The Two-Pair Weft

The stimulus of making better garments for persons of social importance led to greater development in the manufacture of cloaks. A new form of weft consisting of two pairs of threads instead of one pair came into vogue as the orthodox technique for dress cloaks and the single-pair weft remained with the humbler yet always useful garments for shedding rain. The technique with the two-pair weft consists of doubling a long pair of threads around the first warp on the left to form a front and a page 169back pair. The back pair is opened out and the front pair is passed between its two threads. The two pairs are drawn taut around the warp. In crossing, the back pair is now in front. The next warp is placed between the two pairs and the process repeated around each warp from left to right, the two pairs changing position on each warp and always the back pair opening out on the right of each warp to enclose and interlock with the front pair (Fig. 30a). The rest of the body technique is similar to that with the single-pair twine, including the commencement at the bottom and the free warp ends being left long for the neck finish.

The two-pair weft is termed aho rua. I could not find any trace of its organized use in central Polynesia so it may be credited as a local invention in New Zealand.