By Robbie LaFleur
A blog post from the publishers of Selvedge Magazine caught my eye earlier this year, “The Forgotten Finnish Raanu,” by Minna Stubina (January 2, 2022). The post incudes many vibrant photos; be sure to read it.
Stubina wrote, “The raanu craze faded toward the end of 1980s and by 1990 nobody was making raanus anymore.” But wait! This line isn’t true in Minnesota. One of the most popular classes taught at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota is Wynne Mattila’s raanu rug class. It has been offered five times in the past decade, and each session fills quickly.
Not even the pandemic stopped her classes. She taught three students from Michigan via zoom in 2020. “I’ve found that students who have a Finnish background really connect to this particular structure,” Wynne said. She is currently tutoring a student in Wisconsin on raanu rug weaving over Facetime. He is weaving his second raanu, inspired by the brightly colored flowers in pots on his deck.
Wynne learned about raanu weaving in 1994, at a workshop taught by Finnish-born Pirkko Karvonen, who lived and wove in Canada. Pirkko introduced her students to many types of raanu; one was woven with fine threads that resembled a coverlet, while some resembled the familiar striped raanus like those featured in the Selvedge article. Inspired by her Finnish teacher, Wynne began raanu exploration. She explained, “And because I am a rug weaver, I took one of these [class] samples and beefed it up, making it thicker and better suited for the floor.”
During a trip to Finland, Wynne learned that Lapland raanu, from Finland’s northernmost region, are used to cover goahti (tent-like structures) or for warmth as blankets in the Arctic climate. The braided warp fringes of the Lapland raanu are used to tie the raanu together on the goahti. The colors in the raanu are often arranged to tell a story about nature. These raanu are woven in weft-faced plain weave on an upright loom.
Wynne Mattilla. “Aurora.”
Wynne weaves raanu rugs on a floor loom. “I love that two colors of yarn, two shafts, and two treadles can create a design that is visually simple or extremely complex. I love to design as I weave—even with two colors, the possibilities are endless.”
Wynne Mattilla. “Black and White Raanu.”
Raanus became an important part of Wynne’s weaving and teaching life. She first taught raanu as one of four weave structure options in a weft-faced wool rug class at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota from 1998-2004, before developing her raanu-only class for the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. Student Lisa-Ann Bauch commented, “I’ve taken Wynne’s raanu class several times. I love how she emphasizes both the technical aspects of weaving a good raanu and also the idea of finding personal color inspiration in the natural world.”
Lisa Ann Bauch, “Early Spring.” I took a walk in the woods near my house after the snow was gone, but before the trees had leafed out. I was struck by the bright green moss and purple raspberry canes emerging from under the brown and orange of the dead leaves.”
Wynne recently finished a commissioned raanu, Kuusisto,. The title is taken from a family name that translates to “spruce grove.”
I was commissioned to weave what will become the family heirloom for a man who was born in Finland but left at an early age. At one point, he came by with his daughter, who will inherit it someday, so they could see it on my loom. It was a joyous piece to weave and I’m honored that one of my pieces is the beginning of their inheritance.
Wynne Mattilla. “Kuusisto,” 2022.
How Kuusisto was woven
Wynne’s plan for this nature-based raanu was to weave a Finnish landscape, as if the viewer was looking through evergreen and birch trees during all seasons of the year. It is a piece best viewed up close. The numerous color changes create glimpses of the colorful beauty found in nature. Thirty colors were used to capture the shade of natural elements in the raanu.
- the northern lights – greens, reds, purples, turquoise, citron yellow, light and dark moss green
- evergreen trees – darker green, black-hued green
- amanita muscaria mushroom – reds and whites
- winter landscapes – dark blue water, light blue ice, periwinkle gray shadows on snow
- birch tree trunks, reindeer moss – yellow white, gray white
- lakes and sky – shades of blue
- sunrises – reds, gold, pinks, citron yellow, lavender
- flowers – purples and pinks of pasque flowers; blues, purples and pinks of lupine; honey gold for the flower of Lapland
Wynne explained:
Weaving a raanu with many colors of yarn can appear “too busy” to me. (When I wove “Aurora”, I placed cool colors on the “wide” column and warm colors on the “narrow” column.) I decided for “Kuusisto”, the yarn on the “wide” column would always be a darker value than the adjacent color(s) on the “narrow” column.
Wynne Mattilla. “Kuusisto,” 2022. (detail) 28.75” wide by 90” long. 8/5 Irish linen warp at 10 ends per inch. Weft: Halcyon Geo wool rug yarn. 7 strand flat braids for end finishing,
Wynne plans carefully, but leaves room for her passion to design at the loom.
To manage the 30 shuttles of yarn while weaving, I placed the darker colors in one bin, and the lighter colors in another bin. I designed as I wove at the loom, recording dark and light sections and high contrast colors on my project record to track the rhythm of my raanu as it progressed. I let my eye choose which color to use next.
Wynne Mattila’s yarn cards for weaving “Kuusisto.” The left card shows colors on the wide column and the right two cards show colors on the narrow column. Occasionally a yarn moved from the narrow column to the wide column, but it was always a darker value than the adjacent narrow column color.
The raanu craze continues
There is an unbroken link of Finnish raanu tradition continuing in Minnesota, thanks to the dedication of Pirkko Karvonen and Wynne Mattila as teachers and weavers.
Readers should be sure to zoom in on the picture of the Kuusisto raanu. Immersing myself in the colors was like a little restorative trip to the north woods.
Beautiful! Would the weaver consider a private lesson on Zoom? I live in Oregon!
Or is there a book or pamphlet on raanu I could find? I spin and weave Wool rugs and would love to try it.