(Post 28 of 193. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)
Our next stop felt like reaching the end of a pilgrimage — Teotitlán de Valle.
This village is known for its wool rugs that use only natural dyes for their vibrant colours. I have dreamed of owning a Teotitlán rug for a long time. So long that I had budgeted to buy one for my bedroom. Rugs don’t really make sense in my current house due to all the dust, but I could justify the purchase as I need some insulation under my hammock. But with the current world unrest and threat of work very likely slowing down, I knew I wasn’t going to come home with the rug of my dreams. I had to keep reminding myself that Oaxaca is easy and cheap to get from just about anywhere in Mérida and that next time I come to Teotitlán, I could very well be in my own home and in need of more than just one rug!
At any rate…
We got an excellent demonstration of how the dyes are achieved.
We were all challenged to brush out the wool. VERY difficult. One lady and I were the only ones who came close!
Tones of white to cream can come directly from the colour of the wool itself. Any colour with red, including pinks, purples, and oranges, starts with the “blood” of this cactus, which is actually an insect called cochineal. This insect has been responsible for the colour red throughout history, from fabric dyes to lipstick. You can see some of dried cochineal that has been pounded to bring out the red colour.
You can even use cochineal to achieve my favourite colour — rose!
He demonstrated how adding sodium bicarbonate and/or lime juice to the cochineal can change the colour.
This is indigo. I have never seen it in its natural form!
He showed us many more “ingredients” to make colours from pure black to bright yellow.
The dyes are fixed with acid, vinegar, and other solutions, some more toxic than others.
We then got a very generous demonstration of how the weaving process happens on the loom, including changing colours and making patterns. This is such a common pattern that it is pretty much bred into the collective consciousness and done from memory. But other designs are planned out and even drawn onto the warp threads.
We then got to tour the gallery.
That narrow pink one should have come home with me 🙂
I’m glad I took this picture, reasons for which I’ll explain below. But have a peek in that basket.
The rugs all seemed so reasonably priced. The one I would have wanted would have only been 3,000 pesos, which seemed like a bargain to me. I didn’t go home empty-handed, though. 🙂
I spotted this shawl in my favourite shade of pink.
I could imagine it draped over my shoulders on a cold winter evening or even used as a wall hanging. An unkind person told me that I’m so gullible about it having been made there because there is no way that shade of pink could be achieved naturally. HA. I saw it happen during the demonstration of the cochineal with lime juice and indigo, plus the picture above of the different wools shows a card of that very wool in the basket! AND, I saw a similar project on a loom. So I might not be coming home with a Teotitlán rug, but I have a beautiful piece from my first visit there. I could not believe it was only 400 pesos!