Textile : Network--Macramé, Bilum, Coracle, Charpoy, Lavvu, Yurt, Kiswah
The previous chapter started from the most basic "line", while this piece explores the structure where warp and weft threads interweave to form a "network." This evolution from singular linearity to complex weaving represents not merely technical or craftsmanship advancement, but marks a profound qualitative transformation and leap in human civilization. In weaving, lines acquire structure, structure carries meaning, and civilization thus gains new layers and dimensions.
For the "network," it is not only a physical structure but, like the "line," carries philosophical significance. We commonly use "warp and weft" to describe social relationships, where individual lives and relationships interweave like fabric to take shape.
Philosopher Alan Watts once borrowed the imagery of textiles to describe the interaction between the material and conscious worlds: in his view, the warp represents the perceivable world, including sound, touch, taste, and smell, while the weft threading through it represents the "dimension of meaning"—encompassing moral and aesthetic values, logical reasoning, and individual uniqueness. Thus, networks and lines not only organize matter but also weave our understanding of the world and construction of self.
I will first briefly introduce macramé rope knotting, American Southwest desert Native American turkey feather blankets, and New Guinea bilum feather bags as transitional folk crafts between the two articles on lines and ropes.
Macramé creates various items through knotting rather than weaving or crocheting. It primarily uses rope, arranging and combining different types of knots (such as square knots, lark's head knots, spiral knots, etc.) to create various patterns and structures.
The left image shows Brunello Cucinelli's cashmere crochet forming a mesh structure, while the right image shows Gabriela Hearst's 100% silk macramé knotting creating a mesh structure.
Pueblo yucca cordage turkey feather blanket: Southwestern American Pueblo Indians sewed turkey tail feathers one by one onto yucca fiber rope to form a blanket structure. Each blanket measuring approximately 1 meter × 1 meter required about 11,500 feathers and rope length of approximately 180 meters.
New Guinea's Bilum net bags are often decorated with feathers from chickens, hornbills, large parrots, or cassowaries, primarily used for pilgrimages, coming-of-age ceremonies, and ritual occasions, adding symbolic identity and charm to the wearer (usually males or those participating in adult ceremonies).
In daily life, plain Bilum string bags without feather decorations are more commonly seen.
Many sports revolve around "sending a ball or object into or over a net made from textiles"—such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, ping pong, badminton, soccer, hockey, water polo, and lacrosse.
Basketball's name in both Chinese and English derives from the textile that captures the ball falling into the rim—the "net basket."
Some balls used in these sports also contain textiles. For example, each baseball consists of several layers of yarn, primarily wool material, tightly wound together, which is precisely why baseballs are elastic and bouncy. The cowhide outer shell is still hand-sewn today with exactly 108 stitches. The specifications of baseballs used in Major League Baseball have remained virtually unchanged since the 1930s.
This article uses 'networks' as its entry point, focusing on outdoor rattan and leather woven boats and tents, as well as indoor mesh mosquito nets.
Regarding clothing, the most representative textiles globally among various ethnic groups are the diverse carpets, tapestries, and blankets, which, due to their varied patterns, styles, and rich meanings, will be specifically explored in the next article.
Outdoors
Boats and tents categorized by rattan thatch and fur
Rattan
Snowshoes increase mesh weaving structures to distribute human body pressure. Civil and landscape engineers use geotextiles—a type of strong, porous fabric—woven directly into the ground. This fabric can serve as a filtration layer or drainage layer, with plant root systems intertwining with it to prevent soil erosion. There is a special type of geotextile that allows plants to grow on water surfaces, forming movable "floating islands."
Early inhabitants of the Euphrates and Nile rivers crossed rivers using woven grass boats. The image below shows grass boats from Peru's Lake Titicaca.
A coracle refers to this type of round small boat with a willow branch frame covered with birch bark skin, originating from Iron Age Celts in Britain, primarily used for fishing in rivers of Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and western England.
India, various islands colonized by Britain, and Southeast Asia still use them today.
India also has the distinctive four-legged wooden rattan chair called charpoy, which serves as both seating and reclining furniture.
Many houses in rainy, hot and humid tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia and in Sudan, Ethiopia, and other African regions also use rattan thatch weaving for roofs.
In the mid-19th century, rattan-structured baby carriages (perambulators) became widely popular in Europe and America. Early carriages mostly featured basket-like structures made from weaving, offering lightness and ventilation advantages. They gradually evolved into forms with fabric stretched over metal frames (like horse carriages), equipped with soft, delicate interior linings that combined comfort with aesthetic appeal.
Besides rattan, willow, and grass, the Haida Indians from the spruce forests of western United States and Canada also harvested spruce tree roots to make hats.
During spring and autumn seasons, women or partners searched for Sitka Spruce roots in coastal sandy, soft areas. The optimal collection environment was moist, rainy, sandy soil near the coast (to maintain fiber moisture and increase flexibility), preserving the tree's root system integrity and covering with soil replacement, expressing gratitude and respect to ensure continued harvest in coming years.
The harvested spruce roots were kept coiled and moist, then lightly roasted over charcoal fire to make the outer bark "burst" and separate from the inner layer. After removing the heavy outer bark, the light-colored inner core fiber suitable for weaving was exposed, split into thin strips, dried, and stored for future use.
Local Indians typically wove hats from fibers made from spruce tree roots. The image below shows Haida Indian spruce weaving artist Delores Churchill.
Many cultures (Islamic kufi caps, Jewish yarmulke or kippa caps, Yoruba/Candomblé traditional fila caps, Sikh turbans) believe the soul resides in the head. It is not only the part of the body closest to heaven but is also viewed as the center of spiritual energy. Therefore, head coverings often symbolize connection with divine spirits. They believe small caps can block harmful cosmic rays from affecting the pineal gland, which is viewed as the center of spiritual awakening and creative thinking. Great Plains and Northeastern Indian hats typically feature feathers.
Besides roots, tree bark is also used for textile patterns. Bark cloth is made from the inner bark of specific trees, such as mulberry, breadfruit, or banyan trees, soaked to soften, beaten, and pressed into paper-like cloth.
In parts of South America, it's called damajagua and used for daily items like sleeping mats. In Polynesia (such as Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii), it has highly developed and is called tapa, siapo, ngatu, kapa, etc.
Other plant weaving materials: The most widely used and effective linen or hemp, like spruce roots, require removing the rough outer gelatinous layer. Unlike spruce roots roasted over charcoal, hemp and linen undergo water retting fermentation treatment. Generally soaking in water easily causes downstream pollution, as early as in the Nile and England, inducing related problems.
Leather & Wool
Besides rattan, willow, leaves, and thatch, in cold Arctic regions, leather wrapping is more commonly used, while in Central Asian deserts and desert regions with large day-night temperature differences, sheep wool felt and goat hair are used.
Inuit people traditionally use animal skins (usually sealskin or caribou hide) to carefully sew kayaks, wrapping them around lightweight driftwood or whalebone frames. These leathers are sewn together with sinew thread (not plant cotton thread, but dried animal muscle tendons), using special stitching methods to ensure waterproof sealing. The finished kayaks have smooth lines, strong buoyancy, and flexible control, suitable for hunting marine animals in icy Arctic waters.
Inuit people also make waterproof parkas from seal, sea lion, polar bear, or whale intestinal casings for warmth (gut skin parka).
The left image shows a Scandinavian Sami tent, called Lavvu in Sami language, which is the traditional dwelling of the Sami people, indigenous to the Scandinavian Peninsula (including Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia's Kola Peninsula). Traditional Lavvu covering material is usually reindeer hide, while modern versions mostly use canvas or other waterproof materials.
The basic shape of Lavvu is conical, with several wooden poles converging at the top to form a sturdy framework. The center usually has no separate support pole, but the tent fabric is fixed to the framework.
The interior is typically arranged around a central fire pit, with an opening at the top for smoke exhaust and ventilation.
The right image shows North American Indian conical tents, commonly called Tipi, which are traditional dwellings of many indigenous tribes in the Great Plains region of North America (such as the Sioux, Cheyenne, etc.). To adapt to the semi-nomadic or nomadic life of tribes following buffalo herds, traditional Tipi covering material was buffalo hide.
Central Asian wool felt houses (Yurt), called Ger (Mongolian yurt) in Mongolian. Central Asian steppes experience year-round strong winds, large day-night temperature differences, and cold nights, while thick, dense wool felt Yurts have excellent wind resistance and insulation capabilities.
The circular design of Yurts itself is a natural barrier against strong winds. Wind can flow smoothly over the circular surface without creating strong impacts and vortices like at the corners of square buildings.
In desert regions, Saudi Arabia exteriors use lightweight, thin, dark-colored goat fleece.
Indoors
Tents become bed curtains and mosquito nets providing privacy when moved indoors.
In medieval Europe, wooden bathtubs were usually lined with a layer of cloth to prevent wooden splinters (to prevent wood chips from poking). Sometimes, bathtubs were also covered with cloth curtains, forming a tent-like structure that provided privacy and insulation, as the curtains could trap steam rising from hot water inside, making the bather feel warmer.
The image below shows mosquito nets with added special insect repellent agents.
Iconet® is a Swiss-headquartered global public health company specializing in providing humanitarian technology products such as anti-malaria mosquito nets and water purification equipment for developing countries. The company is renowned for its innovative mosquito net products (such as PermaNet®).
"Lao-Thai" region mosquito net.
Although many Southeast Asian ancestors were Chinese who went south, I still feel that some things, once they arrived there, became somewhat eerie. Besides the mosquito nets above, the Hmong people in Vietnam and Laos are also like this, lacking the original righteousness. I don't know if it's because the natural survival conditions there are too harsh.
This tent resembles the cubic building Kaaba in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Kaaba's exterior walls are also covered with a huge black silk cloth—the Kiswah.
The most striking feature of the Kiswah is its surface decorated with rectangular patterns embroidered with Quranic verses in gold and silver threads (or gold-plated silver threads). These verses are usually about praising Allah and core verses of Islamic faith.
During the annual pilgrimage (Hajj), which occurs in the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar (Dhul-Hijjah), the old Kiswah is removed and replaced with a completely new Kiswah. The replaced old Kiswah is cut into small pieces and given to dignitaries, institutions, or used for museum collections.
Other representative weavings include hammocks and Futon mattresses. Hammocks are common in parts of coastal Latin America. American camping prefers bringing hammocks rather than picnic mats.
As time progresses, these mesh textiles become increasingly refined and complex.
Epilogue
This article led me to view boats, tents, and household textiles—areas I previously didn't pay much attention to—from a completely new angle: 'networks' and textiles. Looking at individual pieces might seem to have little practical value, but when placed within the entire Textile article series, it's like a corner of a puzzle, helping us understand the world of textiles more completely. Next article, let's talk about blankets.
pamperherself
