted, split, and hand-tied. Spinning basho fibers is quite different […]
Bashofu Abaca Cloth
The history of retting, hand-tying, spinning, hand-dyeing and handweaving Bashofu abaca cloth is a long one having started in the Ryukyu Islands in the 14th century. My memory of the creation of this cloth in my family goes back to my great-grandmother who taught her twelve (12) children to process the fibers and create cloth […]
