Weaving

We started out the day on a stop in Tule just south east of Oaxaca. 
This tree is 2000 yrs. old and children used to tell stories about it and the imaginary people in the tree.  You can see a face in the trunk with limbs for hair.
Here is a the flower of the iced tea I have been drinking.  Aqua fresca de Jamaica
We arrived at Teohuacan delle Valle in the foothills round Oaxaca.  This family that has been in weaving for generations welcomed us and explained the wool used, the dyeing of the wool with natural products and the weaving of the rugs they sell.  One of the dyes to make red and shades of red and orange is a small beetle that is a parasite of a cactus.  They propigate this small bug to get the red dye.

The beetle is smashed up on the metate and then depending on if you add lime juice to it or alum, it will thurn a shade of red.  Of course the color of the wool initially with decide the end color too.  Dark wool will made a maroon color.

These are some of the natural plants and barks that will make dyes.  The marigold is for yellows.  The cactus leaf is for the beetles.
Yves working on a loom.
 

These are the tiny beetle parasites that make the red color.
This is a shed they use to keep the cactus leaves.
A window onto the landscape east of Oaxaca.

Examples of our weaving.

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