Finnish Diagonals

In this post I'll be talking about a technique which is almost identical to the 3/1 twill from the last post.  It's the Finnish Diagonals technique. My guide for this band was the wonderful book Applesies and Fox Noses by Maikki Karisto and Mervi Pasanen.







Finnish diagonals is an intermediate tablet weaving technique which dates from Iron Age Finland. The trademark of the technique is smooth diagonal lines, the use of bright colors, and some very interesting borders. In addition, all traditional patterns have some very quirky yet descriptive names.

The band I chose to weave uses the pattern called "Hienoja koukkupolvia pienomenaisten kanssa", which translates to "Fine crooked knees with small applesies". How charming is that?

There's nothing much to say about the technique to weave these bands, it's besically the same as with 3/1 twill. A pattern chart is followed which describes which tablets are to be turned forward or backward in each pick. Since all the tablets are S-threaded, turning them continuously forward will create a pattern of diagonals (thus the name of the technique). This is the same as would happen with 3/1 twill. Turning any cards backward will change the twining direction, and therefore the direction of the diagonal lines. The pattern is created by turning cards is different directions such as to switch diagonal direction when necessary.

Warping the loom was rather simple this time. The pattern calls for 10 tablets, plus I added 3 more on either side for the border pattern. In this case the borer pattern was simple blue dots on a red background. The border tablets are turned continuously forward.

The loom warped and the pattern begun

One thing to note is that the Applesies and Fox noses book defines S and Z threading a bit differently than most US sources do. It seems to be that this is the case for most European sources. Instead of using the direction of the threads to define the S vs. Z threading, the direction of the tablet is used. At a later point, I may be making a post to specifically address this. 

Anyway, on to the pictures of the finished product:

Note the twining direction defines the direction of the diagonals

This is a beautiful pattern, and the border adds an extra touch