Knotless Netting
with Kathy Rousso
2-Day Zoom Workshop Sunday, October 18, 2020 (day 1), 1:30-3:00pm Sunday October 25, 2020 (day 2), 1:30-3:00pm
Fee: $40 Deadline to register: 10/13/20 TAC members and up to one paying guest may register.
Kathy Rousso will teach knotless netting or looping, a method used to make net bags. One of the earliest textile techniques used around the world, looping can be simple, figure-eight (hourglass), cross-knit, and single interconnected. Countries in the Pacific region and Latin America are especially known for net bags, commonly called bolsa, moral, chácara, shigra, and bilum.
See this short introductory video from Kathy.
In a project of simple-looping around a solid form (gourd, bottle, vase, etc.), participants will learn how to begin, increase, decrease, add more strands in lieu of a knot and complete.
Unlike knitting and crochet, the active single element thread goes through the previous hole, which means short lengths of cordage are used. Traditionally thigh or finger spinning was done to add to the end every 3 yards or so, which leads to no knots and thus a much stronger bag. To make it stretchier, loops are constructed bigger and looser.
Materials list (Participants supply own materials):
Stiff cordage, such as sisal, hemp, waxed linen
Large eye, blunt needle
Scissors
Form to work around (such as a jar or vase)
Optional: beads to fit your cord
Kathy Rousso has a passion for making contemporary baskets using traditional techniques from northwest coast basketry, Ravenstail, Chilkat twining, and simple-loop netting from Latin America. She has taught weaving, net bag-making, and basketry in Guatemala, Mexico, Alaska, and Canada. Her baskets are in private collections and on display in the Tongass Historical Museum in Ketchikan, Alaska, where she lives.
On a Fulbright grant in 2001, she learned about Guatemala agave fiber techniques and worked with the Museo Ixchel del Traje Indigena. Her research resulted in Maguey Journey: Discovering Textiles in Guatemala (University of Arizona Press) as well as numerous other publications and presentations.
Learn more about Kathy at http://kathrynrousso.com
Photos courtesy of Kathy Rousso.
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