Mushroom Obsession

Last summer, I joined the Complex Weavers 3D group to challenge myself and explore unfamiliar bindings in depth. The group theme for 2023/24 was “sharp fabric pleats like mushroom lamellae”. As a mushroom picker, the topic immediately appealed to me, but as a weaver I was completely at loss, as I had never woven pleats before. Fortunately, the group had a Zoom session on the topic, a list of literature and lots of good advice.

My first efforts were not a success, the fabrics would not crease at all. I decided to try over-twisted yarn, a previously unknown material to me, and drew inspiration from Ann Richards' books. Pleats form and keep their shape best in stiff materials, like linen or even metallic threads. But I wanted to make a soft fabric suitable for scarves. After more than 60 weaving samples in different materials and yarn counts, I had reached my goal.

I wove 18 identic fabric samples and sent them to the group coordinator with the weaving description. After about a month I received a box of weaving instructions and samples, one per member - a veritable treasure trove! Detailed weaving describptions, thoughts and reflections on the development process and of course fabric samples with pleats in warp or weft direction (or both!) in a variety of materials, bindings and finishes: Linen, hemp, steel thread, rayon, wool, cotton, polyester, tencel; twill, shibori, doubel weave, ...

My experiments resulted in a series of scarves, which I chose to call Chanterelle, after one of my favourite mushrooms. Each of the silk and merino scarves is different. Detailed photos and descriptions of each item are now online in my tiny webshop.