Finished: Zigzag and diamonds gift band #2

It is done.  I started with 180" of warp, and ended up with a bit more than 140" completed, before blocking (my feline weaving assistants made it hard to measure accurately).

Cats are terrible weaving assistants, especially during shedding season.  Sigh.  I hope the recipient isn't allergic to cat fur, though I'll pick off what I can.

I tried leaving little bloops of weft on each side, in hopes that the band would fill out a bit after that section was no longer under tension.  I think it worked, mostly, though I wasn't as good as I could have been about consistency.  The motifs are all still a bit elongated.

There are 208 repeats of the 4F4B pattern.  There wasn't a lot of waste at the end, either, and the fringes are maybe 3-4" long at each end.  I did use a weft that was the same weight as the warp, and I tried to pack the weft down fairly tightly.  I think it was pretty tight since it was hard to dig out when I had to unweave occasionally!  (though that might have had something to do with the weft getting felted into place with cat fur, at least sometimes)  Anyway, that says something about future long projects and estimating the length of warp needed for what length of finished band.

Although this was extremely straightforward weaving and the band is attractive, I was rather tired of it by the end.  I'm glad it's done.

What next?  I've been thinking about the texture part of the Philip of Swabia band.  Not the section where the brocading is (which is all F), but the part where it's 5F5B.  The area where the cards change direction is kind of interesting, with the little bloops between the S and Z direction tablets and also with the slight difference in width at the turn.  It's basically a monochrome version of any F/B patterned band out there, of course.  I think it would look nice in something shiny, whether silk or some other shiny-ish material.  I'm also thinking about tablet-woven cords and more of all of my other favorite techniques (2-hole, Sulawesi, 3/1 twill, maybe double-face, etc.).  And maybe it's time to learn a bit about brocading.

But I'm not totally sure what's going to be next.  I might be doing more gift bands.  And I've been doing more knitting lately, meaning less time for things that aren't knitting.

Current project: Zigzag and diamonds gift band #2

The next simple gift band has been warped up and weaving has started.  It's the Sawtooth and Diamonds pattern from Twisted Threads.  I started with 5 yards of warp, which required a bit of ingenuity to do.  Hopefully it won't tangle too much as the band grows.

This is a 16-tablet pattern, 4-threaded, 4F/4B.  Well, I'm doing the edges as all F because that makes me happier, but it's still an extremely straightforward pattern.

I'm trying to keep the weft loose and not use too much weight but the motifs are still somewhat elongated.  Some of that is because the above photo was taken with the warp under tension -- it'll relax a bit and shorten up once the weight is off.  Not a lot, but some.  I'm trying to even leave a teeny bit of weft showing at the edges to see if the threads will poof out a bit while the band is being soaked in water after it's done.

24 pattern repeats is about 15".  I'll be at this for a while.

Finished -- zigzag and diamonds gift band #1

Simple and cute.  It ended up being roughly 3/4" wide and a bit more than 90" long.  The cats helped with the measuring, so there's some uncertainty in the length.

This is destined as a gift.  On to the next band!  It too will be a simple F/B pattern, also destined as a gift.

A simple tablet weaving project (zigzag and dots)

I've been dithering about the Next Tablet Weaving Project for a while.  While I'm dithering, I started this simple little band that's intended as a gift.

The pattern is charted out nicely on Twisted Threads here: https://twistedthreads.org/pattern/2iubdKQLn5dQWoT8N

I'm pretty sure I've seen this in a lot of places over the years, not just on Twisted Threads.  But since there's already a chart, I'll link it and use it.

The chart calls for 17 tablets, all 4-threaded.  It's a threaded-in 4F4B pattern, though I'm treating the outermost tablets (1 per side) as edge tablets and only turn them forwards.  I'm using my usual Aunt Lydia's #10 cotton for warp.

I found some green DMC Cebelia in my doily leftovers and am using that for weft.  I think it's #20.  It shows little green dots where the tablet direction switches, but I decided I wanted to match the green edges rather than the yellow background.  The request was for at least 3/4" width.  I'm barely able to achieve that.  I'll have to consciously try to keep the weft tension loose-ish yet still keep the width consistent.

The back is cute, too, though nowhere near as well-defined as the front.  I'll share a pic of that at some point.

I'm getting low on several colors.  Do I fill in the colors I'm low on so I can still weave with this stuff?  Or do I let my supply run out, using the last bits for braiding and inkle weaving, and move on to a different thread?  I'm not sure.  It's actually kind of difficult to find easily available relatively inexpensive thread of decent quality in a good range of colors, especially if I want to get the stuff in person.  I'm sorry to say that this big-box-store cotton #10-ish stuff might not be a half-bad choice.  I'm probably going to do a few of these simple bands as gifts, and it would be good to have more options for the colors I can select for each band.  Sigh.  So off to the big-box crafts stores I'll go, I guess.  Or do mail order.