It's shorter than the first bag, about 7" instead of the 12" of the first project. And it's wider, both because I used twice as many ends/strings (24 loops, 48 elements, vs the first project's 12 loops and 24 elements), and because the pattern stitch I used really expands compared to the first bag's pattern.
I decided to build a frame with adjusting tension, the way Carol James draws out in her handout for the Braids and Bands group. Off to the big box store... After a certain amount of wandering around and making do with what was in stock, plus a return trip to exchange the one PVC elbow that didn't match the others, I was ready to tackle the project. I love my PVC cutter, first purchased when building my little PVC tablet weaving loom.
Carol James does not give dimensions in the handout I have. I decided to use the entire length of PVC pipe. Wow, the loom is really big! It'll be good for when I decide to do sashes and other long projects.
But for today, I wanted something smaller, so I could make a bag that wasn't 12" deep. I took out the adjustable metal threaded rod and turned the frame into a square, 20" on a side.
I wanted to do new things. So, for this bag, I chained the bottom shut. And I used a different pattern stitch, an openwork honeycomb-ish pattern that was also used in the hairnet found on the 5th century BCE Danish bog body known as Haraldskær Woman.
I've seen this done as a bag or hairnet in a few places. The source I mostly used today is Sally Pointer's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFVEVIn1xNw&ab_channel=SallyPointer "Make a Sprang Bag with Handles: all over holes/ Haraldskaer pattern."
It seemed pretty sedate while I was spranging away, but it really opened up once off the loom. The bag is 8" wide and very stretchy. It has a few repeats of plain interlinking before I started doing the openwork pattern, and finishes up with a pattern repeat of plain interlinking before the bag is chained shut. After chaining the middle, I sewed each side up to where the pattern shifted from the openwork to the plain interlinking.
OK, now I've tried two stitches!
The first is "plain interlinking", or at least that's what I'm calling it for now. It's a 2-row pattern.
1. Twist 2 loops over 1 loop at the start, then 1 over 1, finishing with 1 over 2 at the end. (I think that's the Z version. The S version is opposite, but I did all Z for this bag.) Carol James calls this the "plait row".
2. Twist 1 loop over 1 loop all the way across. Carol James calls this the "overplait row".
The second is this openwork pattern, which I guess for now I'll call the Haraldskaer pattern. It's a 4-row pattern.
1. Twist 2 loops over 2 loops, all the way across.
2. Twist 1 loop over 1 loop all the way across.
3. Twist 1 loop over 1 loop at the start, then 2 loops over 2 loops, finishing up with a 1 over 1 at the end.
4. Twist 1 loop over 1 loop all the way across.
It was a fun stitch to do. I like the pattern a lot. Heck, I like both patterns a lot.
Other things I learned:
It is wise to run the drawstring through the loops before you take it off the loom and/or remove the string/stick going through them. Trying to get them all picked up and contained on the drawstring was a bit of a pain.
The drawstring, a twisted cord, could stand to be a bit longer. Did I mention that this is a very stretchy stitch pattern?
I'm pretty terrible at sewing up the sides. Oh, well. I'll probably improve with time.
I could have left long lengths at the beginning and ends of the warp, to use for sewing up the sides. But I didn't. Also, I started sewing from the bottom towards the top. So it probably didn't matter anyway.
I was able to adjust the warp tension a bit, yay! And my top and bottom gauges are still relatively similar.
A 20" frame leads to about 7" of spranging on each side before I close it up. The other frame from yesterday (my tablet weaving loom, actually), which I think is about 28", leads to about 12" on each side before closing up.
I should probably make a few more frames that are smaller or more portable.
This bag will probably look better after blocking, but it already looks pretty good.
I've already had some requests for bags, even with my beginner-ish skills. And requests for teaching.
I don't know what I will make next.
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