Mottainai
A Japanese zero waste concept that translates as"What a waste!" but the term most closely mirrors the old saying, "Waste not, want not."
When I moved to Morocco last year I brought with me a bag of indigo dyed oddments, leftover bobbins of yarn leftovers, sample hanks from various workshops and balls of silk, wool and boucle yarns. I have always loved another Japanese aesthetic, that of BOro, where patches of fabric offer layers of texture. I had a couple of warps that I had wound and never got to use and so I decided to create a small collection of scarves inspired by Boro, using every precious scrap of yarn in my stash.
I used to teach weave workhops based on the Saori philosophy of ‘no mistakes’ using the warp as a blank canvas, weaving intuitively to create patterns in plain weave and reaching for the different yarns instinctively. I had no idea of how they would turn out, i just let them evolve in each session on the loom.
It’s very much about ‘being in the moment’ with only the small section of weave on the loom visible, that which you have completed is wound away to be rediscovered at the end of the project and only the blank canvas of the warp in front of you to consider.
After a week of daily weave sessions the moment had come to unwind, cut and finish my work.. three very different scarves inspired by Boro.
