I n Japanese, the “ORI” in SAORI means “weaving”. The “SA” of SAORI has the same meaning as the Zen word “SAI”. It means that everything has its own individual dignity. About Erna Janine... Erna Janine has been involved with natural textiles for over 20 years. She studied hand spinning with animal and plant fibres, botanical dyes and Viking age textile construction: warp weighted looms, tablet weaving, nalbinding etc. at the Icelandic College for traditional handcrafts in Reyjavik. For the last four years she has been visiting Japan regularly to study Saori freeweaving, a handweaving technique deleloped by Misao Jo. Unlike traditional textile techniques, which rely on repeating patterns, Saori Weaving is freestyle, personal to the weaver and so expressive that each cloth is unique, a work of art. Examples of some shots of SAORI garments ...