Space! and a bit of Time!

It's been a busy few months.  My little weaving area has been in storage for way longer than planned.

But finally, I've managed to find some time and the weaving area was available, and now I'm set up again for a bit of weaving.

I'm doing a very simple pattern, Flash, by Catherine Weaver, from her blog: https://www.tabletweavingintheoryandpractice.co.uk/2024/06/flash.html

I expanded it by another 10 tablets (another set of alternating light/dark pattern motifs) because I wanted a wider band.  I'm not sure who will end up with it, but it could be a strap for a musical instrument or a case/bag/purse, or a belt, etc., as well as just being used for trim.  So I wanted something that was at least an inch or so wide since that seemed like a more useful width for its eventual purpose.  Having it be reversible was important, and I also wanted something that would be quick to weave.  Usually I set up something like stripes, but this pattern caught my eye.  It's only slightly more complicated than stripes and still has a stripe-like feel.

The colors in the original are red and yellow.  I'm using teal and sage, in my usual big-box-store #10 crochet cotton.  Why teal and sage?  They have good color contrast, I have a fair amount of each color, and I don't use these colors as often, especially for historic patterns, so this is a good opportunity to use them for something cute.  Plus the two colors look good together.

It's going well.  I do like the rhythm of tablet weaving, even something as simple as this.  I'd make this pattern again because it's very striking, lots of bang for the buck.

I took a photo of the band-in-progress but the light is wrong so it's hard to see the pattern motifs.  Eh, not so important.  I'd rather get a post out on this blog (the first in MONTHS!!!) rather than spend a lot of time on my nearly non-existent photo skills.  Therefore, this post is text only, no pics.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep doing stuff after this band is finished.

Andean-style braiding progress since the last post

There's not much progress, honestly, but I am doing things at spare moments.

I finished the zigzag braid.  I like it and feel like I'm slowly getting better at the physical movements and am understanding more of the theory behind it.

Then I started a new braid.  This braid has one side twisting clockwise and the other side twisting counterclockwise, to make a braid that is a straight square instead of a spiral.  This is a pretty common braid that can be made in several ways.

I wanted to try this braid to see if I could match the braiding pattern on a photo of a sling from the Silk Road area (in Asia) that I saw in an online museum archive.  I'm not quite there yet but I am getting to practice a couple of new things.

It's an intentional pattern design so I have to keep track of which strand goes where and when.  Also, the colors are aligned vertically rather than spiraling, which means alternating the twisting directions on the N/S versus the E/W sides.  And one side is all the same color, so I have to keep track of which thread is the lower vs the upper, the left set of threads vs the right, and so on.  One additional thing is that this is in a fairly thick cotton yarn; dunno if that adds anything to the complexity but it is different from doing it in a fairly thick acrylic yarn.

As with other braids I've tried, I started in the middle, braiding the square braid with 4 strands (3 white and 1 green).  Then I joined the ends together into a loop, and continued downwards with 8 strands.

My braid isn't perfect but it's getting better as I make various mistakes, realize what's going on, and then try to improve.

In addition to looking through Adele Cahlender's book on Andean Sling Braiding, and through Roderick Owen's books, I also used Jean Leader's explanations from this page on her website: https://www.fascinatingbraids.com/sling.html and in particular, her instructions on Sling Braids with Spirals and Stripes.

I'm not sure what's next.  I do want to make a few hemp slings and share them with my friends.

Everything else is on the to-do list, too.  But life is busy, and other things often take priority.  Although I do fun things when I have a chance, I don't always end up with something interesting to photograph or write about.

Yet another novice level post on Balearic-style slings and Andean-style braiding

Zigzags!  I've done a zig and a zag and have started the next reversal.  I'm trying to do about six repeats between reversals, though I'm not keeping track all that closely.  My consistency is improving, yay!  And I think my understanding is improving, too.  I guess I'll find out as I keep braiding, start the next braid, etc.

I've also made another sling using the same instructions and methods as last time.  Hmmm, the sling is a bit less than a meter long, so I do think I'll make the next one longer.  The first one is also a bit less than a meter long.  This second one has a slightly longer pouch but a slightly shorter finger loop.  The release cord is about an inch longer than the retention cord (when I fold everything in half around the middle of the pouch).  I had thought the two would look and feel a bit different from each other, but no, they don't!  So I guess I have a ways to go before I'm content with the consistency of the braiding.  Or maybe this is good enough and I'm too picky.

I might soak this one to see if that makes a difference in how it looks, whether it stretches out or evens up, etc.

Dunno what I'll make next.  Maybe do this one again, but maybe a bit longer and maybe with 5 strands instead of 6.  Or 10 instead of 6.  Or try a braided sling with a woven pouch.  I guess I'll see what inspiration strikes.

I'm also starting to feel like I want to start some tablet weaving projects.  I'm not sure how much longer it'll be until I can set up my little weaving area again.  The sling-braiding and the fist-braiding don't take up much room and can be done anywhere.  For various reasons, weaving takes up more space and needs a dedicated spot where I can walk away for a few hours or a few days and things can be resumed without too much trouble.

I believe that's it for me today.

More sling chatter (and a new braid)

I showed my first sling to someone who knows how to use a sling.  This person confirmed that it looked and acted like a perfectly reasonable sling, yay.  This person usually makes slings by attaching paracord to a sling pouch made of duct tape.  I love that slings are so low-tech with so many ways to make them from whatever convenient items are in your local environment.

I've started another Andean in-the-fist braid.  I tried with 8 strands (4 strands folded in half) first.  It was difficult for me to see which was the lower and which was the upper strand.  So I cut another set of strands, and I'm doing another braid the same way I did the first.  It's going well.  I'll probably start zig-zagging soon, and then, depending on how much yarn is left when I get tired of that, will try some other variations.  At some point I will return to 8-strand braids!  Though it amuses me that the 16-strand braid is easier to learn on.

I've also tried a new-to-me braid.  I'm pretty sure I've done something very similar using a different technique.

It's from a youtube video on making a sling.  It's in Spanish, so they of course use the local terminology of Honda or Waraka.  Here's part 1, which shows the braid and the first half of the sling's construction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMJAAkhHcZE and here's part 2, which shows the woven split pouch and the rest of the sling's construction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw1chCl6fXs&t=616s

The finger loop, made with 4 strands, is the standard 4-stranded cord made all around the world.  I like this particular method, where diagonally opposite strands twist past each other, alternating the twist direction.

Then it's joined, and the new braid is a braiding technique I've not done before.  It's a 4-strand braid (each strand has two pieces of yarn).  I'm pretty sure I've done this braid structure on a marudai and also through fingerlooping.  But this is a freehand braid, and it's kind of cool-looking and fun to do.

Not that I'm perfect at it or anything.

The video demonstrates the sling construction using a fairly thick single-ply yarn.  Interesting.

I wonder if I should do a track plan and compare it to the other braids I believe this resembles?

The braid is slightly elastic, though more so in compression than in tension.

I only used enough yarn to play around with the braid rather than doing a full sling.

The split pouch is one of the styles I see in the books (and websites and videos) on Andean slings I have access to.  I'm looking forward to trying it when I decide to make that style of pouch on a sling.

I wonder what the braid would be like if I use more than 4 braiding elements?  Also, will I get faster with time, and how will that compare with other braiding techniques?  The braid in the video was secured at the top, while I was randomly holding onto it while braiding.  Maybe I'd be faster if it was hooked to something.

I have no idea whether this is a traditional technique or a more modern shortcut.

My stash of random acrylic is getting low.  I also use it for charity knitting and share it with another charity knitter/crocheter.  We're both fairly productive; there's not much left.  My second in-the-fist braid is using different colors because some of the skeins of yarn I used in the first braid are now with my friend, being turned into charity hats.

A braid pic (first try at Andean-style braiding in the fist)

It's not quite done, but I'm making progress.

You can see how I'm finally getting the hang of things.  The braid is properly spiraling, yay!  And my tension is starting to become more consistent.

I'll work on this for a little while longer, but the strands are getting short.  They are not even in length -- I must not have adjusted the tension/evenness very well when I first started.

After this, I think I'll play around with 8 strand braids for a little while.  (The above braid is a 16 strand braid.)  There are some fun variations that seem very logical in their construction/development when I look at the charts in Cahlender and the Owen and Owen/Flynn and Tada books.  So I'll check them out.  Owen and Tada make charts for the marudai or square disk, but it's straightforward enough to generalize them back to in-the-fist braiding, I believe.  If I understand and can make the various 8-strand braids for realz, it'll be a good sign for when I return to the 16 strand braids and beyond.  It'll also help me to continue gaining the physical finger skills to make my braids more consistent and more efficient to braid.  And heck, I can always use a marudai or disk for any of these braids if I want to.

I've wandered into a bunch of fun videos in Spanish on slings and Andean-style braiding and cordage.  I don't know enough Spanish to follow all the details of what is being said.  But I recognize some of the words and I can certainly watch what's happening in the video part of things.  It's a nice complement to English-language sling-braiding videos.  And it's also a nice complement to the many videos I enjoy watching about other kinds of braiding and narrow wares, in whatever language they may be in.

Andean/Tibetan-style braiding in the fist and other sling-related baby steps

No pics yet, but I'm starting to learn how to do this, yay!

I started with 8 strands (of acrylic worsted weight yarn) folded in half, which is probably slightly more complicated than it needed to be, but it's giving me a lot of good info on what not to do and why.

My baby braid is very uneven.  Hopefully it'll be a lot better by the time I'm done.

I used 4 different colors -- one color each for lower N/S, upper N/S, lower E/W, and upper E/W.  That way, it's easier to keep track of each level and what it's doing.  I'm doing the same moves each time and am getting a square braid with vertical stripes.  I'm not fully sure why it's not spiraling like it seems to do in a lot of Youtube videos, but it looks about right compared to my in-print resources and according to what my brain thinks is happening.  Or maybe not.  I guess this is one of the things that will become obvious eventually.

One I finish mangling this braid, I'll retreat to 4 strands folded in half (2 threads per side instead of 4) and try again.

I do understand the underlying theory of having upper and lower threads, with the lower threads being the ones that move.  I understand the idea of crossing the strands clockwise or counterclockwise, and I also understand rotating 90 degrees to do each side in turn.  I'm sure there's a lot I don't understand yet, and probably am not even aware of not understanding.  But that's what this kind of learning is all about, right?

I'm getting comfortable with holding the braid in my fist along with the threads that are not to be bothered during the current braiding step.

I liked the starting method, which I saw somewhere I can't remember but is probably universally known and I just didn't know it.  Lay down the lower N/S threads, then the lower E/W threads, then the upper N/S threads, and finally the upper E/W threads.  I used a piece of thread to hold the cross in place for the first few moves.  One starts with braiding the lower N/W threads and goes from there.  The threads will not be locked into place for a round or two so it's possible to adjust where the middle is.

I will probably show a pic of my baby braid when it's done, baby missteps and all.

One of the goals, obviously, is to be able to make Andean and Tibetan style braided slings, in addition to making cool braids in general.

The braided sling I wrote about in the previous post is keeping me entertained.  I need something heavier to toss around -- cat toys don't have sufficiently predictable aerodynamic properties.  But not too heavy, since my accuracy is still garbage and I don't want to break anything with a poorly-aimed projectile.  What I really need is to find someone who is already a decent slinger to give me some good feedback.

My next bast-fiber sling might be with a 5-strand pigtail/herringbone braid.  I'll probably do the same basic design.  I do need to double-check how to split or join the braids at the pouch since I think it's slightly more complicated than doing it with a 3-strand braid.  After that, I might start experimenting with different ways to add a sling pouch.  Eventually, of course, I'll start tapering the various parts -- heavier near the pouch, perhaps more slender by the end of the release cord.  Not all historic slings do that but some do.

So many fun things to learn and play with!  (Netting!  Sprang!  More fingerloop braiding!  More tablet-weaving!  More inkle-weaving!  Kumihimo/marudai fun!  Etc.  So much etc.)

A simple braided sling

My weaving area is still unavailable.  But I guess the sling-braiding itch got too hard to ignore.  Thus, a sling!

It's made from 6 strands of 48 lb hemp, in a simple 3-strand braid with a split pouch.  I followed the Dan Bollinger tutorial on slinging.org, here: https://slinging.org/20.html

His instructions are for a 1m sling.  He recommends starting with strands that are 2.8 times the length of the desired finished length.  So, for the 1m sling (39"), cut 6 strands at 110" each (280cm).  Braid the central finger loop for about 4", then join.  Braid about 14", split for the pouch.  Each side of the pouch is about 4" long, then rejoin and braid another 18".  Do an overhand knot (or some kind of sturdy knot) to finish, then trim the ends.

Hemp is hard on my poor fingers!

My braiding is not as consistent as I would prefer.  I'll have to see how well the sling works...  I'm also wondering if I should try waxing or oiling it, and what effect that might have.

This is similar to the Balearic style in that it has a simple pouch made from splitting the cordage for braiding and then rejoining.  A lot of slings use a leather pouch, or they sew a bit of leather or something to these split braids.  Or they weave a pouch that is incorporated into the braiding at each end.  Most of the tutorials I saw for Balearic slings had the release cord tapering at the far end, sometimes ending in a tassel made from much thinner material.  Many tutorials also did 5-strand pigtail braids rather than 3-strand.  And some were made from grass that was twisted into cordage as the braiding proceeded.  That made it easier to increase or decrease the size of the braids.  Some had thicker braids near and in the pouch area, for example, in addition to narrowing the release braid.

I still plan to do slings made from animal fiber (or maybe just acrylic yarn at first, and then animal fiber) and the fancier square braids, with various styles of woven/braided/sewn/etc. pouches.

But these quick bast-fiber braided slings are cute, too.

And yes, even with the delightfully amateurish construction, I am exceedingly pleased with myself.  I'll get better with more experience and with the feedback from actual real-life use.