Thoughts about fingerlooping a 4-loop spiral braid

 Still thinking about fingerloop variations...

In Jean Leader's class notes, she talks about the difference between A-fell and V-fell.  She says that A-fell uses the index finger as the operator loop.  The index finger goes through loops on the same hand, then fetches the closest loop from the other hand.  She says this is the method described in the European Medieval pattern books and is also found in the Middle East and Africa.  With V-fell, known in Asia and the Pacific, the littlest finger (ring or pinky depending on how many loops there are, usually) is the operator finger.  It goes through loops on the other hand and brings back the loop that is farthest away (often the index finger or sometimes the thumb, I believe).

When I was playing around yesterday, I found that I could mix them a bit.  Whether the operator finger was the index finger or a smaller finger, I could go through loops on either hand and pick the loop I wanted, as long as I cycled through all the threads in a predictable way.  That may be true only for these 3-loop braids, but I will see what I think as I play around more.  Also, I'm not sure what method or methods are found in the western hemisphere or sub-Saharan Africa, and if those methods were developed independently or picked up and disseminated through contact with other people doing fingerlooping.  Oh, wait, Masako Kinoshita says in LM-BRIC News Illustrated Instruction Series #1 that the A-fell method is used in Central and South America.  Though I think she mentioned some other methods used in the western hemisphere in one of her later newsletters.

I suppose Slentre is an example of a mixed method -- using the index finger as the operator, going through the loops on the other hand, and then picking up one of the farther-away loops to bring back.  This is found in some north Atlantic communities.  Methods using the whole hand rather than fingers is yet another variation.

Some of these methods are described with terms like palm-up or palm-down, but that doesn't seem to correspond to whatever I'm doing.  My hands wiggle and rotate into position to make it easy to manipulate the loops and don't seem to consistently keep any particular orientation.  Or maybe I'm doing something that I don't yet recognize as falling into one of these categories.  I do understand what is being referred to by others as A-fell, V-fell, and mixed-method based on the above.  I think.

Anyway.

While I am thinking about the three-loop braids I played with earlier this month, I am considering what Ingrid Crickmore calls the 4-loop spiral braid.  There are video and pdf instructions on the page for those who want to play along.

These are also called loop-exchange braids, I believe.  There are pairs of loops that trade places with each other but not with other loops.  This reminds me a bit of the kongo gumi braid that is so well known in kumihimo circles.  It may also make some of the other 8-strand braids one finds in Japanese kumihimo, Peruvian sling braids, and elsewhere, I believe.  I may eventually do some experiments with 8 separate strand of yarn to confirm which braids are equivalent to each other, since I confuse myself when I try to work it out in my head.

This 4-loop spiral braid, whether done as a 4-loop braid or an 8-strand braid, is a braid that is known from history/archaeology from a lot of places.

There are a few variations I can think of with these 4-loop loop exchange braids.

1.  Exchange the loops, with the right loop always going through the left loop, without twisting/crossing the loops as you move them.  I think this is the method that Crickmore shows.

2.  Alternate which loop goes through which.  In other words, the index finger always does the grabbing and pulls through the middle finger (or vice versa).

3.  Cross/twist the loop as you pull it through.  (same twist direction each time vs twist each loop in the opposite direction?)

4.  Some combination of the above, along with any other variation I haven't thought of yet.

The variations do look a bit different in my first explorations (using a monochrome piece of yarn tied into a loop and folded twice to get four loops).  I'll have to use more colors to see what's really happening.

On Crickmore's site, she quotes Noemi Speiser from LM-BRIC 6, as having found this "described in a bound collection of 15th-16th C. German manuscripts. Speiser describes it rather than giving it a name: 'Two loops mounted on each hand are made to cooperate crosswise through one another. RH upper with LH lower, then RH lower with LH upper.'"  

OK, here's more about that braid.  The text from Noemi Speiser is indeed in LM-BRIC News No. 6 (it starts with "with palms facing" and then the instructions above, as she translated from whatever version of German it was originally written in).  There is more info written and shown in the accompanying LM-BRIC News Illustrated Instruction Series No 6.  My comments are in brackets.

It looks like this 4-loop spiral braid twists the loops that are pulled through, and also alternates which loop goes through which (in other words, I think, the loop that is being twisted goes inside of the loop that merely moves to the other hand.  I think that means the index-finger loop is on the outside and the lower/littler-finger loop on the inside.)

Anyway, here are the instructions from the illustrated instruction series.

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The Karlsruhe Documen"  [should that be document or documents?  My guess is that this is a typo.]

Braiding instruction: Mount a loop on each of the small fingers and the index fingers of both hands. [I don't think it matters which fingers one uses.]

With palms facing. Give RH upper loop to LH lower finger going over the loop, and on the way back scoop up the LH lower loop. (RH upper and LH lower has been exchanged.) Then do the opposite with LH upper and RH lower.

Two color variations:

1) Cork screw: on the left two fingers DD, on the right two fingers LL.

2) Vertical column: on the left two fingers DL, on the right two fingers LD. Dark and light is exchanged

[diagrams of the moves and a few black-and-white photos are shown.  I may add a screenshot of them later but not at the moment.]

By exchanging diagonally opposite two loops by one going through the inside of the other many times in the same direction, you produce a pair of oppositely twisted yarn. By exchanging two pairs of loops crossing each other, the two pairs of twisted yarns are interlaced and form a braid with a square (or round) cross section. This braid has the same structure of one of the most basic 8-strand braids (NARABI KAKUYATSU) of the "Genji" family in KUMIHIMO.

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I'll have to look around to see what other interesting 4-loop braids I can find, not just the spirals.  Most of the info really gets going for 5 loops and above, and indeed, the square 5 is one of the most common braids found (and taught).  But for now I want to explore some of the things one can do with 4 loops.

It looks like there are a few 4-loop fingerloop braids in the Loop Manipulation chapter of Noemi Speiser's Manual of Braiding (14*34e, 14*35a, b, c, 14*36, 14*37, 14*38, and maybe more).  Alas, that I do not (yet) own many other books/booklets specifically on fingerlooping.

At some point I might also add free-end (or bobbin/disk/marudai) braids and what-not to my explorations since I believe there are more options for 3 to 8 strand braids than only the ones that are fingerlooped.  I'm sure I can find a few in the Ashley Book of Knots, and probably also some of my other books and also websites that talk about braids.  This would mostly be to look at fun variations one can do with X strands, not necessarily to compare them to fingerloop braids.

I have no idea if any of this will still make sense or be at all interesting by tomorrow, but I wanted to write down my current thinking.  I'm probably just an ignorant noob, but that's OK -- ignorance is one of the early steps on the path to enlightenment.  Hopefully I'll follow up on some of these ideas and share the pics (and my thoughts) on this blog.

Three-loop fingerlooped braid exploration, part 2

So...  today I looked again the Jean Leader version of the 3-loop fingerloop braid to see if and how it was different from the Ingrid Crickmore version.  I had speculated that it was the difference between A-fell and V-fell (i.e. using the index vs the middle finger as the operator/picker finger).

Nope.  It's different.

Oh, wait!

I screwed up again, and didn't follow the instructions properly.  I ended up with a true 3-strand braid, with both loops always traveling together and never crossing/intersecting with other loops.  It is fairly flat as one would expect from a 3-strand pigtail braid.  One side of the braid is going V up and the other side is V down.

It is, of course, adorable. 

The basic method for this one:   With this version of the 3-strand fingerloop braid, one has 2 loops on one hand (index and middle finger), and one loop on the middle finger of the other hand.  The empty index finger goes into the middle-finger loop on the other hand and scoops it from the bottom loop, which reverses it.  The other-hand index finger loop moves to the now-empty middle finger.  And then one repeats with the other hand (i.e. the now-empty index finger scoops the other-hand middle-finger loop from the bottom, move the unworked index-finger loop to the middle finger, etc. and repeat).

OK, now to try yet again to do the braid using Jean Leader's instructions...

And yes, whew, finally!  It is pretty much the same triangular braid as I produced with Ingrid Crickmore's instructions.  It's not exactly the A-fell vs V-fell instructions, though it is that, too, but it's still about the picker-finger going through one of the other loops before picking up (and reversing) the third loop.

Jean Leader's instructions (for real this time):  One has 2 loops on one hand (index and middle finger) and 1 loop on the middle finger of the other hand.  The empty index finger goes through the middle-finger loop on the same hand and then scoops up the middle-finger loop on the other hand from the bottom, putting a twist in it.  Move the other-hand index finger loop to the middle finger.  Then repeat starting with the empty index finger, as before.  It's pretty fast and automatic after you get the hang of it.

So...  do I get the same structure with the Crickmore/Leader instructions if my picker finger goes through the other available loop before picking up the loop that will be changing hands?  Probably?  Though maybe it'll be a less ergonomic move, depending on one's ergonomic preferences.  I'll have to check in order to see for myself.  (Yes... see below, and it's very ergonomic no matter which operator finger one uses.)

I know I'm easily entertained, but I do indeed find it entertaining that there are several different braid structures that can be made with this 3-loop fingerloop set-up and basic instructions, depending on how many loops the operator finger goes through before picking up (and reversing) the loop that will be grabbed.  It also entertains me that there is more than one way of producing the same braid structure for some of these braids.  That doesn't even include the split/double braid or the flat braid(s), both of which include some non-reversing loops.  I suspect that there are some different flat braids possible, too, given that half the moves of the flat braid are identical to the square/round/plain braid.  And obviously these structure variations depending on loop-intersections will apply to larger braids and will generate even more possible variations.

In case it wasn't clear...

In the above photo, the top braid is made using Ingrid Crickmore's instructions.  The middle one is my misunderstanding of (or not remembering) a different set of instructions.  The bottom one is yet another misunderstanding of Jean Leader's instructions.  There is no pic of the 4th braid, but I am pretty sure I did indeed follow the instructions properly, and it looks pretty much like the top braid.  I used one loop each of three different colors.  I didn't feel like doing 6 different colors, but obviously one can make lots of cute braids by varying the colors of the different loops and the different sides of the loops.

Later, I tried the Jean Leader version of the square/triangular braid using the middle finger as the picker/operator and picking up the loop from the top to reverse it.  Yup, it worked, seems to be the same structure, and it's faster and easier to keep snug than the Crickmore version whether one uses the middle or index finger as the operator finger.  I also was able to make the 3-strand braid with no intersecting loops using the middle-finger and hooking the loop from the top.  Cool.

I can now envision a class to be taught on different ways to make 3-loop fingerlooped braids.

Hmm.... Another idle thought/speculation here -- for Ingrid Crickmore's 4-loop loop-exchange braid, would I be re-creating an 8 strand kongo-gumi braid if I always reverse the loops in the same direction, and if so, how much of a hassle would that be?

Probably everyone who's done any fingerlooping already knows all about this, but what the heck, it's my turn now.  I've known how to do different kinds of basic fingerloop braiding while following instructions for many years.  But I never thought about it much beyond following the instructions.

Rainbow stripes (an easy tablet-woven band) and a couple of 3-loop fingerloop braids

This wove up quite quickly.  Well, no reason why it shouldn't have -- just keep turning the cards, no counting or thinking to do.

I like how it looks.  This is the same on both sides and would make a good strap or belt.  It's about 67" long and not quite 1.25" wide.  There are 33 tablets, 4 threads per tablet, alternating / and \ tablet orientation, with all 4 threads in each tablet being the same color.  The colors are rainbow -- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, 2 tablets of each, with 3 tablets of black between and around each color stripe.  I used my usual stash of big-box-store crochet cotton #10 with the slightly finer black #10 cotton as weft.

I'm not sure why the lines aren't crisp for some of the colors.  Differences in tension?  Funky weaving?  Uneven cotton thread?  \ and / instead of / and \ for the tablet orientations?  It'll probably mostly even out with blocking and/or wearing.  It's still a cute band.  I still like stripes.

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Next up are two 3-loop fingerloop braids.  I wanted to really see the difference between two slightly different braiding patterns.  I used loops of 3 different colors to have some sense of what was going on.  (Six colors would have been even more clear, but eh, maybe a future experiment.)

Yup, definitely different.

The first braid is the one from Ingrid Crickmore's instructions at https://loopbraider.com/2012/08/02/easy-3-loop-braids/.  (It was originally a tutorial/class on the Braids and Bands mailing list.)  I did what she calls the square braid, which indeed is more triangular than square.

The other braid is based on a different loop-braiding tutorial/class on the Braids and Bands mailing list, by Jean Leader.  It is a lot rounder that the first one, and for me at this point, it's looser and stretchier than the first one.  It's still pretty cute and would be perfectly respectable with better color and yarn/thread choices.

For both of these braids, I was using my middle finger to get the loop from the other hand.  Leader's instructions (now that I look at them) suggests using the index finger.  Actually, Leader's instructions are definitely different from what I did.  Hmmm...  Clearly I need to follow her actual instructions instead of the ones in my imagination.  Or maybe I really did see what I did somewhere and have just forgotten where.  Or maybe I am mixing the instructions for the double-braid (aka divided braid) and the square braid.

Let's see if I can describe what I did without a good graphic...

For both braids, there are 2 loops on one hand and 1 on the other.

For the square/triangular braid -- I used my middle finger as the picker.  It went under the loop on my index finger, through the loop on the middle finger of the other hand, then around the top of the loop of the index finger on the other hand, pulling that loop through.  The loop on the middle finger moves to the empty index finger, leaving the middle finger ready to take a loop from the other hand.  Then the moves repeat using the other hand.

My second braid is done just like the first Crickmore braid, except that the empty middle finger goes through the loop on the index finger as well as through the middle finger of the other hand before picking up the loop from the index finger of the other hand (through the top, so it reverses).

Jean Leader's version is a bit different from that -- she uses the index finger as the picker and hooks the loop through the bottom and doesn't go through the same loops as the other versions, I don't think.  I will do this one and see how it compares!  It might just be the A-fell vs V-fell version of the same braid, though I'll better after I do it.

I am not including the double-braid (i.e. no reversed loops) or the flat braid (alternating reversed and non-reversed loops) in my playing around.

Once I get bored with simple 3-loop braids, maybe I'll move on to the 5-, 6-, and 7-loop braids.  There are lots of possibilities with those!  I'll also post pics of my 2- and 4-loop loop-exchange braids and maybe do the 6-loop version or beyond, as well.  The 4-loop one looks very much like some of the 8-strand square braids I've done on the marudai.

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I'm not sure what tablet-weaving project will happen next.  I'm also feeling a vague urge to warp up my inkle loom (now that the big one has returned to its owner) and make a few inkle bands.  And so on.

Not tablet weaving (an inkle band and some fingerloop experiments)

 

I warped up and quickly finished the commissioned inkle band on a borrowed inkle loom that I mentioned in my past post.  It was very straightforward -- 48 threads total, strips of yellow-and-white checks separated by black stripes, using my stash of big-box-store #10 cotton crochet thread.  I ended up with a bit more than 5m (5.5 yds) of band, approximately 11-12mm (3/8") wide.  It went pretty quickly, though rotating the band around all of the pegs took a bit of oomph and/or easing it around.  Given the length of my finished band plus fringes, this is probably a 6-yard inkle loom.

I'm hoping that some of the irregularities ease out after blocking, though really, it's not too bad, and the width is nicely consistent.  The yellow and white don't have quite enough contrast to really pop.

I'm planning my next tablet weaving project, probably another commission/gift.  I'm thinking narrow rainbow stripes (2 tablets each) separated by slightly wider stripes (3 tablets each) of black.  It'll be simple to warp up and weave, and it will look good on both sides (it's meant to be a strap).  There are other ideas crowding my mind, though, so it's possible I'll do something else entirely.

Other than that, I've been playing around with simpler fingerlooped braids, inspired by the class I taught last week.

In my last post I mentioned 4 loop spirals.  Those are still fun.  I'm also messing around with 3-loop braids.  Interestingly (though of course it's entirely predictable), the results are slightly different if one takes the working loop through one or both of the other loops.  Different sources give different instructions for how to do a 3-loop fingerloop, which is when it finally occurred to me that there were different ways to do this.  Duhhhhh.  That's in addition to the reversed vs non-reversed working loop thing and also the various color/texture arrangements one can set up.  So there's another quick braiding alternative to add to my mental toolbox, or whatever the proper metaphor is.

To try to describe it a bit better...  For the 3-loop fingerloop, there are 2 loops on one hand and 1 loop on the other.  The hand with one loop gets a loop from the other hand.  So...  the empty finger can go through one of the loops on the other hand, or it can go through the loop on the same hand before going through the loop on the other hand.  Plus, now that I'm thinking about it, there might be other variations.  I'll have to do more experiments.  I'm sure this is a kindergarten-level understanding of how it all works, but heck, we all gotta start somewhere.  Sure, I can just follow instructions, and I do, but it's kind of fun to see how small choices can lead to different outcomes.  And of course all of this extrapolates to braids with a higher number of loops.

At some point I'll take a pic of my braid experiments.  Most look kind of dumb since I'm usually using whatever acrylic worsted weight yarn that happens to be around, the uglier, the better, and I don't care if it clashes.  I sometimes try different things in the braid rather than using only one method for the entire braid and I don't always braid to the end of the loops.

Not quite done with easy zigzag tablet woven bands...

 And another.  This one is taken from the Lautanauhat Facebook page, obviously a continuing source of inspiration for me.  I saw the photo, which, in translation, was described as "ancient Karelian ribbon the old way".  This is a bit ambiguous, since the purpose of the post was to show the author's progress as a weaver, often re-interpreting the structure of an archaeologic band in a more complex way as well as currently weaving the same patterns with finer materials, more tightly woven.  So, is this a genuine Karelian pattern?  Another riff on the Ladoga fragments?  Who cares?  It was fun, quick, etc., a nice band to knock off after being able to re-assemble my weaving corner.

I re-charted the band based on the Facebook photo.  It's as simple as it looks.  There are 10 tablets total (6 pattern tablets and 2 edge tablets per side), 4 holes per tablet.  The edge tablets are aqua for the outermost (1 and 10) and white for the inner (2 and 9), with alternating tablet orientation.  The pattern tablets start with AB in aqua and CD in white, staggering them across the 6 pattern tablets to make diagonal lines, all with the same tablet orientation.  Then it's a nice simple 17F 17B rotation sequence, with the edges always turning forward.

Am I done with zigzags?  I'm not sure yet...

I'm not sure what band I'll do next.  I'm dithering as usual.  Double face?  Two hole?  3/1 twill?  Another fast-and-easy band?  (I told someone I might make them a band that would be suitable to make into an instrument strap.)  If I make the instrument strap, then ideally it should look good on both sides.

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I also taught a couple of classes on making simple cords this month and will teach another one next month.  I did a class on twisted cords (two different methods) and another on the two-loop fingerlooped braid (with a quick demo of the basic 3-loop braid).  Next month I'll do one on fingercrochet (aka two-strand chain sinnet).  I should probably do a class someday on making cordage using the reverse twist/warp method since it's yet another classic/simple technique.

So I guess that's 4 cord-making techniques so far.  I still want to teach a class on pigtail braids, particularly the 5-strand pigtail.  Then I can tell myself I've done the "Five Easy Pieces" series.  Each one uses a different technique -- twisted cord, finger-loop braid, fill-the-gap disk braid, finger-crochet,, and free-end pigtail braid.

For the finger-looping class, I used the instructions from Ingrid Crickmore on her loopbraider.com website.  She initially wrote the instructions and created the videos for a class she taught on the Braids and Bands mailing list, giving permission to pass them along if she was credited, which of course I did.  (And of course I didn't charge anything; this was a completely free thing.)

For the twisted cord class, I wrote my own instructions.  However, I found a video and a non-video instruction site for each of the methods I taught or mentioned (simple twisting of one strand or bundle of strands, folded back on itself; twisting or two or more strands separately, then tying them together; the inch-at-a-time twist and fold/wrap method).  I also linked a couple of fun things -- a technical article on finding ancient cordage on a worked piece of stone that dates to Neanderthal times, a short video on building Inca-style bridges in Peru, and a website showing photos of archaeologic/historic twisted cords used on clothing as ties, drawstrings, and for decorative purposes.

Today just for funsies I decided to crank out a 4-loop fingerloop braid that builds on the principles of the 2-loop one.  That's another fun and quick braid. 

I need to warp up a borrowed inkle loom to weave a long band.  The loom needs to go back to its owner soon.  It does 5 yards of warp, whereas my own inkle loom tops out at 3 yards of warp.  It will be plain inkle-weaving (i.e. a warp-faced band/tape), no pick-up or anything fancy.

Twined baskets and bags in the Columbia Plateau style are also consuming my time and brainspace.  Happy sigh.  Plus knitting and spinning and sewing and all the usual non-narrow-wares stuff.

Yet Another zigzag band (Staraja Ladoga zigzag variations)

This is yet another version of the Staraja Ladoga Fig 6/7 tablet-woven band.  I've done two of them already.  The first one was 12 tablets, all of which were threaded in all 4 holes.  The second was also 12 tablets, but the inner four tablets were threaded in only 2 holes.  This third one is like the second, except that there are only three inner tablets which are threaded in 2 holes, for a total of 11 tablets.  (For the second and third, there are four edge tablets per side that are threaded in all 4 holes.)

I used the basic charting from Aisling's website, adapting the chart and the turnings to match the zigzag pattern from the earlier two bands.  I used the same colors as my earlier bands, too -- red border, white background, purple zigzags.

To get the same zigzags, I ended up doing 7F7B, which seemed a trifle odd.  Most of the 2-hole patterns I've done so far seem to work in groups of two tablets and two turns.  But it worked out well enough.

I'm just about done with these vintage balls of thread.  I might have enough to eke out one more band of some sort.  Or I might throw the last few yards on an inkle loom.  Or they might go into the weft-thread pile.

I think I might be done exploring this pattern.  I don't know which of these versions is my favorite, though of course I'm not required to have a favorite.  They're all cute.  I do not care much about historical accuracy, but at least two people who do care seem to think that the original was a 2-hole pattern.

It bothers me a bit that I'm unable to get the weft spacing as tight as I'd like, to try to achieve something closer to 45 degree angles.  Dunno if it's the thickness of the weft, how snug I pull the weft, the tension I'm using, the material I'm using, or if I'm not able to beat hard enough with my current set-up.  The weft seems pretty firmly wedged into the shed when I end up needing to un-weave a mistake, so I'm really not sure exactly what's going on.  Double-face and similar techniques don't count, of course, since their nature is to be more elongated.

This is probably the last post of 2023 for this blog, though of course one never knows.  It's been a productive year.  I've learned a lot and made a fair number of narrow wares -- inkle, tablets, braiding, etc.  I've also done other things -- knitting, crocheting, spinning, dyeing, basket-weaving, sewing, leather-working, kitchen experiments, teaching, and no doubt other things I'm not remembering at the moment.

I don't have any particular plans for 2024 except to keep making narrow wares as well as all the other fun things I'm doing.  It'll be a few weeks before I have access to my weaving stuff again.

I've received Claudia Wollny's new book on Twill.  Yay!  It took a while to arrive.  The package was damaged somewhere along the line -- ripped up cardboard and rather damp, the address label half torn-off, wrapped in plastic with a sticker saying "damaged due to inclement weather".  Sigh.  But the pages are dry now with only a little bit of rippling, and the dinged-up corners would have happened after I dropped the book a few times.  Hopefully I got everything that was originally included in the package.

It's an interesting book, more of a "how-to" than a pattern book, though it does include a fair number of patterns in addition to the exercises Wollny developed.  I'll have to set up a warp and go through some of the exercises to understand how she thinks about 3/1 twill and its variations, along with how that compares to Peter Collingwood, Sarah Goslee, and others who have written about their theoretical understanding of the technique.

If one is only looking for patterns, one of Wollny's other pattern collections would be better.  But I like the way this book discusses more generally and theoretically how to approach, weave, and design in the twill technique.  I'm glad I bought it.

3/1 Broken Twill tablet-woven band, two-pack method

 It worked!

It looks like I occasionally got a thread caught on a tablet corner so that it didn't end up getting tacked down by the weft.  In other words, there are a few spots where I have floats.  Like I often do when weaving with multiple packs.  Still.  Even though I try to watch out for it.

But I do have to say that using two packs for the basic 3/1 structure is faster than manipulating each card (or pair of cards) individually.

I had less thread-catching with the FFBB cards ahead of the FBBF cards.

The belt is a little poofier than I like.  Hmmm.  I guess I'll need to play around with warp tension and how tight I pull the weft.  On the whole, though, I am pleased.  This would make a good belt.  It's about 62" long, about 7/8" wide.  Maybe I'll get some hardware (a buckle or a couple of D rings, plus or minus plaques) and turn it into an actual belt.

The front side is green (with a one-card brown stripe along the edge) and S-twill, while the back side is brown (with a one-card green stripe along the edge) and Z twill.  Obviously this can be worn either side out.

Next time I am in the mood, I'll play around with tablet-flipping/twisting in order to change the twill direction and/or to change the colors.

My next band will be a two-hole band, yay!  It's Yet Another Version of the Staraja Ladoga zigzag pattern I've already woven twice.  This version uses the chart and pics from Aisling's website .  Her version has 3 pattern tablets instead of 4, making for 11 tablets total (4 edge cards per side).  I charted it up with the Twisted Threads charting software to see how to get those zigzags with spots.  It looks like 7F7B should do it.  We'll see.  That seems a bit unusual for two-hole weaving (which usually does things in sets of two-cards-and-two-turns) but we'll see how it goes.  If it doesn't work out like I'd like, I can change around the turning pattern.  Or I can unweave those few pattern repeats and add another card and make another one using the previous two-hole pattern.

The red/white/purple zigzag band I'm about to do will probably be the last one from these particular vintage cottons.  There's not much left of any of the colors, so they'll go into the leftovers I've been using as warp.  Maybe there's enough to use for another spot band if I use a different vintage cotton for the main color.  We'll see.

I'm also wanting to do more bands from the rug warp, to use as belts or straps.  The Museum of London bands (here and in the Crowfoot article) that I did in that sampler a while back would make good belts, as would various brick-style two-hole patterns.  Things that look good on both sides are my preference for straps and belts where both sides of the band might be visible.