New Project: Finnish Iron Age Band Reconstructions - Kakuola Kekomäki 376a

Ever since getting Applesies, I have been mulling over a larger sort of tablet weaving project.  Here is this fantastic book with amazing pattern reconstructions of some historical bands. So, why not go ahead and make it a project to make a reconstruction of every historical band in Applesies, and maybe a few more Iron Age Finnish finds?

I've already made the Masku Humikkala band, but I used non-period materials (cotton and bamboo viscose). For this project, I want to make reconstructions that would not be out of place in period, which means using period materials and methods. I will be working my way through this project throughout the year, maybe spacing it out with some other projects. Each time, I will make an attempt to be more and more authentic in my materials and methods.

Another Applesies Band

This is a quick update, which is about a month overdue.

I've continued to weave bands from Applesies and Fox Noses, and this time I wanted to take a break from the complexity that was the Masku Humikkala band and chose something simple.

This pattern, called small applesies, has a simple 5-forward, 5-back turning pattern and was thus very quick to weave. Still, I think the pattern is quite striking and very beautiful.

More images after the cut.

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.

The First Law of Tablet Weaving

The band that I am currently weaving is the most complex I have tried yet. Consequently, it is taking a very long time to weave, mostly thanks to the huge amount of unweaving I've had to do to fix some mistakes. This got me thinking that it would be a good idea to make a blog post about a basic rule of tablet weaving which is invaluable in figuring out where you went wrong. This rule is so important, in fact, that I like to call it the First Law of Tablet Weaving.

The first law of tablet weaving states:

"When turning a tablet, the thread which is up and moves across the top will tell you what color you will be weaving that pick."

Think of it this way, before turning the tablet you will have two threads at the "up" position (I am defining "up" as the face of the band you are weaving). When that tablet is turned, one of these threads will move towards the "down" position, and one of the threads will move across the top of the band but still remain the the "up" position. Here is an illustration which shows what I mean:

Note that before turning the tablet, the thread labeled A is in the "up" position, after turning it has moved across the top but yet remained in the "up" position. Conversely, the thread labeled B is in the "up" position at first, but drops into the "down" position after turning the tablet.  In this example the line being woven will be red for this pick because that is the color of the thread that has moved across the top of the band.

I cannot over stress how important it is to understand this rule if you are tablet weaving.  It will not only let you know ahead of time if you are weaving correctly, but if you have made a mistake, it will be invaluable in figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it.  As in all arts and sciences, understanding the theory of what you are doing before you do it will demystify the "magic" behind the patterns you are following and you will then be able to solve your own problems. In fact, once you understand this rule, it becomes possible to make your own complex patterns.

How can understanding this rule help you figure out a mistake? Well, when unweaving, paying attention to the position of the threads in the tablets which are giving you the mistake will tell you which thread moved up when you turned it. If that thread does not match the color that you are expecting, then you can further deduce whether you perhaps turned the tablet an extra turn, or maybe missed turning it altogether. It takes some practice, but since any weaver will make plenty of mistakes, and therefore do a lot of unweaving, then you will eventually be able to quickly pick out where mistakes were made.

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.

A Very Long Adventure in 3/1 Twill

Wow, I have not had a real post on this blog since June, and that's a real shame. Unfortunately real life has become too hectic to be able to spend much real time with weaving.

I have actually had the same project warped on the loom for the past few months and just yesterday managed to finish it up. This was definitely the most difficult project I've worked on, but one which came with a lot of fun and a healthy dose of frustration. The project was my very first attempt at 3/1 twill.

Mid-August Updates

I have not posted in a while due to an extremely busy life schedule ... work, school, D&D, and SCA are taking up most of my time.

I have, however, been slowly working on my first 3/1 twill project, and will try to be done with it and have a post by the end of next week.

I will have to complete another band for a piece of garb for my partner Suzanne in time for the Trimaris coronation in a couple of weeks. I promise I'll have some more posts up within the coming month.

I have also been working over the past few days (with very little success) to recreate a pattern for the Horchdoff band No. 5, after having failed miserably at finding a pattern anywhere online. Once again, I may have bitten off a more than I can chew, but this may be a longer term project.