Tapestry Crochet

The Internet and tapestry crochet did it again! This time they introduced me to Bronwyn Menton from Australia! What a happy surprise to receive an email from her with the picture of the young man (below) tapestry crocheting in Essaouira, Morocco.

This hip fellow listens to music while he sells and tapestry crochets hats like the one below.

He tapestry crochets with slip stitches.  It is impossible to carry the other yarn with the slip stitch, so . . .

. . . the other yarn runs along the back of the stitches.

Bronwyn explained, “The hats that the young lad was making I think were for the beanie wearing fashion conscious adolescents, fishermen and tourists – or maybe just for people to keep their heads warm rather than for cultural reasons.  Essaouira has a very hip culture musically (Jimmi Hendrix, Cat Stevens and Leonard Cohen all spent a lot of time there) and is a centre for African music festivals.  It also has a surfing culture – even saw a surf shop with its own brand of clothing to rival our Aussie brands.  But the main thing that happens in Essaouira is fishing and I reckon it would be mighty cold out on the Atlantic in those little blue boats!  Hence my opinion about who buys the woollen hats. The wool used in this beanie, and many others is often what the Moroccans call ‘dead wool’.  This means that it is wool that has been taken from sheep already slaughtered for meat.  The wool is of a poorer quality than ‘live wool’ and usually has a very unpleasant smell.  I had to wash the beanies several times to get rid of the smell!”

Bronwyn saw both natural and synthetic dyes being used to color wool (used primarily for carpet weaving) in large ceramic vats at Djemaa el-Fna, the huge market in the heart of Marrakesh.

The market she visited sells both raw materials and the finished products.

All of the hats that Bronwyn saw for sale in Marrakesh were tapestry crocheted with acrylic yarn and often included gold or silver thread.

So many choices! Bronwyn met the challenge with flying colors in Marrakesh.

This is the icing on the cake! Bronwyn gave me this Moroccan hat!

This hat was double crocheted with fine acrylic yarn and metallic thread.

Bronwyn’s last email said, “. . . I so want to go back there!  It was a really fascinating place – so colourful, varied and culturally rich.  I was looking at the mosaics in the Blue Mosque in Casablanca and they reminded me of the photos you posted from Spain.  There is just so much to see and so little time . . .”

Until I heard from her, I did not realize that tapestry crochet was done there. This fantastic news moves Morocco towards the top of my list of places I HAVE TO VISIT SOON. Thanks so much, Bronwyn!

Ahhh . . . Guatemala! The land that introduced me to tapestry crochet so many years ago. In the late 1970’s, men from Aguacatan, San Juan Atitan, Todos Santos, and Nebaj tapestry crocheted flat, rectangular shoulder bags for their own use (or for sale) in colorful styles that were unique to their own towns. While most bags were crocheted with two colors at a time, as many as 7 colors were carried in the best bags from Nebaj.

Tapestry crocheted bag from Nebaj. (1978)

Seven colors were carried for the complicated pattern.

In the late 1970’s, most bags were tapestry crocheted with the same commercially spun and dyed cotton thread used for backstrap weaving.  Several threads were joined and worked as one strand when crocheting. Naturally colored black and white wool was also popular and acrylic yarn was just entering the market.

This fellow from San Juan Atitan tapestry crochets a bag like the one that he is using as his wife looks on. (1979)

Only a few tourist items were available back then; flat circular shoulder bags and change purses. When I returned in 2002, I was thrilled to see lots of new tapestry crocheted items for sale, including cylindrical bags, hats, and hackey sacks. I also saw both men and women tapestry crocheting these innovative products with a variety of motifs. Most were crocheted with acrylic yarn and the quality varied from very fine to not so fine.

Tapestry crocheted bags for sale in Chichicastenango. (2002)

In addition to handwoven cloth, this Mam Maya vender in Antigua also sells tapestry crocheted bags, hats, and hackey sacks. (2002)

This Mam Maya mother (originally from Todos Santos) models a bag that she tapestry crocheted with the same type of acrylic yarn that her daughter is selling. Yes, I bought the bag - it is exquisite! (2002)

And guess what? Guatemala also has an ancient looping tradition. Shoulder bags are the items that were - and still are - looped and shoulder bags were the first items that were tapestry crocheted there. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, I am convinced that loopers readily adopted, possibly even invented, tapestry crochet around the world. Each location had a unique looped product; shoulder bags in Guatemala, mittens in Finland, and hats in Cameroon.

Looped bag from Jacaltenango, Guatemala. (2002)

Guatemala not only inspired my first pieces, but still influences my choices. Although I don’t always tapestry crochet tightly in rounds, my work features contrasting colors, the extra yarn is carried inside single crochet stitches, and the hook is inserted under the top 2 loops of the stitch below. My next blog will show tapestry crochet in Morocco.

Men’s tapestry crocheted and looped hats are very popular in the western highlands of Cameroon in Central West Africa. Sometimes the styles are meaningful (denoting status, a specific event, or one’s home town), other times the hats are just fashion statements.

Both tapestry crocheted (left) and looped hats (right) can be seen in Bafut. Tapestry crocheted hats of a different style are for sale on the wall behind them. (2000)

Detail of a looped hat from Cameroon.

How are looping and crochet related? They are similar, but with looping the entire strand is pulled through each loop; only a small loop is pulled through another loop with crochet. Looping is an ancient technique, but no one knows when or where tapestry crochet developed. I suspect loopers embraced it because tapestry crochet is quicker.

Tapestry crochet is one of many crafts done in Foumban, home of the Bamum (Bamun, Bamoun) people. The early 20th century Sultan Njoya encouraged metal casters, leatherworkers, potters, embroiderers, woodcarvers, beadworkers, and other craftspeople to move there and a hundred years later, it is still the center of craft production in Cameroon.

A Bamum leather worker and a sculptor wear tapestry crocheted hats with diamond motifs, but each is quite distinctive. (2000)

Bamum crocheters often carry recycled synthetic sack fibers to stiffen the hats they tapestry crochet with cotton and acrylic yarns. The hats on the right commemorate the local semiannual Nguon festival. (2000)

Detail of the synthetic carried fiber carried in Foumban. Notice that the top loop of each stitch is laying over the next one. This happens when the yarn color is changed after completing the stitch (instead of when 2 loops are still on the hook).

These tapestry crocheted hats are from Foumban. The knob on the top is a decorative element that is specific to that town. (2000)

Although I observed more women tapestry crocheting than men when I visited in 2001, I did find one male crocheter in Dschang.

This Bamileke man from Dschang is crocheting a hat like the one that he made below. (2000)

Aren’t the crocheted ruffles fabulous? (2000)

These tapestry crocheted hats are also from Dschang and are more typical of the hats worn there. (2000)

I suggested in an earlier blog that Korsnäs tapestry crochet might have evolved from nalbinding, an ancient looping technique. I believe the same thing happened in Cameroon. My next blog will show a similar development in Guatemala.

Tapestry crochet and the internet brought Caroline Routh and me together and this past Spring we finally met. Caroline studied and taught painting and design before becoming a fiber artist. As you can see, this background shines through in her exquisite abstract and figurative tapestry crochet works of art.

Caroline’s Red Stripes and Georgian Landscape are 5″ tall.

Caroline’s working method allows her to create shapely, three dimensional sculptures and vessels with fantastic color variations. How does she achieve such an extensive palette? By mixing the threads as if they were paint, of course!

Her “paints” of choice include sizes 3 and 5 cotton threads and embroidery floss (each strand is composed of six 9 yard long pieces), which are available in a rainbow of tints and shades. Metallic thread and novelty yarn are ocassionaly utilized for special effects. Caroline usually combines 2 strands into one working thread to increase the thickness. Sometimes the strands are the same color, other times each is different. She subtly varies the hues by replacing one strand at a time with another color either as it is needed or when it runs out. The new thread is tied on with a weaver’s reef knot, then the join is skillfully hidden by crocheting over it. 

Caroline’s tapestry crocheted Shell is 7 1/4″ long.

This detail shows how one color transitions into another.

How do Caroline’s sculptures stay in shape? With a wire skeleton - what else would work so well? She demonstrated the technique for me below. For a lot of color changes, as many as 7 threads are carried with the wire. When no color changes are necessary,  only the wire is carried.

The florist wire that Caroline carries plays an important supportive role.

Caroline’s Blackbird is 10″ high. The wire skeleton keeps it in shape.

A painter’s sensibility and tapestry crochet are successfully married in the one-of-a-kind imaginative pieces that are available through her web site and at the Mad and Noisy Gallery in Creemore, Ontario. What an inspiration!

Korsnäs is a municipality on the western coast of Finland. The people (of Swedish descent) continue many of their traditions, including tapestry crochet. The Korsnäs Museum, housed in a historic farmer’s cottage that includes a kitchen and sleeping quarters, provides an authentic look into the past. The textile room includes an extensive collection of tapestry crocheted sweaters, hats, mittens, cuffs, bags, sashes, and suspenders.

Men’s crocheted and knit sweaters, hat, and suspenders in the Korsnäs Museum.

A wide tapestry crocheted sash, a narrow woven sash, 
and tapestry crocheted cuffs and bags in the Korsnäs Museum.

Korsnäs sweaters are a stunning combination of tapestry crochet and knitting. Beginning at the bottom, they are crocheted, then knit, then crocheted in rounds for both pullover and open styles. The top seam is hand sewn together, the tube is secured with machine-sewn stitches around the arm openings, then the arm holes are cut. The sleeves are crocheted, then knit, then crocheted from the shoulder to the cuff and then sewn onto the sweater. The neck is edged with a crocheted border. The front is cut open for the button down style, then a decorative edging is added for the button and its holes and to help secure and hide the edges. The last step is to hand sew a narrow, knit band over all the cut and sewn seams to camouflage the joins.

Locals occasionally dress in their traditional costume and demonstrate knitting and crocheting sweaters in the museum. Appointments can be made for group visits.

Tapestry crocheting in rounds the lower border of a sweater.

One color yarn rests on the front and the other on the back of the forefinger, while the other fingers grip them for proper tension.

After the crocheted border has been finished, loops are pulled through the crochet stitches so that the body of the sweater may be knit in a tube, traditionally by more than one person at a time on double pointed needles.

Each knitter completes one partial round, then it is rotated.

Another great place to see Korsnäs textiles is in private and museum collections. Since they are rarely able to exhibit everything, much of it is often in storage. If you make an appointment and are very lucky, though, a curator will let you into the “vaults” and allow photographs, too! Fortunately, luck was with me in Finland.

In the “vaults” of the Ostrobothnian Museum.

I suspect that Korsnäs tapestry crochet evolved from nalbinding, a much older looping technique that utilizes sewn loops. With tapestry crochet, only a small loop is pulled through with a hook, whereas with nalbinding, the entire yarn needs to be pulled through each loop with a sewing needle; very labor intensive. Even if the yarn is spun as needed, looping is still much more time consuming than crochet. Both techniques are still used to make mittens in Finland.

Nalbound mittens from the Karin Rosendahl collection.

Tapestry crocheted Korsnäs mittens from the Ostrobothnian Museum.

Korsnäs child’s sweater from the Ostrobothnian Museum.

Korsnäs sweater from the Ostrobothnian Museum.

Detail of the lower part of the above sweater.

Korsnäs sweaters from the Karin Rosendahl collection.

Collar detail of the above sweater from the Karin Rosendahl collection.

I will always be indebted to the many wonderful people who made this trip possible, especially Marketta Luutonen, Anna-Maija Bäckman, Leena Nyqvist, and Jeanette Rönnqvist-Aro.

Marketta Luutonen and me.

Anna-Maija, Leena, and Jeanette of Loftet.

Some of these names should now be familiar to you. Jeanette crocheted the cuffs in my previous post and Marketta and Anna-Maija have authored several excellent crochet publications. In fact, the best book (in Finnish, Swedish, and English) with history and patterns, is their Decorative Crocheting, which was printed in Vasa in 2003 (ISBN 951-96888-4-6). Marketta also wrote Virkattuja Pusseja (Crocheted Purses), printed in Vasa in 1992 (ISBN 952-90-4278-7). Although written in Finnish, it includes several excellent photos and graphs. Another good book is Korsnäströjor Förr Och Nu, by Gretel Dahlberg, printed in Vasa in 1987, ISBN 951-99832-4-4. Although not in English, it includes historical pictures, several museum pieces (many in color), and some graphs for sweaters and mittens.

It took a year to get my ensemble, but it was worth the wait! Although I ordered mine at the Korsnäs Museum, it is also available online. I will be sure to wear it at the TKGA / CGOA Conference in Oakland in September. I hope to see you there!

I dreamed about researching tapestry crochet in Finland, but thought it would happen “when pigs fly.” So, when I was invited to teach tapestry crochet at the 2005 Crochet Days Conference in Vaasa/ Vasa, I was inspired to bead tapestry crochet a purse with flying pigs. I worked on the square base before the conference and continued onto the sides in Finland. The instructions for this purse were published by Simply Creative Crochet magazine in 2006.

The type of tapestry crochet done in Finland is similar to that of the rest of Europe. The hook is inserted into the back loop, which produces a cloth with wonderful drape and the front loop forms a horizontal line under each row of single crocheted stitches. The colored yarns are worked very efficiently by placing them on either side of the finger.

Tapestry crocheted cuffs are very popular in Finland.

A (right-handed) conference participant showed me how to switch colors back and forth (without dropping and picking them up for each color change) on my “Flying Pigs” bag. (I was actually working 3 colors for this bag, but her demo was for 2 colors, so please ignore the pink thread.) This method works well for quickly switching colors back and forth, but is awkward for crocheting several stitches at a time. As seen below, one color is secured on the front of the left forefinger and the other on the back, then fancy hook work allows one thread to be carried while the other is worked.

To change color, yarn over with white (ignore the pink thread).

Continue to single crochet with white while working around blue.

If you would like to give it a try, instructions for these cuffs (by Jeanette Rönnqvist-Aro) are in Luutonen and Bäckman’s 2003 book, DECORATIVE CROCHETING. Mittens, bags, and Korsnäs sweaters are also included.

The 2005 Crochet Days Conference was sponsored by Loftet and the Finnish Crafts Organization. After presenting a slide lecture about the history of tapestry crochet, I led two bead tapestry crochet workshops to students who could tapestry crochet circles around me! Inserting the hook under two loops and incorporating beads was different for them, though, so they were very excited to learn something new. As usual, I learned a lot, to!

Students bead tapestry crochet a small basket.

Maarit Aalto wrote her master’s thesis about tapestry crochet
and also taught it at the conference.

After the conference we visited Korsnäs, famous for marrying knitting and tapestry crochet. That will be the topic of my next blog.