When my daughter went to get the mail this evening, there was a package from my best friend in Kosovo. These were enclosed. I knew he'd gone to a local bazaar in Pristina, but he told me he'd bought jewelry - not textiles! He had an Albanian speaker with him, so I'll have to question him tomorrow about these things. The crochet is absolutely exquisite. It's very well done with a fine cotton thread - just over tatting weight. I love it. My husband got a closer view of an individual motif so you can see the workmanship.
This weaving was also in the package - actually two of them, identical. The red lozenge pattern is very typical of most of Eastern Europe and is supposed to be a fertility symbol. I don't think my friend knew that part. The piece is made of wool, woven on a tapestry loom, and measures about a foot square.There was also a business card enclosed for a glass artist in Pristina. Since my friend didn't enclose a personal note, I don't know why it was in there - if he purchased the textiles from there, or if he thought I'd like the fused glass work (I'm a big fan of fused glass.). The website has a lot of neat stuff on it, especially the glass Kosovar flags. A fitting metaphor, I think.
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That would be me. I didn't say that I bought jewelry! I just said it was there.... The bazaar was an invitation only thing run by the office. Everything in the package was hand made in/around Pristina.
For the rugs, the wool was hand spun, dyed, and woven. They were all of that particular pattern, a very old one, with various coloring and slight variations in the layout of the pattern.
The glass worker had a table there with several lamps and mostly jewelry (earrings and necklaces) that were very pretty.
Oh, and the flag there is Albanian. The Kosovar flag is yet to be determined.
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