Articolo disponibile anche in: Italian
“Le Ciricotte” is Veronica Cei’s winning alternative bet on typical textiles and tastes. Her activity is rooted in the past, symbol of our territory, made modern by adapting it to the present and the future.
The name, “Ciricotte”, was created thanks to two references. The first is for “lana cotta” (boiled wool). The second is in honor of “Cirillo”, a legendary storekeeper of San Casciano, an electrician who created fantastic objects from whatever you brought him to fix.
Veronica, forty year old from San Casciano, has reproposed a beautiful instrument: the manual loom.
Starting with a thread of wool, she creates unique articles: scarves, stoles, blankets, hats, muscle warmers, headbands, neck warmers, hoods… all articles that will warm your soul in the dead of winter. You can never have enough of them!
Veronica dyes the precious threads with colors from local plants: yellow from daisies, red from rubia, indigo from indigofera. Buttons are made with wood from the Olive tree, carved and colored. The results are soft and luscious.
“I have always had a passion for wool,” Veronica tells us. “When I was little, I played with balls of wool at my grandmother, Maria’s house. When I was 25, I saw a weaver at work and my passion was reborn. I have been studying and learning and have become a master weaver. I have made a passion a profession”.
“I am always ready to create new items, whether it be on the loom or with needles,” she also tells us. “I would like to teach people to create what they desire. I love contact with the public and the freedom that my work gives me”.
“In addition to selling to sales agents,” she continues, “I meet by appointment in my workshop in via Borromeo 160 in Calzaiolo, San Casciano. When the weather is nice, I open a temporary shop for one or two months in various towns of the area, thus giving life to unrented shops. I also give individual and group lessons using small looms”.
“My items are for all, from children to women, but to men as well. The younger set is among my best customers. My style is ‘underground’ and wool is back in style. Tourists are particularly fascinated by my work”.
“Weaving is an antique art,” concludes Veronica. “It is an excellent meditative activity: it allows movement, lets you be yourself and helps you expand your mind. It gives new value to knowhow and stimulates creativity”.
Noemi Bartalesi