Kete Muka Tuatoru
Figure 38: A kaka of whenu and aho made from the same harakeke.
This time around I have much smaller whenu and they have not been twisted so tightly. Also my aho are much finer. This is also due to using a finer and much easier to extract harakeke.
Figure 39: First row aho paatahi.
This has given me a beautiful start. I am so pleased with this compared with my last two kete. The effect of the narrower and loosely twisted whenu is stunning. There is now very little gap between.
Figure 40: First row of whatu.
Although the aho paatahi seemed to work well, when it came to whatu, I noticed some waviness happening to my kete. This usually happens when the aho is too thick.
Figure 41: Redoing first row of whatu with thicker aho.
I undid my whatu and created aho using 3 strands by three. As the whenu were much looser in miro this time, I attempted to give my aho a looser miro, but I was still unhappy with the fit. There is still lots of waviness and there seems to be gaps in between my whenu now.
Figure 42: First line of whatu redone with 1x1 aho.
Eventually I was directed to create aho that were 1 strand by 1 strand and this turned out to be the magic number.
Figure 43: First line of māwhitiwhiti.
I was finally able to commence my māwhitiwhiti. I did the māwhitiwhiti with a twist as it looks beautiful and is a lot more difficult to execute, in the hopes that I would grow in proficiency.
Figure 44: Fourth line of māwhitiwhiti.
My dad passed away at this time of year and while weaving this kete, my neighbour passed and also a very good family friend, so matariki and stars are what I was thinking of when creating this kete.
Figure 45: Golden pāheke.
Where the māwhitiwhiti ended I added a row of golden pāheke, using whatu, to symbolise the golden thread that connects all things, wairuatanga.
Figure 46: Kete muka in exhibition with artist bio and name of piece.