Raanu Weaving

A Raanu is a traditional Finnish and Sámi style of handwoven wall hanging. A Raanu is a weft-faced weave, that is woven in a modified tabby weave using a cotton or linen rug warp yarn.

Raanu in Sápmi

The earliest Raanu weavings date back to the 1600’s. The Saami wove Raanu (Rátnu, Rádno, Grene) and used them as wall coverings in their tents and sod huts. At first glance, a Raanu may look like a random selection of woven yarns. However, the design and colours of the Raanu were carefully chosen by the weaver. The colours depicted the shades of the landscape scenes around them and brought some colour of the outdoors into their homes during the dark and long winter nights. A Raanu captures a moment in time, much like a photograph: the colours of the scenery or landscape, the moonlit sky shimmering over the snow. The sunlight shining through the clouds, the sea, the forest, the hills, the grassy fields

Raanu in Finland

Raanu were also woven in many parts of Finland. In the 1960-70’s Raanu again became popular, using modern bright colours and were displayed on the walls of many Finnish and Scandinavian homes.

Often a Raanu has a different finish at the top and the bottom of the Raanu. Not sure which way to hang your Raanu tapestry? It is easy to distinguish which way the Raanu should be hung on the wall. The Top of the Raanu generally has a tablet woven braided edge finish. The bottom of the Raanu usually has a fringe finish.

A Raanu rug was traditionally a flat weave weft faced handwoven wall hanging that was sometimes also used as a bed covering. The warp is made of cotton rug yarn or sometimes linen yarn, and the weft is woven of multicoloured fine wool yarns, often a single ply. The weave structure is a repp weave and the weft is beaten down firmly so that the warp yarns are fully covered.

The weft is usually wool and is firmly packed so that the warp yarn does not show on the surface. Often 2 or more shuttles of different colours of yarn are woven in alternating order creating simple yet complex designs.

I am weaving this small size Raanu on my table loom.
Warp Yarn: No. 20/6 Kalalanka 5300 m/kg
Sett: 6 epi
Weft: 4 ply Sock Yarn 4000 m/kg
The weft yarns have been dyed using natural plant dyes.

The project is woven in a tabby weave, where shafts 1&2 alternate with shafts 3,4. To create the vertical stripe pattern use 2 shuttles of different colours and alternate with each pass. Because the weft is firmly packed, the warp threads do not show on the surface. A reverse pattern design shows up on the back, as on the alternate pick the weft yarn travels under each other during weaving.

More About Raanu

>Raanu Mallit
Raanu – Historical Weave Structures
Raanu or Ryijy
Raanu Minimalist Design
Peilikäs raanu as a mirror

Finnish Heritage Museum

Raanu in Hemp – YouTube