More often than not, I seem to return to traditional patterns. There’s much to be learned there in the seeming simplicity. There is also another aspect, the terminology – what it means, the stories behind the words.
Recently, because I was working on a small tatewaku patterned furoshiki I looked up the term in Yoshiko Wada’s Shibori where it is defined as “undulating lines.”
The kanji isn’t in the text, so on a search using「たてわく] found「立枠」 in the context of kimono patterning ( illustrated).
Looking more closely, 「立て」(tate) means “to stand” or “rise” and 「枠」(waku) means “frame, framework, spindle, spool” and “bounding-box” (Jim Breen). Mary Parker, in her book, Sashiko, says that it’s called “rising-steam” and that it dates back to at least to the Heian period. By the Edo (Tokugawa) period it was used as a framework for floral and circular patterns in textile work.
In other searches, other words and expressions rose to the surface:
のたり のたり(notari notari)- an expression meaning gently swelling and rolling.
はせん・波線 ・hasen is a wavy line.
なみがた(namigata) and はけい(hakei)波形 define as a wavy form or rippling shape.
Then “serpentine” came to mind (recalling the serpentine wall on Cincinnati’s riverfront) –
えんえん(en en) which refers to the feeling of meandering, winding, and zigzagging….
Finally, I encountered へびのよう「蛇の様」・hebi no you – like a snake. This of course, has no relation to tatewaku, or does it? It was fun to meander through those definitions.
I am also reminded that it is the Year of the Snake – 蛇年!
Tags: たてわく, Edo period, Heian period, Mary Parker Sashiko, Shibori, shibori patterns, tatewaku, Year of the Snake, Yoshiko Wada Shibori
January 16, 2013 at 6:53 am |
isn’t tate also warp?
January 16, 2013 at 9:08 am |
It definitely is, since you mentioned it, I looked it up. It’s a different kanji – here it is: 経糸・たていと) (weaving) warp.
January 18, 2013 at 3:24 pm |
[…] Susan over at ito de has been incorporating thoughts of kanji into her work. lots of good posts over […]
January 18, 2013 at 4:17 pm |
Thank you, Glennis!