From the Collection: Weaving - Bolivia & Ghana

I'm working on a few projects I hope to share soon, but in the meantime, thought you'd enjoy seeing more from our textile collection...

This first one is a saddle blanket from Bolivia.  It's extremely fine wool (in terms of gauge), but isn't that soft--it seems as though it'd be fairly durable.  Probably goat?  Definitely not one of the higher quality wools from the region like guanaco or llama or alpaca.  It has some amazing detail (see below). 

I also believe it was repaired at some point, not surprising for a blanket used on a pack animal.  However, the repair work is also pretty amazing--though it doesn't reconstruct the original pattern, it is as tightly woven, and looks quite sturdy.    

I really love the idea that this blanket had a utilitarian purpose, but was designed and crafted beautifully, even if it was going on the back of a pack animal!  So it protected the animal, and possibly made the owner happy every time s/he looked at it.  It certainly makes me happy when I look at it.

Another item decorating the living room right now is this kente cloth, from Ghana.  It's woven from silk & rayon (I think).  I feel like it's silk because of the luster, but that it must have rayon in it because it's fairly sturdy (we have another 100% silk kente that is fairly worn--silk is amazing, but fragile).  

If you've read my comments on weaving before you'll know right away that this is strip-weaving at its finest.  The strips are about 3" wide and are stitched together to make an eye-catching design.  Weaving on such a narrow loom means the loom is extremely portable and can be moved mid-project, then hung from a tree or fence post and used immediately.

Here are a few detail photos of this kente.  

Questions?  Comments?  Please leave them below.

Music:  The XX, "Angels," definitely Sunday morning music!  

From the Collection: Weaving Accoutrement Part III

Drop spindles!  Of course you can spin wool into yarn with a spinning wheel (got to go round/drop all your troubles by the riverside...)!!  But if you're learning to use a drop spindle, what you drop, along with your troubles is the spindle.  And you drop it a lot.  I never learned to use one, but the Roommate knows how; he is however, a bit out of practice.  But he told me at his first class, there was little talking, but lots of clunking (spindles hitting the floor).

Once again, we're back to why decorate something that is for utilitarian purposes? (I know why, but I get a kick out of it, so you'll probably hear about it again.)  Sorry the photo isn't any better; you'll have to take my word for it.  The spindles above are from: Ladakh, Laos, Oman and Thailand.  The largest one, and the one on the bottom, come apart completely, I'm not sure why--for transport?  They are all heavily used, very worn.  They're simple, beautiful, and do the job (once you know how).

Here are two Tibetans using drop spindles somewhere on the road to Kailash.

There are plenty of videos on youtube showing how to, and videos of spinners from all over the world.  I don't want to discount anyone's spinning skills because I can't do it at all, but I was especially impressed with the women in Peru & Bolivia...they do it standing up & sometimes while walking (and we didn't see many sidewalks or paved roads when we were there).  I can't even being to think how that works; I can text & walk, but I have to think hard and I only do it on routes that I take every day.

If you've ever seen anyone spinning (with a wheel or a drop spindle), it's mesmerizing.  I find it so relaxing.  The old fairy tale about straw into gold?  It's about magic--and when you see wool being spun into yarn, you'll realize you're seeing magic, too.  And a skill that's probably at least 20,000 years old.  More on that later.  Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.  Questions? Comments?

BTW, the Met has an exhibit on Andean Huipiles (Tunics)! Unbelievable weaving & dying techniques on these masterpieces--some of them over 2000 years old.