First Brocade (tablet-weaving brocade sampler)

My first tablet-woven brocading.

I'm not following any particular pattern, though my little zigzag does match the one from the Reykjasel i Jökuldal band from Iceland (dated to 800-1000).  Well, not the background fabric, which Aisling says is more likely to be 3/1 twill, but the zigzag brocade on the band.  Maybe that's the Icelandic weaver's first brocading experiment, too.

Here's the info on the Icelandic band:  https://sarpur.is/Adfang.aspx?AdfangID=320728 and https://aisling.biz/index.php/galerie/historisch/fruehmittelalter/280-ein-band-aus-reykjasel-i-joekuldal

I'm still working on keeping track of which step to do in which order, and where to put stuff down so I don't intertwine the two wefts.  I'm also not entirely happy about the shuttle that's holding the brocade weft.  The shape isn't quite right.  But my band doesn't look half bad, especially considering this is my very first time doing this technique.

I will probably repeat the zigzag but only run the brocade under/around those few tablets where it's important rather than going all the way across the band.  I'm curious about the effect on the band's texture.  Is it truly necessary?  Only sometimes necessary?

And after that?  Hopefully by then I'll have a bit of a rhythm going.  Then I can either try existing patterns or improv for a while before starting some of the historic designs.

I'm using #10 crochet cotton for the background, a slightly finer cotton (old doily leftovers) for the ground weft, and DMC cotton perle #3 in an old gold shade for the brocading.  I'm using 13 tablets, all 4-threaded, in alternating / and \ orientation.  All turns are forward.

The first bit is over 3 under 2 both to and fro (which is why it makes a brick-like pattern).  The next bit is over 3, but move the brocading one to the right (or left) to make a diagonal line.

I don't hate this.  And although I'm a very slow total novice, it doesn't seem as fiddly as I had feared, especially not after doing techniques that require individual tablet manipulation that changes from row to row.  We'll see what it feels like after I catch the rhythm.

Edited to add:

And here's the second zigzag, with the brocade weft next to the zigzag rather than going under all of the warp threads.  I like it and there's no obvious difference in the texture of the background, at least not with the 13 tablets I'm using.  The brocade stands up a bit more, maybe, and there's not quite as much elongation of the motif.  I'm not sure if that's something I'm doing or something about this versus the other method.

So I've learned some things already.

On to the next self-assigned lesson/motif!