Wrap woven for Woven Art – Babywearing Weaving Competition 2024, the theme was The Mazurian Dream. The work won 1st place in the Jury vote and 1st place in the Weavers' vote.
"Kłobuk is an evil spirit of the lower order. It inhabited the woodlands, but from time to time, usually during a cold autumn rainstorm, it would approach people's houses. He would then take the form of a black, chicken-like bird, perch on a fence and wait for one of the villagers to take pity on him and take him into their hut. Once the kłobuk had made itself at home in the warmth of the cottage, it began to bring its hosts various goods, which it stole from other villagers. (...) Sometimes the hosts, whether driven by remorse or simply having acquired enough stolen goods, decided to chase away the troublesome helper. (...) Unfortunately, everything that he had managed to bring to his benefactors by that point turned into stinking dung..."
P. Zych, W. Vargas, “Bestiariusz Słowiański”, BOSZ, Olszanica 2015, s. 104, ISBN 978-83-7576-221-1, translation by DeepL.
I decided to dig through Masurian beliefs and legends and show Masuria from a slightly different angle. On the warp there is a mix of 13 different yarns to achieve irregularity of colours and textures, including threads with golden glitter, which makes the shawl shimmer and sparkle. A shimmering thread was also used in the blocks and embroidery to reflect the character of the kłobuk, which was, after all, laying up treasures for the hosts. The tails and the centre have been decorated with embroidery stitches, in addition to delicate shimmering beads on the tails and treasures in the form of coins and gold nuggets on the dark tail, woven into the hemstitch. On the tails I have also used a reverse weave.
- Warp:
Mix of 13 threads: 32% cotton, 15% Tencel, 15% rose, 11% linen, 8% pearl, 4% milk, 4% nettle, 4% mint, 4% lavender, 3% hemp, stellina + Ingeo in gold, hand dyed; - Wefts:
I: 100% Swiss Mountain Silk, medium, hand dyed;
II: (blocks and stitches) 100% Lurex; - Length: 4,95 m + loose fringes;
- Width: 72 cm;
- Density: ~355 g/m²;
- Date off the loom: 22.07.2024;
- Weave: 14s twill.
