A Sandy Hook resident has reached the level of Master Weaver, the highest rating awarded by the Handweavers’ Guild of Connecticut.

Hanna Roehrs learned of her achievement over the summer, and recently received her formal certificate from the guild. Roehrs is the first weaver in more than 20 years to achieve the status. She has been weaving for more than two decades.

The Master Weaver rating judges on independent designs, a wide variety of techniques and weave structures, and perfection.

It is, according to the Guild’s Facebook page, “a huge accomplishment which entails years of work and determination.”

Those hoping to achieve the Master Weaver status submit an assortment of weaving for judging.

The objective of the variety of requirements is to push the weaver to try things with which they may be unfamiliar or have less affinity for, to make them better, more rounded weavers. Roehrs was not allowed to ask for help on a specific piece, nor did she need to, according to Jen Rogers.

Rogers, who coordinates the Weaving Newtown program along with Roehrs, pointed out that all of those pieces were done in less than two years.

During that time Roehrs created a damask table runner, a sampler item, a cape, a paired finnweave, six rug samples, and three items woven from the same warp.

Rogers said it was notable that Roehrs did all that weaving in addition to traveling abroad to Butan and Ecuador for weaving tours.

Rogers additionally pointed out that although it was not a requirement for the rating, Roehrs also handspun her own yarn for the ruana, or split poncho, that she wove.

According to notes from the judging, shared by Handweavers’ Guild President Carolyn Coates, the work by Roehrs “showed originality and excellence in design, demonstrated a beautiful use of color and an understanding of many weave structures. All Hanna’s weaving was outstanding in every way and met all the requirements necessary to receive the Master Weaver rating. Hanna is to be congratulated on receiving this prestigious award, as very few weavers achieve the Master Weaver designation from the Handweavers Guild of Connecticut.”

Coates personally noted that while “many guild weavers undertake the lower ratings levels, it’s been many years since we’ve had a new Master Weaver.”

Roehrs earned her Journeyman rating, the second step in the formal adjudication process toward becoming a Master Weaver in the guild, in 2018. Even that step was of note, having been done one year after earning the guild’s Apprentice rating. Very few weavers have achieved their Journeyman rating in just a year.

Roehrs is additionally a multiple award-winning weaver. She returned home from the 2019 Handweavers’ Guild biennial exhibition with two awards for a table runner called Tangerine Dream. For that piece she was honored with First Place for Table Accessories, a blue ribbon award, and the Special Complex Weavers Award, an honor from Complex Weavers given during a juried show featuring handmade items.

Roehrs also earned two honors — one for each work entered — during the previous biennial exhibition. In 2017, she received a first place ribbon in Home Décor for her Zesty Zebra “Echo” weave small pillow that showcased how four colors can combine in surprising ways, and the Hand Spun Award and a cash prize for Handspun Hug, a large shawl she created with her own handspun yarn.

'Backbone' Of Weaving Newtown

Since 2013, Roehrs has been teaching locally. She first volunteered to teach weaving workshops at the former Healing Newtown Arts Space. To launch that, she reached out to her contacts for donations of looms, tools, yarn, and books.

When Healing Newtown closed nearly two years later, the weaving workshops continued. They became known as Weaving Newtown, relocated to the classroom space at Newtown Congregational Church, and continue as a program of Newtown Cultural Arts Commission (NCAC).

Still taught and led by Roehrs, Weaving Newtown is celebrating its sixth year.

NCAC Chair Laura Lerman calls Roehrs “the backbone of the Newtown weavers ever since they were formed in the aftermath of 12/14.”

Roehrs’s “professionalism,” Lerman added, “has enabled the group to continue its work.”

Rogers agree that Roehrs is an asset to the local weaving collective.

“We are so lucky to have Hanna, who is the reason we have even had a weaving program here in Newtown since 2013,” Rogers said. “She volunteers her expertise at Weaving Newtown, where students are taught according to their experience level and at their own pace.”

Until earlier this year, when the program went on hiatus due to COVID-19, Weaving Newtown had a growing membership and expanded equipment, including five floor looms and even more table looms, all necessary tools, and yarns. The group also hosts a comprehensive reference library of books, magazines, and DVDs to inspire all sorts of projects.

All levels of weavers are welcome. Beginning weavers are guided through each step in the process.

Weaving Newtown provides the loom, yarn, tools, and instruction. Donations are requested for those who decide to take a 4- or 12-week workshop.

The program remains on hiatus, but additional information is available by contacting Rogers at weavingnewtown@gmail.com, finding Weaving Newtown on Facebook, or visiting tiny.cc/weavingnewtown.