Gift Band #6 (another check!)

 

It's the same pattern as gift band #5.  Same warp and weft colors/threads, same pattern, same length of warp, same recipient.  It's about the same finished size, too -- about 92.5" unblocked, and about 5/8" wide.

I am doing another gift band for my next project.  After that?  Unless I agree to do something for someone else, I guess it's my turn to choose!

Not that I'm complaining, because I'm not -- if I was unwilling to make these things, I wouldn't have agreed to do them.

Blue and white tablet-woven cord

There's over 5 yards of cordage in the pile in the photo above.  It's straight off the tablets, so it will probably shrink some.  The spirals get straightened out while weaving, and then relax after the weight is off.

It went quickly enough but I was very tired of it by the end.

Pre-blocking -- 186" long, about 3/8" wide.  Six tablets, 4-threaded, all with \ orientation.  Each tablet has one color (i.e. all 4 threads are the same color) -- white, blue, blue, blue, white, white.  The weft is also white.  I wanted white tablets as tablet #1 and #6 so it would hide any weft bloops.

As usual, I wove forward for a while, with the weft going from right to left.  Then, when the twist build-up started getting annoying, I switched, weaving backwards with the weft going from left to right.  The shuttle always went under the band to turn the flat piece into a tube.

It always amuses me how the weft direction, turning direction, and tablet orientations interact to create spirals (either strong or weak spirals) or straight stripes.

It was hard to keep the cord from slipping out of the clamps while weaving.  For a while, I was using a round turn and two half-hitches, but that got boring and it was kind of fiddly to adjust when I was advancing the warp.  Also, I might have used more weight/tension than the cord really needed.

I like it.  Of course.  Though I'm very glad it's done.

This is destined as a gift, which is why it's so long.  That's what was requested by the recipient.

After this, I have another couple of gift bands I've been asked to make.

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.

Gift band #5 -- finished (Check!)

Another gift band is finished, yay!  It's not quite 3/4" wide and about 91-92" long.  I like this way of doing narrow checkerboards a lot better than the previous pattern I was using.  I also am happy that there's enough contrast between the yellow and the white.

What's next?

I've been asked to do another tablet woven spiral cord for a different person, so maybe that.  Or maybe set up for a brocade sampler band.  And keep in mind that I want to explore a couple of other possibilities for tablet-weaving checkerboards.  I also want to do more sprang; I think I might try a simple color pattern next.

It's also possible that I'll be doing more simple tablet-woven gift bands.  If so, then I can remove and store the other warp if I can't finish it quickly.  Or use one of my other tablet-weaving set-ups.  It's mostly having an area where I can do stuff that's a problem.

Gift Band #5 -- more checks!

 

Another gift band!

This is another checkerboard band, but with a few differences.  It's based on something I saw, but doing this was kind of on my list anyway.  (That's partly because I want to explore some of the different ways of tablet-weaving checkerboards, and this is one obvious way to do it.)

I'm using a darker yellow thread, which contrasts appropriately with the white.  That makes me a LOT happier than the last band did.

This is still 16 tablets for the band, 2 edge tablets per side and 12 pattern tablets in the middle.

It's an all-forward pattern, making it quick to weave.

The edge tablets are SZ and ZS, so that the outermost tablets will look the same after twisting forward the whole way (i.e. they'll both either get tighter or looser, so their appearances ought to match).  The middle ones alternate 4 S with 4 Z.

I like it so far.  The checks are pretty close to square.

One thing I'd like to do is actual double-face.  I'd probably use all S or all Z tablet orientation.  I'll need more tablets so that I can do 2-3 rounds of double-face before the colors switch.

Shelagh has tablets switch colors by doing rotating 2 forward (without throwing the weft) and then continuing.  She calls it a "double-face repp-effect" weave.  https://www.shelaghlewins.com/tablet_weaving/double_faced_repp/double_faced_repp.pdf.  In case that wasn't clear, she says, "Patterns can be produced by giving some tablets an extra half turn, which exchanges the colours."  Later in the pattern she makes it clear that the half-turns are forward.

I checked Collingwood, because why not, and he says that to change colors in double-face, one can do the thing where you turn the cards in the same direction (throwing the weft each time), which is the standard method I've seen so far and what was used in the previous band I did (though really, it was a 4F-4B pattern).  But he says that instead, you can rotate the cards 180° either forward or backwards (without throwing the weft) and then continuing.  So I guess that checks out!

Clearly I need to put on a warp and try for myself, and see what differences there are in how things look.  I can't really tell for sure, but it looks like a neater color change than the method I used in the pseudo-double-face band I recently did.  Of course, that might partly be due to the previous band being in alternating SZ tablet orientations, and this band being all Z.  (and yeah, it probably is mostly due to that)  I can try that as part of my experiments, too.

Here's what it looks like on Shelagh's band.  I clipped a section that includes a bit more of her band so I can also look at the normal one-color 2F-2B area.  The checkerboard areas still look nicer than the alternating SZ tablets, and possibly more square.

I'm much happier with this band than I was with the last checkerboard band.

I am strongly thinking of doing brocade once I'm done with these gift bands.  I'd throw on a narrow-ish warp and try some simple patterns and variations.

Plus there's all of the other non-tablet-weaving fun!  I'm introducing more people to sprang this week, even though I'm just a baby sprang-er.  I can still show what I've learned so far, and that's enough to get others started.  I'm thinking about what sprang project I want to do next for my self-directed sprang education.

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.