Have you seen this hammock?
September 3, 2011 6:18 AM Subscribe
My friend bought a hammock (or chinchorro?) in Colombia, and we can't work out how it was made - and, being nosy about such things, would like to know. It's some kind of bias-woven check, unlike all the ones with longitudinal stripes. Here's a random picture of the same kind of hammock; there are more pictures behind the cut.
The ends of the hammock are loops in the threads, rather than loose ends. We couldn't actually find any of the ends.
The plaited bits at the end just spread out to form the weave.
At the edges, the threads bounce off at 90° to their original course. The fringes appear to be made separately and attached as decoration.
Here is a corner, just because.
These two transverse [ridges ?] are probably important (some sort of construction point?). In the first photo you can see that one's about level with the guy's shoulders and the other one's somewhere round his ankles.
Apparently this style of hammock is only made in a particular region of Colombia, and is very expensive elsewhere (and was somewhat expensive there). It certainly feels very nice and looks well made, but we'd really like to know *how* it was made; it looks like it might require a method that can only be done by hand. My Spanish is not up to searching for such an explanation, but if an explanation only exists in Spanish, links are welcome.
Some else might be posting these pictures to Ravelry and/or elsewhere. It's not me, but we don't need linking to each other's posts!
The ends of the hammock are loops in the threads, rather than loose ends. We couldn't actually find any of the ends.
The plaited bits at the end just spread out to form the weave.
At the edges, the threads bounce off at 90° to their original course. The fringes appear to be made separately and attached as decoration.
Here is a corner, just because.
These two transverse [ridges ?] are probably important (some sort of construction point?). In the first photo you can see that one's about level with the guy's shoulders and the other one's somewhere round his ankles.
![These two transverse [ridges ?]](http://i.imgur.com/5nzVg.jpg){kind=link}
Apparently this style of hammock is only made in a particular region of Colombia, and is very expensive elsewhere (and was somewhat expensive there). It certainly feels very nice and looks well made, but we'd really like to know *how* it was made; it looks like it might require a method that can only be done by hand. My Spanish is not up to searching for such an explanation, but if an explanation only exists in Spanish, links are welcome.
Some else might be posting these pictures to Ravelry and/or elsewhere. It's not me, but we don't need linking to each other's posts!
Liet has it, I think. The are woven in vertical standing weaving frames in the typical fishing net weave which makes that the body ventilates, according to an apparently-autotranslated page on the subject.
posted by KathrynT at 7:25 AM on September 3, 2011
posted by KathrynT at 7:25 AM on September 3, 2011
Best answer: For general interest, and to give you a word to add to your search, I believe these hammocks are a handicraft of the Wayuu people. There's an interesting video showing the weaving and the people on this page.
You can see the loom and lots of drawings of that process on this page. Also see here, which has drawings of the parts of the chinchorro, labelled with their proper names. (I linked to the translation, so you can read what they have to say. The labels are part of the drawing, so they are not translated.)
They start by making the yarn from a plant. Discussed here, and I believe this is a video showing a little bit of how that's done.
Unfortunately, none of these links have specific crochet instructions but maybe it will help you and others find some. If your friend goes back to Colombia, and finds himself near Manaure, he could stop by Artesanías Wayuu Jalianaya and watch them make the chinchorros.
posted by Houstonian at 8:08 AM on September 3, 2011
You can see the loom and lots of drawings of that process on this page. Also see here, which has drawings of the parts of the chinchorro, labelled with their proper names. (I linked to the translation, so you can read what they have to say. The labels are part of the drawing, so they are not translated.)
They start by making the yarn from a plant. Discussed here, and I believe this is a video showing a little bit of how that's done.
Unfortunately, none of these links have specific crochet instructions but maybe it will help you and others find some. If your friend goes back to Colombia, and finds himself near Manaure, he could stop by Artesanías Wayuu Jalianaya and watch them make the chinchorros.
posted by Houstonian at 8:08 AM on September 3, 2011
Response by poster: liet, thank you for that suggestion. I hadn't seen anything like that before.
KathrynT, I had seen that page before, but the one in their picture doesn't look anything like this one - it looks like it's netted, e.g. more like some kinds of chainlink fence, whereas this one definitely looks more woven (but possibly isn't).
Houstonian, thank you for the links!
posted by Lebannen at 10:41 AM on September 5, 2011
KathrynT, I had seen that page before, but the one in their picture doesn't look anything like this one - it looks like it's netted, e.g. more like some kinds of chainlink fence, whereas this one definitely looks more woven (but possibly isn't).
Houstonian, thank you for the links!
posted by Lebannen at 10:41 AM on September 5, 2011
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posted by liet at 6:56 AM on September 3, 2011