The one on the left is another 6th century Saxon band, from the Saxon Rabbit handout. (I don't think it's in the Crowfoot paper.) It's from Sarre, Kent. I think I did about 6 repeats.
The middle one is Birka B18. I used the chart on Aisling's website, not that it really needs a chart. I did 5 repeats.
The one of the right is from Anna Neuper's Modelbuch, pattern number 85 (fol 83r), the middle pattern on p.47. I did 2 repeats.
Birka B18 is a 10-tablet pattern and the other two are 9-tablet patterns.
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Random free-association verbiage:
These Saxon patterns are still a bit hard for me to do well with this particular brocade thread. The over-1-tablet vs over-3 tablet sections don't quite have the same consistency in the way they look, which obscures the pattern somewhat. They look good at some angles but not all angles. Looking back at the earlier ones I did, the little ones where most of the brocading went over 1 tablet are the most effective, at least for this brocade thread and my current level of competence (near-novice).
I like the Anne Neuper pattern. The pattern of the background is interesting and sufficiently contrasting with the brocade. And most of the brocade is over 2 or more tablets so the pattern appears more consistent. A lot of the smaller patterns in the Modelbuch are these kinds of zigzags and diamonds -- they've very distinctive and self-consistent in their design sensibilities. And yeah, it would have been cool to see the original patterns with their distinctive notation in addition to the modern charting. I like that Claudia Wollny did that for the Col. Pad. Germ. 551 patterns.
The Birka B18 pattern is also nice. Simple and easy, but effective.
I don't know how many Birka patterns I'll want to do (not now, but eventually). Some people have a goal of weaving all of them. Many of them are not particularly appealing/attractive to me. Several have swastikas, which are too poisoned by modern political horrors, and I won't knowingly weave that motif.
I like the version of B2 I've seen, where there are interlocking braids separated by Xs, sometimes alternating with a stretch of the variation that is shown in fragment f (figure 19 f) in the Birka report.
B12 (figure 19 i) is something I've woven as a 4-threaded diagonals pattern, many years ago. I didn't know it was originally a brocaded band from the Birka find. I don't know if I'd want to do it again as a brocade.
B22 (figure 20 b) is kind of interesting, both the lower part (the interlocking brickwork) and the more elaborate upper part. The lower part of B6 (figure 20 a) is cute, but the upper part has too many swastikas.
None of the others that are in the Birka report on p.82-83 interest me at the moment. Hmm, I wonder where the other bands can be seen, since B18 is not in the sketches on p.82-82. Oh, duh, they're photographed in the back of the book, in the various tables. I should see if there are more motifs that look fun, though it's kind of hard for me to make out the patterns except for a few fairly clear areas. I greatly respect the people who decipher and re-create the patterns in these archaeologic specimens.
There are some cool patterns I want to do from the Nancy Spies Ecclesiastical Pomp & Aristocratic Circumstance book. That might be another warp, since a lot of the ones I want to try are a minimum of 15 tablet patterns and I only warped up 13 tablets.
There are other patterns that are on Aisling's website I want to try. Some require more than 13 tablets, alas, but a few are narrower. They're on my list... And maybe I'll do more from her Egyptian tablet weaving book.
Now that I'm starting to feel comfortable with basic brocade, I'm thinking about "what next?" Do I want to try anything else new with this band beyond a sampling of motifs, such as a second brocade color or a different brocade thread? What kind of brocade do I want to make an entire band from, if anything? Or should I do shorter sections? Something that could be fun is a belt with occasional brocaded motifs, possibly made with little metal studs every now and then between the brocade. Or I could do short lengths for cuffs or keychains or bookmarks.
Also, what do I want to tablet-weave next? (and that's in addition to thoughts about sprang, fingerloop braiding, kumihimo on the marudai, spinning, knitting, and other semi-obsessions) Icelandic double-cloth or pebble weave? More brocade? Some 2-hole or Sulawesi or 3/1 twill? More cords? Or something else entirely?
Here's a close-up of the Anna Neuper pattern no 85 again, just because:
No, it's not perfect, and yes, my cat has been sitting on it. But it is cute. And it shows that I am improving.
I'm glad that brocade is now something I've tried, that I'm comfortable doing, and that I'm willing to do again.
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