Anka: It’s hard to disagree with you. You’ve already answered the question of which technique is the most difficult…

Karolina: It’s not only my opinion, but also that of older weavers. Ever since I started learning, they said that if you know double-warp weaving, you know all weaving techniques. And when I run workshops – I’ve had participants who’ve learned various techniques – they emphasize that double-warp is the most difficult. Earlier I’d heard that perebory were somewhat difficult, but…

Anka: Because they’re picked by hand.

Karolina: Yes, picked, but differently. There you can write out the pattern in little squares, so it looks a bit different… Double-warp is the hardest!

Anka: You work mainly with traditional weaving of traditional motifs, right?

Karolina: Above all.

Anka: But I’m also interested in the other side: when you take on traditional motifs, do you modify them a bit?

Karolina: With double-warp technique, you simply can’t repeat something one-to-one. Even if you weave the same textile, it will never be identical. It changes slightly: you may have a different number of threads for the same width, depending on thread thickness, and so on… So every time you change it a bit. And there’s also that creator’s instinct: you don’t want to keep repeating the same thing!

Anka: Just recreating it.

Karolina: Exactly! You want to change it a bit. Even if you’re making a traditional pattern, you still add something of your own. Not to mention when you try to create something that has never appeared in double-warp before! Like the games series I created.

Anka: I loved it when we first met and you said you were the first person in the world to weave a whale in double-warp technique.

Karolina: That’s true! Unless there’s someone else and I don’t know about it!

Anka: That’s what’s beautiful about traditional technique – you have a foundation, but you can still create something new and be the first in some way. Do you think it makes sense to learn traditional techniques?

Karolina: Of course. You have to know the basics. You can do whatever you want with them, modify them however you like, use any materials you want… But without the basics – without traditional technique – you can’t really do anything.

Anka: Do you think people still like traditional techniques and patterns? Or are they outdated and archaic?

Karolina: From my perspective, I constantly have commissions. That suggests people like it. Probably you just have to reach the right audience. Some people like traditional technique and traditional design. Others may prefer traditional technique with modern design. It depends on who you reach. It’s not like I limit myself only to traditional things because I only care about that audience. If that were the case, I wouldn’t collaborate with designers or try new things in this technique or show something different.

Anka: But not long ago, fabrics perceived as “folk” were considered kitschy. Outdated.

Karolina: Yes, especially in our region, because everyone had those textiles.

Anka: And now it’s coming back, right?

Karolina: I started weaving fourteen years ago. Back then everyone told me: why are you even getting into this? It makes no sense. What a silly idea… And now, in just the past five years, you can see how much weaving has developed. How many people have become involved, how many new studios and workshops are opening. People are looking for something that is ours. Not something from abroad, some kind of generic craft… They want what originated here. They want to learn about it.

Anka: To bring it back to life.

Karolina: And to continue it. I think people simply grow into it. My parents’ generation largely moved from the countryside to the city for work and so on… For them, anything connected with the countryside was embarrassing or outdated. Now their children and grandchildren are searching for it.

Anka: I agree! And now a question you’ve already partly answered: do you use a computer to create patterns?

Karolina: No.

Anka: Still graph paper and drawing everything?

Karolina: No, I don’t draw at all. I transfer everything straight from my head. Nothing.

Anka: And if you have to recreate something?

Karolina: Recreate something I’ve woven before? It still won’t be identical. I show my work and someone says they want something similar. It will be similar, but never identical! Sometimes, when weaving old patterns, you can recreate them from old textiles or from a photograph. But it’s not drawn out on paper. Once I tried to sketch a carpet design on paper. Half of it didn’t fit! So I thought it was pointless. Sometimes I make rough sketches of what I’d like to include in a carpet – for example, a river here, a mill there…

Anka: Do you think everyone can weave? Can everyone become a weaver?

Karolina: Everyone can try, but not everyone will like it. You have to enjoy it. You can’t force yourself. If you weave a carpet only because it’s trendy and sells well, eventually you’ll get tired of it. You simply have to like it.

Anka: Is there a trait that makes someone a good weaver? Is it a matter of character?

Karolina: I don’t know if it’s character, but weaving certainly teaches patience. So I suppose it helps to be fairly patient. But you don’t have to be patient enough to sit at the loom all day. You can sit for an hour and enjoy creating something. It depends whether we’re talking about a hobby weaver who makes one piece occasionally, or someone who weaves professionally and makes a living from it.

Anka: When you introduce yourself, what would you like after the dash? Weaver, artist, craftswoman, teacher, folk creator?

Karolina: I usually introduce myself as a weaver, a folk artist, and recently also as an educator. Above all, as a weaver. Or a weaver continuing family traditions.

Karolina: My grandmother and earlier generations. We even made a chart.

Anka: Weaver’s DNA!

Karolina: My sister Justyna and I did a “Master of Tradition” project – she learned to weave. We counted how many people in our family wove. There were thirteen people weaving double-warp. Most of them cooperated with Professor Plutyńska. So there are quite a few!

Anka: Truly written in your DNA! Two last questions. First: what’s the best thing about weaving? And second: what’s the worst?

Karolina: The best thing is that feeling when you create something of your own, show your thoughts – what’s in your head – on the fabric. To express yourself and show what you can do. Especially since not many people can do it!

Anka: There’s prestige in that. But few people understand how much work it takes – until they visit the Double-Warp Weaving Chamber, for example, or sit at the loom with you and see…

Karolina: Exactly. That’s why when we travel, we bring the looms. So people can see, and ideally sit down at the loom themselves. When they try double-warp weaving, that’s when they truly appreciate how complex it is. Or when they simply see how the looms work. That a little horse or dog motif didn’t just appear by itself…

Anka: And the worst part?

Karolina: The worst thing about weaving? I don’t know.

Anka: When the warp thread breaks!

Karolina: True, technically speaking, if you have a weak warp, it’s a disaster. But aside from technical issues, I don’t think there’s anything bad about weaving!