Sprang project #4 -- two-color acrylic bag

The learning continues.

I used acrylic this time.  And two colors.  I was actually trying for a different color pattern but got myself too confused, so I kept it simple.

There are 16 loops (32 ends total), with 8 of each color, alternating.  I used the frame with 20" PVC sides, and when the tension got too tight, I moved the loops to skewers and taped them to the loom.

I did a basic 1/1 interlinking pattern.

Diagonals!  I'm so pleased!

The acrylic is a little sticky, especially when I'm undoing mistakes.  But on the whole, it behaved reasonably well.

The above is after sewing up.  I did the same figure-8 loop around the threads at the bottom that I've done for most of my projects so far.  Then I sewed up the sides and ran a twisted cord through the loops at the top to use as a drawstring.

The above photo isn't a great angle, but it shows how the diagonals open up into amazingly cute stripes when the bag is stretched over something.

This size is about right for a cell phone or something of similar size.

Things I learned:

I am still quite terrible at sewing up.  Keep working on that...

I should have wriggled the piece to even out the gauge before sewing up.  It might also be a good thing to move the piece to skewers immediately after warping.  Or figure out something else to keep the top from being so loose.  Maybe these things were always attached to something firm, like a band or a purse handle or something?

When sewing up, secure the drawstring so it doesn't fall out of the loops I so carefully set up before sewing.  Also, make sure the drawstring goes in the correct direction.  Perhaps I should have a safety string through the loops that doesn't get untied and removed until after the piece is done?

When hiding ends, don't pull things too tight, and make sure you can loosen the ends to the correct tension before it's impossible to find them again.

Think about matching colors for sewing up the sides.  Should the edges be the same color?  Should I use different colors to sew them?

This is a fun and attractive pattern.  I like the color pattern and how it interacts with the interlinking pattern.  These could also be interesting hand/wrist warmers.  Or a hat.

On the whole, I'm pleased with the lessons I learned from this project.

Sprang Project #3 -- another bag

I want to make sprang bags, so I'm making sprang bags.

This one is using the same frame as project #1, to make a bag that is 12" deep or so.  I am using 16 pairs of loops (32 threads total).  The stitch patterns are the same as project #2 -- some 1/1 interlinking at top and bottom, and the allover holes pattern (2/2 alternating with 1/1) in the middle.  I finished the bottom as with project #1, and I sewed up the sides until the point where the 1/1 interlinking started.  There's a twisted thread drawstring.

My sewing still kind of sucks but I'm getting better.  This bag fits my water bottle better than bag #1 does, and it looks more relaxed when it's not stretched out.

I'm getting closer to what I think is the proper proportions for this kind of bag.

The photos are shown right after finishing, without any blocking and without doing much that will enable the tension to even out.

It's kind of fun to see this holes pattern just open right up once it's off the loom.  The bag that is just interlinking tends to close back up when it's not holding something.  This one stays relaxed.

So...  I've done my first reading of Collingwood's book on Sprang.  I'm sure a lot went over my head because I'm not ready to understand it yet.

It's shorter and less complex than his tablet-weaving book.

The 1/1 interlinking term seems to be used in his book.  Ditto for the "plait" and "overplait" terminology that Carol James also uses.

The 4-row holes pattern is something he calls a "hole design".  It's on p. 132, in a section called "using alternate rows of 1/1 and 2/2 interlinking (holes design)".  He says that this is "probably the most used method of patterning sprang fabrics" and that "[w]herever sprang has been practiced, this technique has been explored."

I like his charting method.  I also like Carol James' method and Jules Kliot's method (in the booklet published by Lacis).  I guess it's good that I'm pretty easy-going about sprang charting, at least for the simpler stuff.

The book went pretty quickly.  I have lots of inspiration for future projects as I learn more about this new-to-me ancient textile art, from Collingwood's book as well as other books and all the fun stuff I can find online.

I'm not sure what I'll do for the next sprang project (almost certainly another bag).  Probably play around with more interlinking and maybe a bit of interlacing.  (I know that that means now!  And ditto for intertwining!)  Maybe a bit of color or an eyelet pattern, or trying to zero in on the perfect bag proportions for various stitch patterns.  At some point I'll switch to different thread, too.  But for learning purposes, this nice fat cotton is perfect.

The Second Sprang Project -- also a small bag (but different from the first one)

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.

The first sprang project -- a small bag

I have complete my very first sprang project and I am very pleased with myself.  It's a simple bag, very much following the project guidelines that are in Carol James' workshop that she did for the Braids and Bands mailing list.

Much was learned.

I used some Sugar and Creme cotton yarn I found in the depths of my oddballs stash.    I rigged up my little PVC tablet weaving loom into a simple frame.  I used 24 ends (12 pairs).

This is very much the most basic interlinking pattern.  Each row is 1 s 1, with the rows staggered.  In other words, one row is 1 x 1.  The other row starts with 2 x 1, has the middle be 1 x 1, and finishes with 1 x 2.

It spiraled quite a bit, of course, since all the twisting was in one direction.  But after sewing it up and scrunching it up, it seems a lot better.  I haven't yet blocked it so don't know how that will affect things.

Once I ran out of room in the middle, I finished it using the method in the handouts -- tie a thread around the middle, twice (in a figure 8), knot it, and then use the ends to sew up each side, matching the edges.  I wasn't particularly neat with that, alas, but hopefully it'll be better and closer to invisible than it was this time.  For a while, I was pretty sure I hadn't aligned the edges properly.  But it worked out, whew, and even if it's not perfect, it's not obvious.

I did a twisted-cord for a drawstring, running it through the top loops and then tying an overhand knot at one end.

It looks rather peculiar but it is indeed stretchy!  It'll fit around a water bottle.  The length and width aren't too different from how they looked on the loom -- about 12" long and about 2" wide.  My gauge is relatively consistent and I like the fabric that was created.

This very much has the vibe one would expect from a First Project.  But it is a successful project.  Now on to project #2...   I'm not sure what it will be, but my guess is another bag.

I'm having fun reading things about sprang by a variety of authors and also checking out whatever I can find on the 'net.  So many possibilities...

Sprang!

Apparently my little squirrel brain needs to try something new.

Today it is sprang.

I've not done it before, but I know people who have.  Also, I've had Carol James' website bookmarked for years, waiting for The Day.

Well, today was The Day.

I just wanted to do the basic moves, see if I understood.  Yup!

I'm not planning on keeping this -- it'll be unraveled soon and returned to its primordial yarn.

The top pic is what is looks like on the little PVC frame I had lying around.  I had thought I might need to tape dowels or knitting needles to move as the warp tightened.  But this is such a short piece that it wasn't a problem.  I did a figure-8 wrap around the top and bottom, found the cross, and started twisting.  I don't remember if I did a Z-twist or an S-twist, but whatever it was, I think I was consistent.  I could see the ends trying to twist by the time I got to the middle.  Hmm, looks like Z in the pic.

And here you can see that I did it!  It works!  Primitive technology, yay!!!!  A baby step, but it counts!  The world of sprang is at my fingertips!

I'm not sure what my first real project will be.  Probably a drawstring bag, because why not?  I need to rig up a better way to hold the warp and all those other fun things, too.  And then, yes, start exploring the possibilities.

There are other useful websites and video collections that showed the various moves in different ways and both whetted my interest and gave me confidence that I could tackle this without too much trouble.

I've also been checking out my vast collection of info on brocade tablet weaving, so that might be another new thing once I'm pretty sure I'm done with doing the tablet-woven gift bands.