Figure 31. Twill plaiting of tapakau sitting mat. a, with finishing braid tail (10) to left and thick braid beneath, plaiter sits on near wefts (11) and plaits wefts on far side of braid, commencing on left; all wefts directed toward right from method of fixing them in keel braid; first weft (1) in position as natural dextral and next weft (2) turned under it toward left as sinistral; next two wefts in position as dextrals and next one (3) twisted under them to left to form sinistral and comply with twilled-two stroke used at commencement; sinistral (3) passes over first dextral (1) and comes to left edge; regular technique affected by necessity of turning left edge of mat; method of turning weft affected by nature of outer weft edge; thus midrib edge of closed leaflet weft being on right, open free edges are on left or outer side; in Rakahangan technique, such an outer edge is not considered suitable to direct bend as it page 114 would open out and fray edges; upward half-turn adopted; in making this turn, weft naturally crosses over next weft; thus sinistral 3 having crossed over dextral 1, weft (2) below it turned in over it with upward half-turn to define left edge; similarly, weft 3 turned over weft 4 above and so successively as sinistrals reach left edge; from weft 3, every alternate weft turned to left to form sinistral and passes under two dextrals to make horizontal row of dextral twilled-twos (5); sinistrals passed under two dextrals, lifted, and passed over two dextrals to form horizontal row of sinistral twilled-twos (6); exception to rule is sinistral 4, which, being near edge, has been left over three dextrals instead of two; such irregularities take place near edge, for not only must turned weft defining left edge be turned over sinistral above it, but it must pass under next sinistral to form better edge; above row of sinistral twilled-twos (6) dextrals emerge to form horizontal row of twilled-twos (7), succeeded by horizontal row of sinistral twilled-threes (8), then dextral twilled-threes (9). b, plaiting proceeds to right edge defined first by last dextral (1) turned in under dextral weft (2) above it; technique of turning in wefts on right edge again influenced by nature of outer weft edge formed here by leaflet midrib; wefts therefore turned in with direct bend without any half-turn, as leaflet midrib forms good outer edge, direct bends having been commenced by turning bent-in weft under crossing dextral above it; this course followed throughout; thus weft 2 passes under weft 3 above it and successively along right edge; stroke technique established on left carried out along full course of working section, but when plaiting reaches right edge, departures from regular stroke fit in with formation of right edge; continuation of horizontal rows of twill from left, commencing braid tail (10), and unplaited near wefts (11) shown; depth of plaiting from braid keel to last horizontal row of dextral twilled-threes (9), 4.5 inches.