Of all the world’s traditional handicrafts, I’m most fascinated by the fiber arts. There’s something special about the textiles which make up our human history all over the planet. It’s not something we give much thought to when we go to the mall to buy a new pair of jeans, but creating the fabric for clothing and other uses took up a big part of the lives of artisans in every culture throughout the world. Modern advances in construction techniques mean we’re losing part of our history as the artisans who spent their lives creating textiles by hand retire without passing on their craft to a new generation. In a…