My Attempt at the Masku Humikkala Band

I finally finished a new band!

This band is based on the Masku Humikkala band, and the pattern came from the book Applesies and Fox Noses.  I have mentioned this book a couple of posts ago, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite tablet weaving books. I suggest anyone looking to table weave purchase it.

This band had been on the loom since October, but I only had the time to work on it in spurts, and often at SCA events where my attention span was limited. I was finally able to finish with it at The Tourney of the Three Ships in Southkeep.

I will admit that this band gave me some trouble at the beginning due to some poor fiber choices, but once I figured out how to fix the issues and how to work around the problems the poor fiber choices caused, I was able to weave it, but unfortunately with some difficulty which I'll explain after the cut.




Why Fiber Choices Matter

I'll start with the first error I made. I wanted this band to have a silky look without the need to spend a lot of money on silk thread. Looking through fibers at a local craft shop, I came across bamboo viscose. This thread gives a look similar to silk, but it is far cheaper. This is the white warp thread on the band. For the red and green, I chose some crochet thread I had lying around. That was the near fatal mistake.

The lesson I quickly learned was DO NOT mix fibers. More experienced weavers would point out that this is an obvious thing to avoid, but I am still relatively new, and was more focused on the look of the band than on any weaving issues which may arise.

The problem with using two different fibers is that they stretch at different rates, and therefore they lose tension at different rates. What this means is that, as I wove, the white fibers were stretching out at a far greater rate than the cotton crochet thread. the result was that the white warp threads periodically became lose and difficult to work with.

The easiest thing to have done would probably have been to cut the thing off the loom and start over. I'm too stubborn for that, however, so I ended up fixing the issue as best as I could with the use of that multi-purpose tool of a weaver ... popsicle sticks! As the weaving progressed, and the white warp threads became lose, I would wind them around a popsicle stick or two, thus adding the extra tension needed. It was a slow and annoying process, but it worked just fine.

The band has three errors, which were caused by weaving while at an SCA event, and therefore while my attention was divided. Fortunately, the errors are difficult to notice and did not affect the rest of the band.

Some History on the Band

This pattern is partially based on a grave find from Humikkala, Finland which dates to 1000-1100 CE. I say "partially based" because the original find also includes a swastika motif which Maikki Karisto chose not to include in her pattern, and which I would not want to weave either way. The band was found in the waist area of an apron dress and is unfortunately badly deteriorated. The original is made with tightly spun wool and the weft is almost completely gone, but was probably some sort of plant fiber. It is held in the National Museum of Finland under the item number KM 8656 H31:18.

Additional Images

References:

Karisto, M. and Pasanen, M. (2013). Applesies and Fox Noses

Penna-Haverinen, S. (2010). PatternedTable-Woven Bands - In Search of the 11th Century Textile Professional. North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles X.