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Figure 14 : Black edged muka harakeke.
steps for creating whenu for kete muka
steps for creating whenu for kete muka
Hauhake - It is important to harvest good rau that are not too damaged or diseased. Of course for the wellbeing of the harakeke, I would prune away everything outside of the rito and awhi rito, but would not use any diseased or distressed harakeke to create muka.
Remove the take, get rid of anything too thick straight away, rather than mucking around with it later. I have found it impossible to extract the muka from the thick end so cut it off at the point where the two sides start forming into the take.
Size with haehae.
Remove edges and spine.
Rui, holding both ends to get all the longest whenu, cutting tips and bring all to the same length. The longest whenu can be used to make aho.
Make a cut on the underside all the way across, not too deep nor shallow, this comes with practice.
Bathe in cold water for at least a day.
Extract
When whenu is extracted, split in half, top and tail, then miro.
Cover in hot water and add some grated sunlight soap. Change dirty water and leave in hot soapy water overnight. In the morning rinse and hang on the line in bunches of 50. I left my whenu on the line for at least a whole day to allow the sunshine to bleach them.
Reflections on Muka Processing
Reflections on Muka Processing
Figure 15: First set of completed whenu.
These whenu were all different thicknesses and they were very damaged. I had not realised what poor condition they were in until I compared them with my next set. During the harvesting of these whenu, I was not very selective and after seeing the state of my whenu, I realised I would need to start selecting better, healthier rau. Also I learned later on that the miro on these was too tight which contributed to very gappy whatu. I also used a very rough and sharp mussel shell to extract these whenu which shows in the hairyness of the whenu, showing me that they are actually damaged.
Figure 16: Second set of completed whenu.
The next time I was much more successful with my muka harakeke selection, sizing, extraction and miro.
Figure 17: Seventh set of completed whenu.
My most recent set, even better. This time around I made smaller whenu with a looser miro.
Figure 18: Two halves of one type of muka extracted 12 hours apart.
The left half of these whenu was extracted a day earlier than the right, causing it to change colour. What this has taught me is that if I want consistency, the muka needs to be extracted at the same time. Like a cut apple, the exposure to oxygen can change the appearance of the muka.
Figure 19: Muka whenu and aho post hot wash and line dry.
However, once soaked overnight and left in the sunshine for a day or two, the colouring became more uniform.
Figure 20: The pattern of discolouration in para is transferred to muka.
If harakeke has any mould or discolouration caused by insects or disease, this will show on the muka. Sometimes this can be removed by soaking in hot soapy water.
Figure 21: Using a dark background when making aho.
Creating aho is laborious and time-consuming. I am still so new at it. I have attempted to create aho that are two strands by two and also 3 by three.
It is not just length, but thread count and also tightness of miro, all a high degree of difficulty and time is needed to focus and build technique and momentum in these processes.
I have found it useful to create aho using a dark background as this causes less strain on my eyes.
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