Shuttles! What's a shuttle?! A shuttle carries the thread being woven back & forth (much like the shuttle that carries me back & forth between work & the Metro station). In this
video from Laos, you can see the weaver swapping between different shuttles to change the color & create a pattern. BTW, this was filmed near Luang Prabang, Laos, which is where we bought the fabric I showed on the previous post. You'll notice that the reeds on the looms are much like the ones we have, too. And look at these looms--they are just wood & string, but they make magic!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUomW79K4YyU4OwhP-DulPlx23x_-COHQ21gcN6X5i77JiSQ5m5ddQFYHugjw8yeyEk7_9YX-jWMcIgxgkXL-MGnX1xFlOIB-cvIXiatOHuq1hOqr7uTWSJuGgElxoINYG-eiFI6uMJk/s200/Indonesia.jpg)
So back to shuttles--aren't they gorgeous?! I love the different styles & shapes & the well-seasoned wood. The two darkest shuttles are from Laos (again, they're featured in the video). The two on the left are from the Czech Republic.
Remember in the previous post I wrote that a loom is just a contraption made of sticks and string?! But the sophistication of this arrangement & the sophistication of the fabric that comes out of these looms never ceases to amaze me. Here's a fine example of a shawl from Indonesia. I suspect that's the monkey king featured in the design.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90yAkG18xmixd_dVg5SBBJ2n7rfR9JPuIA-IMdMPF97UgNEKnhHzSjEFZsF7mfxdP_02jpcv0078pS5GDQ2HBhBd-YNO2JsvRDkPWhTyBBjGLPQxdjPzU7-mAwQ_gpeB1HWBPqaros7M/s200/ghana-textile-shop.JPG)
I do go on, don't I?! Some more Ghanaian textiles to the right...we took this at a shop in Accra. The wall is full of mostly Kente cloth, but also some Ewe cloth & plain woven items. The Ewe and Kente tend to be strip-woven, but now they have wider looms in Ghana, too, so that explains the less intricate patterns. I think we came home with seven Kente and 3 Ewe, plus quite a bit of other stuff, too, like masks and miniature coffins (see
here for an explanation of why we needed a coffin model). However, our motto is
We should have bought more!
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