A whisper of Morocco blew through the studio last weekend with a  first weaving  for Natalie. Inspired by Moroccan Wedding blankets the threads just worked for her as she wove this piece.  Natalie used a limited palette of hues focusing on texture weaving techniques including the wonderful rya knot. There are many different ways of executing this knot to produce either a shag or a pile. In this piece it was done on an open shed using four warp threads. The knotting weft was a combination of yarns combined with a mohair. Very lush and lovely.

You can see the way the knot is laid in this illustration. But you can also lay it the opposite way for a different pile.

I like to reverse knots at the half way mark with scarves so they lay downwards on a scarf around the neck – but anything goes. Knots on the edges of the fabric look great too and add that fringing.

In this weave, Natalie did a row of knots then followed up with a couple of rows of straight weaving then a row of knots again. Another interesting variation that I’m working with is the Icelandic knot. Very whispy and elegant!

Depending on what you are weaving, the yarn can be prepared beforehand then placed in the warp without stopping to cut lengths. But as this wasn’t a rug but a free style Saori textile the cut as you go method worked better.

It’s difficult to think about knots and mohair in this humid and hot weather but somehow we managed as Natalie’s  style and enthusiasm cut through all of that.