The Waitaki region stretches from the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean, with much of the boundary running along the Waitaki River. It is beautiful, with a wealth of natural geological features, history, heritage and culture.
... telling a story of people, time and place ...
Our Waitaki tartan is as narrative, borne from a desire to create a tangible legacy
connecting the past, present and the future.
We hope the stories behind the colours and design will encourage people to reflect
on the relationships we have, or could have, with each other and our environment.
... the colours we have chosen, and what they mean to us ...
BUSH GREEN
Speaking to the native and exotic flora of the Waitaki - personal reflection
AQUA
Interpreting the myriad colours of the Waitaki River and the Pacific Ocean - journeys and migration
ROCK GREY
Signifying the bedrock of the mountains, the volcanic basalt, the greywacke of the river stones - bedrock of tradition
FAWN
Reflecting the beauty and colour variants of fossil rich limestone and tussock of the Waitaki - resilience
RED
Representing the peoples of the Waitaki: tangata whenua and those who have migrated and settled here since - honour and respect
the process behind our tartan design
Telling someone else's story is complex on a number of levels. We are still working on these narratives, trying to ensure we tell the stories of others with respect and integrity. We believe the stories we are telling on behalf of those who came before us will both refine and expand as we learn more. Sharing the stories of the Waitaki is an honour. Weaving a tartan fabric that tells some of these stories is something dreams are made of.
We are so very grateful for this opportunity.
Our c1895 Hattersley Domestic Weaving System also provided us with a few design challenges. One of the limitations is the rotating shuttle box, which can only click once to the left or right for each colour change. We have five colours and six shuttles, so trying to tell complex cultural, historical and geographical stories is tricky; they need to be reduced to their essence.
Another limitation is our warping frame; we can only warp up one three inch section at a time, therefore there are a lot of bobbin changes. These limitations are all part of our Waitaki tartan story.
... step by step, the design unfolds ...
Photo credit: Gong from Lostation. We looked at the colours we saw in the Waitaki district, from the mountains, to the Waitaki and other rivers, the Pacific Ocean, limestone, tussocks, forests and vegetation. We also thought a lot about the generations of people who have lived and loved in the Waitaki.
Photo credit: Ferne Smyth. Rock and tussock, fortitude and resilience, the bedrock of tradition and the vast and beautiful barrenness are captured in Ferne's image of inland Waitaki.
Photo credit: Alice Hore. Choosing the colour to represent the Waitaki River and Pacific Ocean was the most difficult. There are myriad colours in both, different colours at any time of the day, so in the end, we chose the one we felt was a representation of them all, and that we loved!
This was the four colour design we settled on. We used a free online tartan generator to create the design. The stories we wanted our tartan to reference included the interconnection of people, land and water, and the connections people past, present and future have, and will have with the Waitaki district.
Creating a fabric with a very small ecological footprint played an important part in our decision to keep the purchase and processing of the fleece as local as possible. It may have cost more financially, but we are proud of achieving this.
Just when we thought we had everything aligned, we visited our friend, Dominican Sister and artist Mary Horn. She remined us of her 2009 Pilgrimage exhibition at the Forrester Gallery in Oamaru. When we saw her catalogue we looked at each other, realising simultaneously that we needed to include the dark green we had been trying not to include due to design and financial constraints.
So, now with five colours, and a rotating shuttle box that fits six shuttles and has limited rotation options, we set about creating a new design. We still didn't have any finely spun yarn to trial our ideas, so we were effectively working from the seat of our creative pants.
This is the design we came up with.: Waitaki #1. In it you can see references to the beautiful braided Waitaki River, other waterways and the Pacific Ocean, the geological and visual landscape and past, present and future generations of people with a connection to the Waitaki district.
The closest we got to testing our design was this winding onto a stick. We don't have a sample loom, so our first length of tartan fabric was to be our prototype warp. At this stage we were just hoping it would all work!
... to care for your little piece of Waitaki ...
Please wash this fine Merino wool product with care. Avoid snagging. We recommend washing
gently by hand using an eco-friendly wool detergent. Dry flat in the shade. Cool iron.
DO NOT MACHINE WASH OR TUMBLE DRY.