Crochet tribute to a korowai

This week is "Te wiki o te reo Māori" (Māori language week) here in Aotearoa so I thought this was a good time to post about something I designed as a tribute to a traditional type of kākahu (Māori cloak) called a Korowai. You can find more about the various types of kakahu here.

My family and I really love our little branch library and the librarians there are wonderful role models for my kids. One of them is known in the community by some of the school kids as "Whaea Ruth". "Whaea" is a term of respect and can mean "mother" or "aunty" and has more recently been introduced as a term of respect for female teachers in some schools (in my children's school some of the teachers are known by their English title and surname while others choose to be called "whaea"). Whaea Ruth makes beautiful Korowai so, before the lockdown in Aotearoa, I thought I would create a small doll with its own Korowai-inspired cloak. I hesitate to call what I have created a korowai since it is not made from traditional materials (native flax, harakeke) and it is not woven like a Korowai would be. While I will at some point be releasing the pattern for the doll and some clothing, I will not be doing the same with the little korowai. Here are some  photos of the "korowai" with the doll that I created: