about diane

Diane de Souza started in fiber arts & crafts at a very early age — she had a bead loom, a small table loom, and an inkle loom, and was taught to knit, crochet, and sew her own clothes. She was also fascinated with the woven rugs that were in the shops and homes in Los Alamos, where she was born and raised.

Prior to 1990, most of the knowledge Diane had gained was through informal learning. Then, she started taking knitting classes at the Wooly West with Nancy Bush. She took classes in a broad range of topics to engage her eclectic interests. 

Her primary passion was in natural fibers — especially wool — which led to her learning how to spin. She's continued with her interest in spinning and focuses on finer fibers such as alpaca, cashmere, finer wools, and dog hair.

She increasing began weaving in 1996, and was fortunate to be taught by a weaver who was taught by Eppie Archuleta, from the San Luis valley in Colorado who specializes in traditional Rio Grande weaving. Diane continued to explore Rio Grande weaving at Tierra Wools in Los Ojos, and wove rugs and ruanas for the cooperative. Subsequently, she wove for Rachel Brown at Weaving Southwest.

Diane has received awards for weaving from the Handweaving Guild of America and the Taos Open Fall Arts Festival. She has taught knitting, weaving, dyeing, and crocheting at Taos Sunflower, Española Valley Fiber Arts Center, Taos Wool Festival, Pagosa Fiber Festival, John C Campbell Folk School, Rocky Mountain Weavers Guild, and the Intermountain Weavers Conference.

She has consulted for several companies including but not limited to Treenway Silks, Mayan Hands, and Elsa Wools. She has also done natural dyeing for several companies such as Tierra Wools, Mayan Hands, Elsa Wools, and the Navajo Rug Company.  

For the past several years, her main focus has been on natural dyeing and knitting. 

keep in touch

You can follow Diane on Instagram @dyeing2weave. 🧶