The Corners of the paretumu.

Our problem of supplying crossing elements for the four-banded mat does not end with the solving of the difficulty of the side edge. If we refer back to Fig. 111, it is evident that the weft which crosses the corner of the plaiting forms a boundary indicated by the line PQ. Above it along the left edge, there are two sets of crossing elements. To the right of it, along the bottom edge, there are also two sets of crossing elements. To the left of this boundary weft, however, the wefts supplied by the butt strips will all run in one direction. Crossing elements will have to be supplied to fill in the space between the corner of the plaited body of the mat and the point. C, which will form the corner of the completed mat when the two pae bands meet. This condition will exist at each of the four corners.

The problem is dealt with by plaiting the pae bands of two neighbouring borders as far as the crossing elements page 131already provided will allow. This is shown in Fig. 112, where the coarse plait denotes the body of the mat, and the finer plait the pae bands. To simplify the diagram, colour has not been added, the simple check plait is retained and a fewer number of wefts are used than the band actually requires. The parts of the two bands plaited with the crossing elements already provided are those to the left of the boundary line marked by the wefts, PQ, to which attention has already been drawn in the previous Figure. All the original pae wefts to the right of PQ run inone direction, and have to be provided with crossing elements.

Figure 112.
Corner of paretumu mat, supplying the crossing elements.

The mat is placed so that the corner to be filled in is towards the right of the plaiter, as in Fig. 112. The completed plaiting of the top band in bounded by the last sinistral weft, P. All the original wefts that cross this are dextrals. The last or lowest dextral from the corner of the mat is marked C. A butt strip, R, is split into wefts of the pae width. The dextrals that crossed the last plaited sinistral, P, are left recumbent, and those that passed under it are raised. Into the shed thus prepared, the first weft (1) of the butt strip, R, is placed. The two series of dextrals are now reversed in the usual technique and the second weft of R placed in position. So it goes on until the six wefts provided by R have been used up. It will be noted that, as in the usual technique, the top crossing dextral on each sinistral is left cut of the working combination on the next sinistral in order to maintain the line of the plaited edge. At the lower part, the dextral weft, C, rises and page 132falls throughout to maintain the other boundary of the plaited part. When the last weft of R has been plaited in, another butt strip, S, is brought in. In the Figure only three more wefts are required and the butt strip, S, is split off to the right width to supply these. When the three wefts of S have been plaited in, the two lines of the plaited edges have met to form what is to be the corner of the band.

It will be noted in this technique that the fixed original wefts are the dextrals, which have to keep moving. The new wefts supplied by R and S are the passive sinistrals. As each is laid down in the shed provided for it, the coloured element is laid upon it to continue the pattern of the coloured band.

The butt strips R and S are left sufficiently long to provide wefts for the other side of the unplaited triangle of the corner. The mat is now rotated to the left to bring the unfinished part in front. The butt strips R and S are split into wefts as in Fig. 113.

Figure 113.
Second part of paretumu corner.

It will be seen that the new set of wefts are directed towards the right. They will there fore act as dextrals and be divided into two sets of alternates, whilst the old wefts that cross the dextral Q will be the sinistrals carrying the coloured elements necessary to the design. These coloured elements have already been carried on the sinistrals as far as the crossing weft. Q, and are now simply continued on with them. The plaiting is carried as far as the plaited edge indicated by the arrow, and we have the completed appearance shown in Fig. 114. Though the Figure shows page 133

Figure 114.
Completed corner of paretumu mat.

the wefts as fitting in with mathematical accuracy, this did not always happen in actual practice. Owing to slight differences in the width of the wefts, the balance of the two halves of the triangle was sometimes disturbed. The craftswoman did not hesitate to rectify matters by running two wefts together, or inserting a fresh one as occasion demanded. The last wefts from the butt. S, that cross the corner look weak from their short course in the actual plaiting. The finishing technique of the tauiri edge, however, fixes them firmly in position.

Figure 115.
Unfinished corner of paretumu mat.

Figures 112 and 113 show the plaiting of the pae, band on the right, as having been brought up to the marginal dextral, Q. This was done to emphasise the two parts of the corner triangle. In actual practice it was usual to commence this border a little way from the corner. This is shown in Fig. 115, where the left side of the triangle has been practically completed but the plaited part of the border on the right is a little distance away from the corner. An undivided butt strip whose wefts have been plaited into the left part of the triangle can be seen.

A finished corner of the mat figured above is shown in Fig. 107.