Crios

An Irish Crios (pronounced Kris) is a multi-coloured woven woollen belt. Traditionally it is woven from wool of six colours, often with a white border, however, Keith, my client who commissioned this Crios had very specific ideas to its design.

Keith wanted the design to mirror that of his Shepherd's Plaid that I had previously woven (see A Shepherd's Plaid For Keith); not easy when the whole piece is only 8cms wide. To allow for shrinkage, the warp was made to 9cms wide; five centimetres for the central tartan section with two centimetres on each side for the border. The required length was three metres which allowed for the belt to be wrapped around the body multiple times.

Northumbrian Tartan is traditionally woven in black and white and this is what was required for the Crios; I used natural coloured Jacob yarn which was an off-white and very dark brown. It was woven in a simple twill, maintaining the traditional structure of the tartan.