Saturday, May 10, 2025

Finished: yellow and white checkerboard gift band #3


It's finished!  I started with 4 yards (144") and ended up with a band that is 116"-ish inches long and about 3/4" wide.

If I do this kind of thing again, I'll need a darker yellow.  Also, I think there might be better ways to make a checkerboard.

I noticed (when I was messing up), that all-forward with 4 tablets of each color makes something that looks reasonably square and looked pretty good.  So that might be a possibility.  Otherwise, maybe I'd go with 6-8 tablets of each color, and do a few cycles of 2F2B before changing to the other color, as with Durham Seal tag #2.

Four tablets of each color still left the blocks elongated.  And the 4F4B version of double-face didn't quite fit with the color changes.  A friend is doing this pattern (well, not the same pattern, but the exact same turning sequence) using 6 tablets of each color.  Even her blocks are elongated, so it really is about 4 tablets not being wide enough.

It's OK, but I'm not fully satisfied with how this band turned out.  I didn't choose the pattern to follow, and I did not see a darker yellow thread in the stores.  The weaving is OK, especially after I gave up trying to loosen the weft tension in hopes of squaring up the blocks.  I kept it slightly loose but not sloppy loose.

I hope the recipient likes the band, and that it meets their needs.

What next?  I want to finish a doily I'm knitting.  And then, maybe another gift band.  I'll see what the recipient wants.  If there isn't specific guidance, maybe I'll do a checkerboard again, but with blue and green on white, 4 tablets per color, and doing an all-forward turning sequence, probably still with the alternating S and Z tablet orientation.  Or not.  We'll see.

I haven't thought beyond these gift bands so I'm not sure what's next once I'm on my own again.  Is it time to figure out if I hate brocading?  More two-hole and Sulawesi?  Something diagonal-ish or 3/1 twill or pack-idling?  Etc.


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