Marja’s first ryijy

Traditional ryijy by Eva Lahti

Modern abstract ryijy by Marita Riihimäki

It began with a ryijy, a type of Finnish tapestry created with wool yarn. But first, here’s a little background. I’ve taught studies that connect people, plants, and places for over 25 years at The Evergreen State College in Washington State. In 2015, I learned that a Fiber Arts Studio would soon be built near the ‘House of Welcome’ Longhouse – s ̓gʷigʷʔaltxʷ– where my students and I had created an ethnobotanical garden years before. Now I wanted to give students the opportunity to add dye and fiber gardens. As I was planning to teach ‘A Dyer’s Garden,’ it dawned on me that, if my students were to create dye gardens, they should probably know how to dye with the plants they grow. And if I were to teach them, I needed to know, too. So, I began to learn. As I studied and experimented, I found myself falling in love.

I found that transforming neutral fibers to sunny yellow or inky midnight blue was nothing short of thrilling. I was happy to experiment and dye samples of fabrics and yarn — and teach others to do the same. After all, I wasn’t a fiber artist and, honestly, I didn’t really want to learn to weave or knit or crochet or even sew (my mother was a professional seamstress, go figure). But I began to feel self-conscious about my contentment to just watch the magic of color emerge from the plants and permeate the fibers in the pot. Every time I witnessed this transformation, I felt amazement and pure delight. Still, self-consciousness weighed on me. Since I am Finnish-American, I decided to see if there might be a type of Finnish textile that I’d actually want to learn.

I found ryijy (pronounced somewhat like “roo-i-yoo”).

I learned that a ryijy is created through knotting fibers – usually wool yarn — onto a backing to produce a pile weave that’s similar to a shag carpet. While the basic technique has been used to create Persian rugs since the 9th century, the ryijy has been made in Finland for hundreds of years. It was first used as an undyed bed covering with the yarn facing downward toward the body because wool remains warm even when wet.

Over time, the Finnish ryijy began to include colorful, naturally dyed patterns that faced up or away from the body. By the 18th century, the ryijy had become a common feature of weddings, incorporating dates, names, symbols of nature, and regional motifs — all dyed with local plants. As time went on, the ryijy developed into a contemporary artform that often features bright (though now rarely plant-based) colors in abstract design. It is no longer used as a blanket but rather hung on the wall like a tapestry.

While today you often find the warming presence of a large traditional or contemporary ryijy on the walls of homes in Finland, it was later when I discovered that women in my own family had been practicing the art of ryijy-making for generations!  So ryijy is both iconically Finnish and a family tradition. If that’s not enough, I also found that – although it’s harder than standard methods – I can actually make a ryijy from the abundant 3-4 inch yarn samples I create from all my experimenting and teaching! So, I even had the materials I needed!

Because my first ryijy was inspired by my desire to celebrate the colors the plants provide, I named it Löysin Värit, which means, in Finnish … “I Found the Colors!”

That is how I Found the Colors got its name.