I'm finding it hard to accept that I turn 60 this year. Surely a 60 yer old person should be tidy and have their creative life a bit more organised than I do. I get carried away creatively and don't mind that I'm working in a disaster zone. I think I spend most of my life tidying up the mess I made the previous day. I also have about the slowest computer available at the moment since it hasn't been able to update to the latest operating system. I'm waiting for a new one to be delivered. So this blogpost is taking rather a long time to load photos ad its been a long time since I even posted here as I find computing very frustrating at the moment.
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| Wearing my Hieke |
This year I have again been studying raranga and we started the year making hieke which is a type of Maori rain cape. The base underneath is made of jute string which is what we beginners started with. The top part is mainly shredded harakeke (NZ flax) and the bottom is New Zealand flax which has rolled up into tight straws called pokinikini. In the background is an example of harakeke, the plant that we use to weave baskets and make these sorts of cloaks.
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| Pake (pronounced packay) |
This is the second cloak we made this year. Mine was the only bright blue one though. String is made from the the interior fibres of the flax leaf. I dyed mine with dyes suitable for cellulose fibres. There are pokinikini at the bottom of the fibre strings.
These two years of learning Maori weaving have been very exciting and have taken me away from quilts and textiles. I have learned a lot about weaving, Maori language and about New Zealand.
