A Length of Zanshi ori: Zones of Leftover Woven Yarn

early twentieth century
40 1/4" x 13 1/2", 102 cm x 34 cm

Zanshi ori is cloth that is woven from threads either leftover from home production of yarn making, or from broken threads that were purchased from local commercial weavers.  Usually the weft is fed with these random threads while generally the warp is made of solid toned yarns.

If home threads are used, knotted slubs can often be seen and this length is full of them--the last detail photo that accompanies this post is intended to show the knots and slubs that are the result of tying leftover yarns together to create one long filament.

This length of zanshi ori is particularly interesting for its zones or blocks of pattern and striping, it is almost like a sampler of the various forms that zanshi ori can assume.

The cotton yarns used to weave this length are probably machine spun and the result of the weaving is visually interesting.