A Wool Road winds a well-trod path in northern countries where cold and wet come together in frigid seas, snowy pastures, and icy mountain paths. Wool’s fiber creates pockets, trapping air to keep warmth next to the body. Wool is ideal because it stays warm even when wet. The need is less in areas with arid hot seasons, although desert nights might require a wool cloak or blanket. In African countries, these are most certainly woven – rather than knitted – and often made of cotton, linen and other fibers that come from plants, rather than from shorn animals.
The Fulani weavers of central Mali, in West Africa, Senegal, Sudan, and in southern Madagascar stand out, however, for their use of wool. Women spin and dye the wool but, traditionally, it is the men who learn from their fathers to weave blankets called Khasa. (Note: There are various spellings). The weavers are not migratory but, rather, live in one place and create the blankets for their nomadic brethren who travel with their cattle on both sides of the Niger river and its flood plains. Shepherds use the blankets from November to January and then, to lighten the weight they must carry, might sell the blanket and it becomes part of the stream of trade.
One distinctive style of Khasa is worked on a white background with dark red and black. Another style uses yellow and other bright colors. They are woven in strips and sewn together so that the designs are maintained on the horizontal when a strip is placed next to its neighbor.
Contemporary visitors to this area report that the blankets are used less as garments and more as wall decorations, doorway hangings or room dividers. One special use is as a wedding blanket, used during the wedding ceremony and then hung proudly on the wall of the couple’s house.
A mathematician2 who studied the use of fractal designs in Africa interviewed Fulani weavers, who told him that they weave spiritual energy into the pattern, each repetition gaining more energy as the weaving progresses. Designs that repeat again and again reinforce the wishes for health and wealth that continue on into the future. If the weaver stopped in the middle, this gathering energy would be released and could mean death. One traveler reported that, if the weaver is making a wedding blanket, the couple for whom it is being woven must bring him food and drink so that he can stay up as long as necessary to weave until the blanket is finished.