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- Knitting in Iran
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Knitting in Iran
There are few places I’ve gone where I couldn’t turn a trip into a yarn/textile adventure. Of course you’d expect to find yarn (or yarn on the hoof) at a nomadic encampment in Iran as we did near the abandoned town of Qalat.
We also found in addition to the rug weavers and the many shops in bazars where there were both supplies for weaving and shops for rug repair, I did manage to find a small hole-in-the-wall in Kashan selling yarn for knitting and crochet. The ladies there were intent on my finding something unique to take home…it ended up being a novelty yarn from Turkey, but they were so excited about it that there was no question of its being added to my stash.
Socks
I love socks. I love knitting socks. They are my go-to project for airplane trips, for “in between” other projects, and for “not having to pay much attention” projects. I began a serious collection of nomadic socks while living in Turkey in the mid-1990s, and I can’t stop. My hope had been to reach Masouleh, where I knew that knitting was still a very important activity, but had to settle for purchasing socks in the Grand Bazar in Tehran.
This pair of socks from NE Iran may be a Kurdish design. In addition to being quite soft, they are knit to a very dense 12 stitches/inch. Some of the yarn appears to be cotton — it isn’t uncommon to find that white yarns are indeed cotton which is brighter and stands out more than the wool.
The construction is pretty much the same as for Turkish socks, and the color combinations are often surprising. The bright acid dyes can be eye-popping!
Harder to find are the traditional socks from nomadic groups like the Bakhtiari (from SW Iran), most often knit in white wool (a combination of sheep and goat wool – making them quite durable).
These wool and angora socks are knit in a twisted rib. What is unusual here is that they are seamed on the bottom. They are knit toe-up (typical, but not the case for all of the socks I’ve seen in the Middle East) and are very finely worked at 16 stitches/inch.
We’ll take a look at some of my Turkish socks in an upcoming post.
Ikat in Iran
In the fall of 2017, Bruce and I were lucky enough to be able to spend 2 weeks in the wonderful country of Iran. With our tour guide Ali, we traveled from Shiraz to Tehran, visiting museums, historic sites, incredible architecture, and of course, the local bazaars. In Yazd, we happened across a weaving atelier where Hossein Nikkhah, the last remaining master of Ikat weaving, was kind enough to spend time with us, telling us about his life as a weaver. At 85, he was sad to report that he could no longer find anyone to apprentice as a hand-weaver, and was worried that the art form would die out. As I sat next to him, he continued weaving and chatting, and was delighted to learn that my mother had continued weaving to age 91. He told me that was very inspirational, but he still intended to retire!
Ikat is a resist-dying technique where (in this instance) the warp threads are tied in bundles (think tie-dye) to create patterns. The weft threads in Iranian ikat are thinner than the warp, so the ikat pattern from the warp shows on the face of the weaving.
The piece you can see above hanging on the back wall of the atelier is an example from Mr. Nikkhah’s master. He told me he never expected to be able to weave that well, but thought his work “wasn’t so bad.” It is absolutely gorgeous! I was able to purchase a small piece to bring home, and he was so touched that he not only autographed the hanging, but gave us a lovely black and white cotton bread cloth — the kind of weaving given to newlyweds to begin a collection of household textiles for daily life.
If you have the chance to visit Iran, please do go! It is a wonderful place with friendly and open people who enjoy practicing their English with Americans, and are quick to say that they love Americans, even if they don’t always like our politics. It is a very safe place to travel, and the hotels are excellent as is the food. A trip to Iran is a wonderful travel experience — I promise you won’t be disappointed.
