Another Band Done (Diagonals-type pattern)

 And it's done.  I am pleased.

I ended up with about 42 repeats (at 16 turns per repeat), about 160 cm long (64-ish inches), about 3 cm wide (1.25-ish inches).  There was about 4-5" of waste at the beginning and about 9-12" at the end.  I might have been able to eke out one more repeat, but decided that it was too aggravating.  The last few repeats were already aggravating and didn't look as clean and even as earlier in the band.  I can't remember how long my initial warp was, but I think it was in the 2 meter range.  It was probably a bit longer than that if I assume that take-up was roughly 10-20%.

The above photo shows more or less what it looks like.  I think it's striking even with the imperfections.  I have no idea what I'll use it for!  I will need to sew it to something, though, since in a few places near the beginning, the weft is showing on the bottom of the band.  I think it was either near where I was unweaving a mistake or when I was catching bottom threads above the shed and hadn't realized it yet.

By the end of the band, I'd gotten into a nice rhythm.  I'd make this again, probably with 28 rather than 24 cards.  I'd love to get some plastic cards in different colors to make it easier to move cards into the proper packs (forwards vs backwards).  I counted carefully with the monochrome cards, and that was a wise thing to have done.

Things I learned:  Well, I already wrote about the main thing.  It's important to clear the shed properly.  Otherwise, you risk catching the lower threads in the upper part of the shed, and that affects the clean diagonal lines of the pattern.

I tried using chip clips to hold the warp after the warp got too short to handle in my usual way, which is to tie all of it into a knot and hang the half-full gallon milk jug from the knot.  The chip clips were so-so.  Sometimes they'd hold the tension and sometimes threads would slip.  It did keep the threads separated so that the cards were able to turn even in the fairly tight space that was left as I neared the end of the band.

I like doing diagonal-type patterns.  They're pretty straightforward and very satisfying.  Using multiple packs requires a bit more room than one-pack patterns, but that's OK.  It might be easier to do a few more repeats with smaller cards.

On to the next pattern!  Whatever shall it be?  I guess I'll find out when Inspiration strikes.

Fun with Diagonals

I am finally weaving a band that I warped up well over a year ago.  Hmm, well over two years ago, but all of my weaving stuff was in boxes in storage for at least a year of that.

The pattern is from Peregrina1 (that's her user name on Ravelry).  She posted a photo of a lovely band and was kind enough to share the pattern.  It's a diagonals-type pattern.  I didn't have the same colors she used (which are extremely attractive).  I picked colors from what I did have, making sure that the contrast color was indeed contrast-y.  I think I made a reasonable choice from what I had available.

I'm having fun with it.  It felt most comfortable to use my PVC loom, so that's what I'm doing.  I did have to track down all the pieces and remember how to put it together.  Storage, boxes, etc.

This photo shows a few pattern repeats.  You can see the white PVC of the loom and the skewers I used at the start of the band to make sure I've threaded things properly.  The perspective is a bit funky -- the band is relatively consistent in width, honest!

What am I learning?

Well, I'm getting lots more practice with unweaving.  If I'm distracted or tired, it's easy to rotate some cards forward instead of backward and not notice for an inch or so.

I'm also getting yet more reminders that it's important to watch the shed.  It's apparently very easy for me to catch bottoms threads into the top part of the shed without noticing, especially from one of the interior packs of cards.  That became very obvious when I was unweaving.  I think that's part of why the line of the pattern isn't always perfectly clear -- a thread from the lower shed is on the surface next to the proper top threads, rather than remaining properly on the backside, and thus obscuring things.  Or some of that may end up easing out when I block/finish the band -- we'll see.  Or some of it might be due to slight differences in thread tension and shed-beating, leading to slight differences in the lengths of the floats.  I don't know but I'll try to get it figured out and then do my best to improve.

I used the thread that was already on my shuttle as weft.  I like that it's thin -- it looks like #30 crochet cotton, perhaps #20.  But it is white or off-white, and it does show along the edge and sides.  I probably should have chosen something closer in color to the edge threads.  In general, the edges aren't perfect and the width isn't perfectly consistent, but given how long it's been since I've done much, I'm not gonna beat myself up about it.

I love how the pattern is built in sections -- each group of four cards is 8F8B, but each group is staggered by four rows from the adjacent group of four cards.  The outer two groups are 2 cards since the pattern is on 24 cards instead of 28, and I wanted it to be symmetric.  There are also 2 more cards at each side as edge cards, which are all blue, alternating SZ or ZS, and only turned forwards.  I'm using the two-packs method of keeping things straight -- the forward pack and the backwards pack, re-arranged every four turns.

I love how these complex-looking designs arise from such simple rules.  These kinds of bands end up being twist-neutral, too, without needing to reverse the weaving or work out extra twist or anything like that.  And obviously the forward-back turnings can be different  -- 6F6B, or 4F2B2F4B, etc. -- or the groups of cards can be offset by two rows rather than four, etc.

Not every diagonals pattern is like this, or at least I don't think they are, but a lot of the ones I find attractive are.  They also tend to be fairly easy to weave since they're made from such simple building blocks.

The cats, surprisingly, aren't as terrible about helping as they were several years ago.  They watch, but mostly they're content to chew on the wooden skewers at the beginning of the band or to bat around the warp that's hanging off the back end of the loom.  Sometimes they like to sit so they have a close view of the shed when I'm unweaving, making it tricky to determine what is a thread and what is a cat whisker.  One cat likes to lie on my neck, along my shoulders, as I weave, but that's not too big a deal.

I have no idea what I will use the band for, if anything.

Back to the Classics: Sample Band A (Candace Crockett)

Back in the day, before the internet connected us, there was Candace Crockett's book, Card Weaving.  First published in 1973 and revised in 1991, it was a good-for-its-time, easily available introduction to tablet weaving.  It was the first book I owned on the subject -- I received it as a gift along with a hand-made shuttle from a woodworking-minded person in my life.  I toddled down to Robin & Russ Handweavers to buy cards (and Russell Groff's booklet, of course), and that's how I began.

Candace Crockett's book introduces the techniques of card-weaving with Sample Band A.  I thought it was ugly, so I started with something else.  I can't remember -- all the evidence is thankfully long gone.

However, I finally got a chance to weave it!

Several weeks ago, I participated in a class, my first.  I was looking forward to seeing how Real Weavers, who had Experience, did things.  (I was not disappointed -- I learned a lot!)

The class was aimed at beginners, and to my surprise (and pleasure), we did Sample Band A.  Not that the teacher referred to it as such, but I recognized it immediately!

Sample Band A has 10 cards, all with the same orientation.  It is a threaded-in pattern with three colors, and a straightforward 4F-4B turning sequence.

I was given already-threaded tablets with perle cotton in red, white, and blue.  OK, the white is a light gray and the other two colors are muted rather than garish.  The warp is probably carpet warp, a dark green that blends in unobtrusively with the blue.

The loom was another draw for me -- it consisted of a plank (probably a 2x6) about 4 feet long, with 2 dowels (about an inch or so in diameter, maybe 4" in length) that are probably glued into drilled holes, one at each end.  It's simple and portable.  We tied each end of the warp to a dowel and off we went.  It was pretty simple to advance the warp and also to maintain a comfortable weaving tension.  We even got to take our looms home!  I will try to add a photo of it at some point.

The tablets I was given were about 2.25" square, made from cardboard, very comfortable to use.

I must admit that the woven tablet looks nicer than I expected.  I suspect Ms. Crockett used the yarn/thread she did so that the details would be obvious, and that's part of why the band photographed in the book looks so ugly.

In case it's not obvious, the side with the red squares is the right side, and the side with the white crosses is the wrong side.  Both are pleasant.

I haven't measured it precisely, but I think I have about 5 yards of this, and it's roughly 1/2" wide.  I haven't done anything to the ends, either, since I have no idea what I will do with the band.  Assuming the thread is color-fast when wet, I'll probably block this and possibly even iron it.

I feel a bit chuffed (in a good way) that I finally made this band.  It is SOOOOO common as a first band done by tablet weavers of a certain place and time.  I feel like I am participating in some kind of ritual or tradition, connecting me with the decades-old community of English-language tablet weavers who started with Card Weaving by Candace Crockett.

Candace Crockett's Card Weaving Drafting Conventions

Ms. Crockett uses her own style of charting the patterns, which can cause confusion as people start to use other people's patterns.  This is not a problem when weaving in isolation, of course.  However, it's always good to understand what someone's charting conventions are and how they compare to other charting conventions.

Crockett uses arrows to indicate card direction.  Her arrows indicate which way the threads go when you are threading the cards  After looking at her diagrams and photos (figures 3-4, 3-5, 4-9, and 4-10, in conjunction with various photos), her left arrow <--- corresponds to S threading, which is equivalent to / if you go by tablet orientation.  Her right arrow ---> corresponds to Z threading, which is equivalent to \ for tablet orientation.  I'm pretty sure that's how it is, though after a while I can confuse myself.

Her tablets are labeled clockwise ABCD, facing to the left.  (This is the same as counterclockwise ABCD facing to the right, I believe).  She starts with the AD line on top.  She numbers her cards from left to right, and her chart goes from top (A) to bottom (D).

When she specifies turning forward and backward, for her, forward is towards the weaver and back is away.  I usually do the opposite (forwards is away from me, towards the unwoven warp, and backwards is towards me, towards the already woven band).  So this was kind of interesting to realize -- if I once knew this, it's long been forgotten.

So, all in all, this was a useful little band to weave.  I now have a new loom, which was a type I'd not woven on before.  It is similar to setting up two C-clamps but looks a little nicer, is more portable, and is better designed for handling long warps.  I got to weave Sample Band A, that old classic, and also look at my old copy of Card Weaving to see how Candace Crockett's weaving conventions compare to other styles.  And I learned a lot by watching and chatting with a veteran tablet-weaver with decades of experience.

I don't really use Candace Crockett's Card Weaving much these days.  With the internet and the easier availability of international books, I find other materials to be more useful.  I'm glad I had an excuse to revisit her work.

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I haven't posted in quite a while!  Life's been busy.  Hopefully I'll have a few more bands and what-not posted here before this blog goes quiet again.  We'll see.

For tablet weaving, I have a diagonals band warped up and ready to weave once I can set up an area in which to weave where the cats can't do too much damage.  After that, I plan to dive into some double-face, missing-thread, and then 3/1 twill and Sulawesi.  Plus more diagonals (which to me includes kivrim-style patterns), maybe pebble weave, and anything else that interests me.  We'll see!  I have plenty of cards and more than one loom, so maybe it's time to start having multiple concurrent projects.  That way lies madness, though.

The S-Sign Band

In my previous post, I was thinking about the balanced/offset diagonal-type pattern, where the tablets have a balanced X-forward/X-back turning pattern, but some of the tablets are offset in where they begin the turning pattern.

I had mentioned the S-sign band from Applesies and Fox Noses as being in this style.  It has 6 tablets for the main pattern plus 3 for each edge/border, for 12 total.

So I warped it up and wove it, using Aunt Lydia's #10 crochet cotton in purple and white.

I ended up with close to 6' of finished band.  I'm not sure how much I started with, so I don't know how much take-up there was.  I had about 10" or so of waste on each end.  The band itself is roughly 1/2" wide.

The weft was some thinner white crochet cotton from the leftover crochet cotton stash.

The weaving was quite straightforward.  My edges are reasonably straight and the weft-spacing is reasonably consistent.  Not perfect, but reasonable.


Applesies and Fox Noses Drafting Conventions:

Tablet orientation is shown (instead of thread orientation).

The AD line is at the top when starting.

Tablets are numbered from left to right.

Tablets face right.

Tablets are labeled in a counter-clockwise direction when facing right.



Things I learned:

I need a better way of handling long warps.  I keep getting them all tangled.

Cats are not very good assistants if one's goal is to untangle a bunch of cotton threads.

I was trying to do this backstrap-style.  But I got too frustrated with the warp threads since they kept tangling and I couldn't get the tension to be even.  Eventually I just transferred it to a warp-weighted loom.  I untangled the first few feet of the warp, added some weight, and was able to get the tension even enough.  So I guess I'll do backstrap-style weaving with some other band.

Instead of working out the extra twist in border cards continuously turned forward, I flipped them around their vertical axis every now and then.  (This gives the same effect as turning them backwards.)  I think I prefer to work out extra twist or to honestly start turning them backwards.  Flipping was OK but a bit fiddly.

For whatever reason, this was the first time I noticed that Applesies and Fox Noses has the cards labeled in a counter-clockwise instead of a clockwise direction.  Oh, well!  I just re-arranged cards instead of re-threading them.


I'm not sure what band I'll do next.  I still want to do a double-face sampler plus there are a few diagonal-type patterns I'd like to do.  Or maybe I should blather on about braiding for a while.  Or inkle-type band weaving.  We'll see!

Ignorant Ruminations

I've been reading Claudia Wollny's Tablets at Work, while thinking about how she classifies diagonal and kivrim patterns.

She says that patterns using the diagonals technique can change the turning directions of 2 tablets at a time, every 2 picks.  These would be the classic Egyptian Diagonals method that is relatively common these days.

She says that kivrim patterns have some tablets always turning forward, while others turn forward and backward at 4-pick intervals to create hook-like motifs.  The number of tablets in the 4F/4B section(s) does not have to be a multiple of 2 or any other number.

Diagonal-type patterns use 2 colors, AABB, while kivrim patterns can use any number of colors and each tablet may be threaded with different colors.  There may be differences in S/Z orientation and starting arrangements of the colors within each tablet.

I believe that this categorization came about because of the book's way of summarizing techniques.  In particular, the tablet threading and starting positions are very important.  So the AABB one-direction staggered starting position of diagonal-type patterns contrasts with the any-color, any-tablet-orientation of the kivrim-type patterns.

Hmmm....

I think that I would generalize diagonals to include any kind of change in turning direction of individual tablets, in a way that creates hooks, spirals, diamonds, zigzags, meanders, waves, rhombi, etc. due to the threaded-in colors. (yes, this slightly overlaps with double-face, but I don't care.)

Kivrim would be one sub-type.  Egyptian diagonals would be another.

A third sub-type would be Finnish diagonal patterns, where any individual tablet might change turning directions in any pick.  Half-turns are also allowed.

Another sub-type, perhaps, would be modern patterns where some or all the rules are followed or combined or broken at will in order to create an interesting result.  These would include some of the GTT and similar patterns that can be found on pinterest and elsewhere.

For any of the above, twist may accumulate or it may be balanced.  For patterns that accumulate twist, the weaver may also balance the patterns by deliberately reversing the motifs at regular or irregular intervals.

There is another sub-type, which overlaps the above.  That is diagonal-type patterns that involve tablets changing their turning direction, but which are balanced.  In other words, the number of forward and backward turns are equal over the pattern repeat.  After every pick, any number of tablets may change directions -- it doesn't have to be an even number of tablets or an even number of picks.

The simplest ones, possible a sub-type of the above sub-type, are 4F/4B or 8F/8B patterns where different sections stagger the rows in which the forward and backward turns begin.  In other words, tablets 1-4 might be 8F/8B while tablets 5-8 would be 4F/8B/4F, and so on.  The tablets are often but not always groups of 4 tablets.  The offset might often but not always be one half to one quarter.  Although the AABB staggered set-up of Egyptian Diagonals is common, I don't know if it's required.

I mention this particular turning pattern because I've done one like that before -- the Running S band.  I'm considering another one in this style that is a bit more complex.  Before I warp that one up, though, I might do a double-face sampler band.  Or I might do the classic Finnish S pattern.  That one falls into the Balanced/Offset category -- 3 tablets are 9F/5B/5F/9B and the next 3 tablets are 5F/9B/9F/5B.

Several other patterns in Applesies and Fox Noses are balanced/offset.  Several are balanced though not offset.  Some are not balanced at all.

Hmmm...  More thinking is necessary.  Plus more weaving and more charting explorations.

I'm sure my thinking will evolve as I gain more experience and as I explore more both in these weaving techniques and in other complex/advanced weaving techniques.  But this week I am intrigued by the complexity of designs that can be generated with simple, regular balanced/offset patterns.  Plus they're easy to weave since there is no build-up of twist.

Finished! (Egyptian diagonals band)

It is finished, and I like it a lot.

I ended up with about 5.5 to 6 feet of band, not counting the fringes or anything like that.  It's about 1.25" wide.  I did 19.5 pattern repeats.  The extra .5 is so that there are the same number of complete triangles on each side.

It turned out well.  Most of what I wrote in the previous post still stands.  The edges are relatively consistent and so is the weft spacing.  I unwove mistakes that were visible from the front, though the back has a couple of spots where the weft is visible over the border cards.  I guess I missed the shed on those picks...

One book refers to Egyptian diagonals as "double diagonals"  since pairs of cards may switch turning directions after every 2 picks.  I think I like that name for it.  Finnish diagonals don't always fall into that category, though.  Not that everything needs to rigidly fit into a specific category, of course!

I still need to finish the warp ends and maybe wet-block the band to remove the slight ripple (though I like the ripple, actually).  But I won't do that until I decide what, if anything, I want to do with the band.

What shall I work on next?  When will this blog see another post?  Time will tell.

Still Narrow-Minded (Egyptian Diagonals Band)

OK, so it's been a while since I've posted.  No big deal.  I'm back with another round of playing with narrow wares and posting about them.

Since my last blog post, I have bought a few books.  Applesies and Fox Noses, by Maikki Karisto and Mervi Pasanen, is a lot of fun.  I bought it a while back even though I haven't made much from it yet.  I also follow the Facebook page and the blog, and of course look at the pretty pictures and download the gift patterns (such as the Tuhannen Kunniaksi band that is shown in my older blog posts).  Recently I picked up Claudia Wollny's new book, Tablets at Work.  Again, I'm enjoying it a lot.  I highly recommend both books to anyone who is looking for good tablet weaving books that are very clearly written with excellent charts and explanations.

I've added a few braiding books to my library, too, but that'll be some future post.  Ditto for any kind of detailed review of the tablet-weaving books.

So...  With all this new inspiration, I decided to Try Something New.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to do something with double-weaving or something with diagonals (aka Egyptian Diagonals or Finnish Diagonals).  Both start with the same threading -- 2 threads of Color A and 2 of Color B, with the colors adjacent to each other (in other words, AABB), so I warped up some tablets and dithered.

I'm still using the 5/2 cotton perle, so continuous warping is still kind of a pain since I'm running thread from both ends of each ball.  But I managed.  I'm not totally sure how long the warp is, maybe 8 feet or so?

I want to play around with double-weaving since it looks very straightforward and I haven't tried it yet.  It'll be fun to graph little designs and letters and such as well as using other people's charts and graphs.

I guess I've done diagonal-type patterns already since a lot of the GTT patterns one sees online are in that family.  Or they're in the kivrim family, or both, and anyway I've definitely done a kivrim pattern as well as the Tuhannen Kunniakski pattern with Finnish diagonals.  Claudia Wollny sees diagonals and kivrim as two different techniques, whereas I had previously considered them to be variations on a similar theme, namely the theme of changing turning directions of a subset of cards at different times in order to develop strong diagonal lines (including such things as diamonds, spirals, zigzags, etc.).  I'll be reading Claudia's chapters again more carefully so I can think about how and why she treats them as two separate pattern families.  I'll also consider how random online GTT patterns and Finnish patterns fit into the categories, especially for patterns where turning directions can change every round.  Traditional Egyptian diagonal patterns only change turning directions after two rounds, with 2 cards changing at a time, as far as I'm aware.

Anyway!

I was in a diagonals mood, so diagonals it was!  I wanted something very simple.  Although the basic pattern I wanted to weave is in a lot of different places, I used the charts from Applesies and Fox Noses, p. 57, Number 18, Spiky Gardens.  It has 12 cards for the center pattern with 2 border cards on each side, for 16 cards total.  I liked the triangles and wasn't in the mood for reversals, so I followed the chart on p. 59 and skipped the charts showing how to do reversals on p. 60.

Charting conventions:  I probably wrote this down in a previous blog post, but here it is again.  Applesies and Fox Noses charts show tablet directions (/ and \) rather than threading directions (S and Z).  The cards face right, with the AD line along the top to begin, and the cards are numbered from left to right.  Changes in turning direction are shown by shading the areas where the cards are turning towards the weaver (backwards), while the plain areas are turned away from the weaver (forwards).  I really like this charting style.  It feels very intuitive.

At this point, I want to mention Mervi Pasananen's video on how to do a continuous warp where one is cutting the end of the loop instead of weaving on a continuous loop without cutting any ends.  The pattern I chose accumulates twist, so I knew I wanted to be able to manipulate each card individually so I could get rid of excess twist every now and then.

It was still a pain separating out each set of four threads so I could tie a small overhand knot at each end.  My cats insisted on helping, which of course made it even more exciting.  A loom-weaving friend of mine says that warping is always a pain, no matter what, so I'm trying not to feel too discouraged that it takes me a while to get everything set up.

On to weaving!  And then unweaving.  And then weaving!  And then unweaving.  Etc., but finally things clicked, and now progress is being made.  I still do some occasional unweaving but the band is definitely growing while the unused warp is getting shorter and shorter.

The above photo shows how it looked after the first few pattern repeats.  The garish colors (yellow and aqua for the diagonals, darker blue and purple for the border cards) actually look pretty good.  Well, a lot of bands really do benefit from a strong color contrast.

My weft is some random medium-blue crochet cotton left over from a doily I knit a while back.  It is thinner than the warp, maybe a #10 or #20 cotton?

The pattern is really quite easy as long as one stays focused.  I don't need the chart at all unless I'm trying to figure out where I am after doing a bit of unweaving.

The back isn't quite as nice -- there are a few places where I clearly missed the border threads so that the weft thread goes underneath instead of through the shed.  But I don't care.

My edges are not perfect, but they're not terrible.  The width is relatively consistent and so is the weft spacing.  I am pleased with the strong lines of the triangles.

I've done about 10 or 11 repeats so far and expect another 4 to 6 before I run out of room to turn the cards.

I have no idea what I will do with this band.  Maybe a guitar/ukulele/instrument strap?  Or a carrying strap for a spinning wheel?  Or a belt?  I don't know how long it'll be when I'm done and that may well be a determining factor.  It is a bit more than 1" wide.

Things I've learned (so far, because it's not done yet!) or that are new/different/educational:

For the first time, I needed to swap out an individual thread after continuous warping.  The thread had a knot in it.  Yikes!  Luckily, Linda Hendrickson shows how to deal with that in her video on continuous warping.  One waits until the warp is finished.  Then one threads in a new length into the proper hole in the card, threaded in the proper direction, and then pulls out the old thread with the knot.

I needed to be careful about keeping track of turning directions, since the pattern is so easy that one can fall into a mindless rhythm and forget where one was in the pattern.  For me, I needed to be sure I was weaving two picks before moving cards from the forward to the backward pack or vice versa.  I put something on one side of the band so I knew where the shuttle needed to be before changing cards around.  When that changed, I moved the item to the other side of  the band.  Yes, I know that is obvious to someone with more experience.  I am not that someone.

I really understood, for the first time, how to predict what color would next show up on the band for each card.  I mean, I kind of knew it, but it still seemed a bit mysterious to me.  It no longer seems mysterious.

For the first time, I paid no attention to the numbers or letters on the card.  I only looked at tablet orientation and the placement of the different threads.

Lots of unweaving has happened, so I gained more experience in that vital skill.

Cats are still less than helpful as warping assistants.

Egyptian/Finnish/Whatever diagonals are fun and, at least for this simple pattern, very straightforward to weave.  It would not be difficult to design my own patterns if I want something beyond the many wonderful patterns that are already out there.

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Hopefully I'll post again when the band is finished.  I want to try some double-weaving next.  Hopefully that'll happen soon and hopefully it'll be documented on this blog.  And yeah, that's true for other blogs, too.  Life happens, and taking photos or writing things down ends up not being a high priority.