As we have been concentrating on orders, mainly carpets, for much of 2011 the production of some of our smaller lines was interrupted.  As we begin this year we are concentrating on building up a decent stock of silk scarves and have been looking at new colours to use.  Our mulberry silk is spun by hand, which is the slow part, and then dyed and woven according to size.  I keep the scarves skinny and long so they can be generously wrapped around your neck, but remain light and manageable.   Nothing worse than drowning in a scarf.

We are starting this work year, as we usually do, towards the end of January.  We believe in rest and relaxation and always take an extended break which raises eyebrows and causes a mild outbreak of jealousy amongst others who got back to work earlier in the year.  The disadvantage of a late start is the feeling that you are slightly left behind and there is a flurry of finding colours, beginning samples and trying to appear that you are directly on top of the situation when in fact it is taking a little time. 

I thought I would begin with some bold stripes for our shop – a teal blue with a caramel, and a predictable but classic grey combination.  We are also weaving some sample carpet colours that hint of grey blues, browny greys but all have a lick of colour in a terracotta and gold.

I find a dull gold works so well in so many different applications and both the teal and gold/camel/caramel have popped up in all sorts of places.  I love it in my own house and put together a few pictures where it works so well.  This sort of colour adds life and energy to a room.

The Spa was just how a spa should be, cool and calm, minimal and tranquil.  Our blankets looked perfectly folded and blended in beautifully. 

Most impressed.

It has been a year to remember, we have been inundated with work and have proved we have a huge appetite for it!  We had some firsts (this is something in 61 years of business..)

• We wove the largest carpet we have ever done before.  It was a monster 5.50m wide x 9.50m long and weighed 220kg.  It left for Colorado in October and took about 5 months of work, a full raft of spinners, dyeing and weavers made it happen.  It was so beautiful, had a metallic colour and a fan club had formed in its honour.

• We wove the biggest (in volume) single carpet order for a home in Plettenberg Bay.  Seven large rugs and 12 small bath mats.  The carpets all picked up different colours, but followed a similar theme, gentle greys, taupe, chalk and mushroom. 

• We wove two tufted pink carpets in various hues of pink beginning with a very light flamingo and ending with a dark and dusky shade.  It was challenging as we had to weave two exactly the same.  Always a challenge for us.  They were beautiful though and I coveted them, hoping the client would not like them, so I could keep them.

• We wove a very long carpet that also had to change colour subtly as it progressed.  It was a huge success and the clients loved it.  The house was nominated for an award.

• We repeated an order originally done 12 years ago for a major convention centre in Sandton.  The client wanted exactly the same order, same design replicated.  This is always the sign of good design.  You don’t get sick of it.  It works for ever.

• We have also refined some of our more adventurous dyeing techniques, something that you will see more of next year.

• We featured at Maison Objet as part of the Mohair South Africa stand.  Our shaggy throw was the taste of Paris.  It was very well received in all sorts of stylish quarters.

Overall it has been a fabulous year – we have so much to be grateful for – thanks to everyone for your support and belief in our products.

We are nearing completion of several hundreds of meters of a fabric to be used for wall panelling.  The composition is raffia (natural, finely stripped and undyed), cotton (lightly dyed to match the raffia), fine black cotton thread (just a touch) and a two ply strand of gold lurex (I think this clinches it).

We originally wove the fabric 12 years ago, and were asked to repeat the fabric for a refurbishment.  The weaving process is slow as the different yarns are combined on a weaving stick and pushed through a wide warp by hand.  No shuttle weaving here, the weaver is able to produce about a meter per day.  So a 45m roll takes 5-6 weeks.  So it is with great relief that we are packing up the order and while only two pieces remain on the loom, they will be ready next week .  It has been a slow motion exercise, but the beautiful fabric which will adorn the walls of a convention center will hopefully last another decade.

We have also woven our traditional ribbed carpets but with inlays of a strong, charcoal grey, putting this together will be challenging as measurements shrink and stretch while being woven.  It will all come together this week.

 Phindele is weaving some thick tufted cushion covers which incorporate shop twine and lots of clout and punch.  I sent one off to a customer today, and they are irresistable.  One is coming off the loom tomorrow, so will ensure to post a pic.  There is nothing better than walking through the weaving studio when it is humming, winding and clattering and all the looms are working.  Today has been that day, there is a sense of urgency, purpose and creation going on. 

I recently returned from a trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Northern Cape/Botswana.  It is my third visit in as many years and I am always impressed and satisfied by the amount of open space I find myself in and the sheer height of the sky.  The horizon is low with undulating dunes giving way to an enormous scape of a sky which is piercingly blue during the day.  At night it is as though fairy lights have been slung across the dome shaped sky, such is the brightness of the stars.

If you are lucky enough to see the gracious and dramatic formations of clouds at sunset, you will have seen something spectacular – truly memorable endings to unforgettable scences.  As we left, thunderclouds were building up and we felt the first few, precious drops of rain to fall this season.  The land seemed to sigh with relief.

We have recently been asked to make some textured, tufted, shaggy pieces of fabrics and cushions which have made me think about all sorts of new ways to use fringes and add elements that take a piece from ordinary to memorable.  Cushion covers with big, puffy fringes, tufted thick cotton cushions with a combination of twine and stripped cotton in similar shades provide something that must be touched and felt and squeezed and experienced.  It is fabric that draws you in and invites an interaction.  These  are often small touches, but they make all the difference and make it yours and they make it lots of fun.   I like the textured cotton throws we are weaving for a customer, raffia rugs under my feet in summer the cool cotton throws, the blue hues of the specially dyed pieces we have just done for a lodge in Mauritius and the raffia and rough cotton fringes that will end up blowing lightly in the wind in a piece of Indian ocean paradise. 

Welcome Summer!

This was a shoot done for the Mohair South Africa stand at Maison & Objet, Sept. 2011.  Our products feature proudly and prominently.  Colour choice is strong, our acid yellow is not for the faint hearted and will ignite a room.

Photo credits for these pictures: photographs by Thomas Straub; styling by Nelson Sepulveda; set design by Mark Eden Schooley