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.

Noobish two-pack twill thoughts

 I'm mulling over Peter Collingwood's directions for weaving 3/1 twill using the two-pack method.  It's in his book The Techniques of Tablet Weaving, starting on about p.216.

For warping, he talks about position I and II as well as Pack A and Pack B.  Later he starts mentioning position III and IV, so apparently positions refer to which colors are in which hole positions.  Then we go on to tablet slant, turning directions, what to change to get various effects, and so on.  We're on our way!

In general, changes are done through tablet twisting rather than changing the turning direction.  I think the tablet-twisting or flipping is done around the vertical axis pretty much exclusively.

I don't know if any of the tablet-weaving programs out there account for tablet-twisting.  But I can do some playing around.  (My memory says that there is a program that does do tablet-twisting but I can't remember which one off the top of my head, sigh.)

And cool -- I found that by flipping every other tablet (when one is at the start of the 4-row turning sequence), one can automatically switch from S twill to Z twill or vice versa.  I suspect it can also be done before the 3rd turn, too.  It's kind of fun to play with the initial tablet orientation and see how it carries over into the weaving.  I could make Vs or Ws if I wanted to.  Or diamonds and Xs if I change in the middle of the weaving. 

Actually.....  Collingwoods says that when you're in the middle of the band, you change the direction of the pack that is in position II or IV.  In other words, twist the pack where the same color is along the AD or BC line, as opposed to the AB or CD line, so that you don't mess up the colors.

I looked at Claudia Wollny's twill charts to play around with changing colors on a horizontal line (zig-zag, of course).  So...  I can turn two more turns and then resume the twill turning sequence.  Or, I can use Collingwood's method of tablet-twisting one pack, doing a turn, then tablet-twisting the next pack.  He also mentions the same method Wollny uses -- turning the packs two more times (i.e. doing either row 1 or row 3 three times) to put all the cards in the opposite color orientation.

I wonder if I can do something like tablet-twist one pack around the vertical axis and the other around the horizontal axis to get it done in one move, or if that will look wrong in some way?  I guess that's something to test.

If I don't see a program that does tablet-twisting, I'll have to experiment with Collingwood's other methods as I weave.  I'm sure more of it will make sense when I do it.

My vague plan is to warp up something and keep it mostly monochrome on each side.  I might switch Z and S.  I might switch half of the cards so that the twill lines meet in the middle, as chevrons.  Or I can play with Collingwood's method of making diagonal color changes (i.e. in a diagonal line across the band, parallel to the direction of the twill) and make a two-toned band.  Or maybe these will all be different bands.

Collingwood's two-pack method looks like it'll be faster than the one-pack method.  It alternates two cards in S orientation with two cards in Z orientation (or vice-versa -- I don't think it matters).  One half of the cards (the odds) is threaded with the the first color in AB and the other color in CD.  The other half of the cards (the evens) is threaded with the first color in AD and the other color in BC.

Then one turns the odd cards in FFBB sequence, with the even cards turned in FBBF sequence.  This leads to a monochrome band with the first color on top and the second on the bottom.

If the first two cards are the same orientation (either // or \\) you get an S-twill, going diagonally up to the left.  If they are in a different orientation (so that the 2nd and 3rd are in the same orientation), you get a Z-twill, going diagonally up to the right.

After that, one flips/twists cards at various spots to get changes in direction and/or color, making motifs and what-not.  That's more advanced than I currently wish to play with, but no doubt I'll get curious enough about it to try doing that later.

I am not fond of tablet-twisting.  Hopefully the results will be worth it and/or will help me to like it better.  It'll be interesting to see under what conditions a two-pack method makes more sense and where a one-pack method will make more sense.

Dunno yet whether this will be a sampler or if it'll be a useful and reasonably aesthetically pleasing band.

I've ordered Claudia Wollny's new book on 3/1 twill.  I'm looking forward to seeing what's in it.  The patterned band I did used her charting and methods -- I wonder if she'll continue with that charting style and motif modularity, or if she'll change it up a bit?  I wonder if all of her methods can be done using the two-pack method or if some are best done with a one-pack method?

No doubt I'll roll my eyes at myself after I gain a bit more experience.  I fully acknowledge my noobiehood.

Broken zigzags, yet another easy tablet-woven band

 I seem to be continuing a theme...

This is a band one sees elsewhere.  I saw a photo, decided "why not?", charted it out, and began.  It's quick, easy, effective, etc.  And I like it better than the spiral one I had done earlier.

I've been distracted by other fiber fun and haven't done as much tablet-weaving recently.  There are so many things I want to do, though, so I'd best put tablet-weaving into the rotation and make time for it.  That may be why I'm doing such simple bands lately -- they're quick to do, so more bang for the buck, as it were.  Maybe I should start having multiple projects set up, so I can work on easy or complex or whatever, and still be able to put them away and reclaim the space or do something more mindless for a while, etc.  That way lies madness, though.

A Halloween Post

 It's been busy, but I did get a little bit of tablet-weaving in.  It was a reward I promised myself that I could do after the busy-ness subsided.

It was a fun band to weave.  It looks like little spirals, and it's reversible, too. I've seen it on pinterest (as a gtt chart) and elsewhere.  I used this Twisted Threads chart, obviously changing around the colors and edges.  I used 20 tablets, 14 pattern tablets and 3 edge tablets (always turning forward) on each side.  The pattern tablets alternate threading of AC dark and BD light with the opposite (AC light and BD dark).

I did speed-warping aka continuous warping for the pattern tablets and it went fairly smoothly.  The trick, as I had suspected, is to make sure the thread sources do not tangle, especially the part between the tablets and the source.  In other words, keep the bobbins or skeins or whatever in a fairly fixed spot so they can't roll around and otherwise be unruly.  I'd tried a few other things that also helped a bit (such as running the thread around the warping path and then dropping a tablet instead of running all the tablets around the warping board along with the thread, changing the orientation of the warping board and thread and me, etc.), but it was still somewhat aggravating to untangle everything.  So that was good to confirm, that I indeed understand the concept of how to do it and mostly need to streamline the process.  Transferring the warp from the warping set-up to my warp-weighted loom set-up without getting everything tangled again took a bit of time but on the whole wasn't too aggravating.  I'll continue to refine the details in hopes of making this quick and easy and hassle-free.

In spite of its apparently complexity, this pattern is dead simple.  Several tablets go 3F3B while others go 3B3F.  After the 3 turns (either the forward or the backward), the entire pack either goes all forward or all back.  If that makes sense.  It's twist-neutral except for the edge tablets, and of course even the edge tablets can be occasionally reversed to keep them neutral.  Anyway, this was a very straightforward thing to weave.

I don't much like my version, though.

I used 8/2 cotton rug warp (I think).  It has a matte rather than a shiny luster.  And, well, it's OK.  Just OK.  My craftsmanship also had issues -- floats on the backside where apparently I didn't catch certain threads in the correct sheds.  The spirals are sometimes elongated to varying degrees, though some of that has to do with how long the cotton was under tension (and stretched out) when I was weaving.  Sometimes the spirals look more like feathers than spirals.  I was beating pretty hard while not pulling the weft too tight but maybe I was inconsistent or something.

Maybe I'll like it better after blocking evens things out.

I'd make it again, simply because it was fun, but I'd use some other material.

I'm still dithering about the next band.  Two-pack 3/1 broken twill?  Something double-face?  A two-thread/two-hole band?  Or something else completely?   Hmmmm....

I have been knitting, spinning, and weaving baskets while I dither.  I'll be doing some leatherwork and dyeing this week, too.  Plus various other things.  But none of those are narrow wares, so they don't get recorded on this blog.

Broken Chevrons, another easy tablet woven band

 I was looking through some of the silly charts I've played with over the years.  Some were drawn out (either by hand or using charting websites) for reasons I can't remember.  I was also looking through tablet weaving projects on Ravelry.

Chevrons.  They caught my eye.  I have charts.  I've seen project pics.  Maybe I need to warp it up and weave it.  Right now.

So I did.

This is a very common chart that one sees in a lot of places -- books, websites, handouts, etc. -- because it is striking in appearance yet quite suitable for beginners.  Also, it's such a useful basic-warp.  One color goes in A and B, the contrast color in C and D.  So many techniques start with something similar.  For the chevrons, one alternates two tablets set / with two tablets set \  (or vice versa).   I did 5 reps (10 tablets), though maybe I should have done 6 (12 reps).  I chose black and white for my colors.  The colors are staggered and offset to make little chevrons. The edge consists of three tablets on each side.  The outer two are black and the inner one is a contrast color, in this case a dark red.

This will probably be a gift, thus the choice of colors.

I used the usual stash of cotton Aunt Lydia #10.  The weft is something similar -- white big-box-store #10 cotton from my vintage stash of leftovers.

The band ended up around 90"/225cm long, around 5/8"/18mm wide.  The warp started out as around 8' (96") so that's not a lot of waste, yay!  It's also not that much take-up, which seems a bit odder.  The measurements were taken when the band was first finished and unblocked, so it might well shrink a bit after relaxing out the stretch and after blocking.

There are places where the chevrons are well-aligned.  Places that almost look like basketweave.  Places that look more like houndstooth.  I am not sure why, and again, will see what happens as the band relaxes.  My width is fairly consistent as is the distance between picks.  I suspect that the precise tension on each thread of each tablet might sometimes be slightly inconsistent, especially when I advance the warp or re-hang the weights, or as I continue weaving and the warp starts to stretch out under the tension.  And as always, maybe it is something subtle I'm doing as I weave.

Anyway, it is fairly striking and I like it, though I'm fairly uncritical and still tend to be thrilled at anything I make.

It is hard to untangle tablets and work out excess twist after the cats have sat on the warp and left their fur on it.  It seems to be shedding season.  Or something.  The fur wraps itself around the threads and then everything gets stuck and tangled.

I have no idea what I'll weave next.  More simple bands?  Two-pack 3/1 twill?  Back to two-hole?  Something else? Hmmm...