06/09/2007
Basic types of weaving.

comitech

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The skouti: is a durable material appropriate to respond to the increased needs of the animal breeding population. In Metsovo for example this was a woolen material used for self-consumption, called batalliou. This type with the same characteristics is included in the types produced the same time period in the entire Balkans. The clothing of the animal breeders was made initially of natural wool in the colour of the sheep, white or black. As the years passed they extended to the indigo colour mainly for clothing.
It is woven with the simple basic technique of the loom: a continuous passing of the woof to the warp with the shuttle. The warp and the woof of this material are generously spun. It is woven in a continuous material with predetermined length when destined for clothing and articles for common and daily use. When destined for human clothing a good quality wool is used while for rugs or woven articles for animals (tsolia) a secondary quality wool is used that is rougher as to save time and labor it is not passed through the process of water beating. Depending on the type of material that is to be woven the selection of the appropriate wool is made, the spinning, the dyeing. This type is encountered in many areas and indicates the commercial and cultural paths of the time period.
Poulli di moultou: Another material born in Metsovo is the poulli di moultou, a type of great importance for the society of the region that was a luxury item. It is not an innovation or negation of the traditional type. Figuratively it exhausts the decorative capability of the surface. It follows social rules and values of the era. From the simple and thick material we have moved to the thin one, which landmarks a social rise and financial affluence. Women spin and weave not for self-consumption but for the market and by order of the rich and economically upward rising social layers.