Uncategorized – The Wonders of Weaving

Birka B6 – Progress Update 2

Hello again!

With my cards threaded, as I detailed in my last post, I was ready to begin weaving! Or so I thought…

As any sane person could probably tell by looking at my weaving – I don’t believe I provided a picture of the beginning of my band last time, so I will do so below – my tension was awful. Horrible. My band did not look AT ALL like it was supposed to, but I was hopeful! I kept going! I was somehow convinced it was going to get better.

(It didn’t.)

However, it is interesting that if one looks at the entirety of my woven band, you can pretty clearly see my progress from hopeless to mildly-skilled, might be able to use my skills to catch a husband in the Middle Ages weaver.

So without further ado, I present to you: A Guided Tour Through Learning How to Tablet Weave, through the medium of hopefully not to awful pictures of said tablet woven band.

Chapter One: Tension, or Yes How You Tie Your Threads Is Important

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This is the beginning of my band. It looks a little weird because one, it is, and two, I just took this photo, and part of the band is wound around the belt. At the top, you can see where I attempted to begin weaving. In my pattern, when you simply turn all four cards forwards, it creates that sort of alternating white and then green ‘v’ pattern, which is what you see in this photo. As you can see here, my tension was not good, but somehow I convinced myself to keep going.

Chapter Two: Rushing Headfirst Into Things Is Not Always the Best Option

So here you can see I attempted to begin the pattern at the very top. I was running into an issue where I had tied the threads to the belt, and to the table leg I was using at the other end, without making sure all of the threads were equally taut between them. With fifty-two separate threads, it’s easy to accidentally leave one a little looser. So when I would go to ‘beat down’ the weft, a thread would pull and leave bumps, which meant I didn’t want to pull it as tight. Essentially, it was a mess.

Luckily for me, a repreive came in the form of reading break, where I completely untied everything and brought it home with me. And proceeded to not work on it the whole reading break, of course. But, when I came home and retied it, things started to look up… a little bit.

Chapter Three: A Light At The End Of The Tunnel?

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When I came back from reading break, I re-tied my project and attempted to do it in a way that kept the correct tension. As you can see here, some of my pattern is visible in the band, however it is very stretched out and there are some… problems. Part of the problem I believe is that I wasn’t ‘beating down’ hard enough – at the time I thought I was, but I think that’s why the pattern is so stretched out.

At the top end of this section, you can see that things get a little… wacky. I’d reached a spot in the pattern that I like to call the ‘reset’ section, where I’ve completed the full round of the pattern and for four rows all I do is flip every card forward. I chose to take this moment as a proper reset, retying the threads again, keeping everything very tight, and vowing not to restart the pattern until everything looked right.

Chapter Four: I Put Things Back In Order

If you’ve been paying attention, you may already have spotted what I did – that something was wrong with the right side of my cards. The lopsided ‘v’ shape you can see here should not be lopsided at all. I went through my pattern and some of the cards had switched around – it took me three rounds of four turns to get it fixed properly, which you can see pretty clearly if you compare the top ‘v’ of the photo to the ones below.

It was handy to know what the ‘blank’ state of my pattern was supposed to look like, as I don’t think I would have noticed my cards got switched otherwise!

Chapter Five: Success Comes To Those Who Fail A Lot First

Okay, I think you’ve suffered through enough photos of badly-woven bits of thread to finally see something a little better looking.

Seriously though, I’m super happy with how the weaving is going now and I think it looks so good! I’m not sure why it took me so long to get here, but I guess practice makes perfect, right! So here you go.

Chapter Six: Things Eventually Get Better

I can now pretty reliably get through a cycle of my pattern without messing up, though I do sometimes occasionally forget to put the weft thread through before turning the cards, which is the most frustrating thing on the face of the planet.

Finally getting the pattern to work has made me very exited to try more tablet-woven patterns. I definitely think this is a craft I want to keep doing. (Now I only have to learn how to sew so I can have garments to attach the bands to…)

I think it takes me about 20 minutes to half an hour to get through a cycle of my band, maybe less now. If only I could find a comfortable way to sit… seriously, there’s no way when you’re using the backstrap method. At least not for me, because I don’t have anywhere to tie it to high enough that I could then sit on a chair. So your options are basically numb butt, your feet falling asleep, or your back hurting.

I’m excited to see the band getting longer, and to see it when it’s finished. I’m sure casting it off will be a quick and easy process, right? (ha.ha.)

Until next time,

Quynn

Oseberg Narrow Band Update

The progress on the Oseberg narrow band has been interesting! The weave went well for the first section of the weave, until the working threads became very twisted. There was a solution offered by my pattern, however, I believe I did it incorrectly. After flipping the cards stated on the pattern, my pattern disappeared! I worked with it for awhile, but found that some of the border threads weren’t even being picked up with the weft. I attempted to reverse my card flipping and continue, which “fixed” the pattern in one way, as it worked properly, however it made a new pattern entirely!

Green, beige, and brown woven band laying width wise across a curled up white and brown tabby cat. — The entire length of my band so far, mistakes included!

A close up of the green, beige, and brown band laying on the white and brown tabby cat. The errors in the band are visible from the bottom of the image. — The entire length of my band so far, mistakes included!

I am still working on undoing this mistake, as I thought I had switched by cards back, but clearly not! After meeting with the group I am going to go through my cards with a finer eye to ensure they’re all correct. However, I’m happy with my band, errors and all, if I hadn’t made mistakes, I wouldn’t have learnt anything! I think part of my error was getting impatient with the stiffness of my threads due to the twisting, which lead to me trying to untwist them like this in the first place. Even when not working correctly, I am still enjoying the process of tablet weaving, with certainly more respect for even the more “simpler” of designs.

-Tika

Challenges & Success

Over the course of this project, we’ve all come to our own triumphs and failures. As we all have different skill levels, and have taken on patterns accordingly, the outcomes of our projects will vary significantly. Here, we will go over how the process has been for each of us.

Tika’s weave

Tika’s weave has been a journey. Starting out with no weaving experience, every step of the process has been quite the learning experience. With a simpler pattern, keeping the threads organized for transport and warping wasn’t too rough. Organizing threads by bundles for each of their 10 tablets worked well for the initial warping, and the first session of weaving went well, with the pattern showing up quickly. The biggest challenge came in repeatedly untangling the loose ends of threads, which required a helping hand, but once done, the weave was going well once more. However, as the weave continued it got more complicated. Attempting to untwist the threads by the instructions on their pattern, Tika’s weave quickly became a mess. The threads remained mostly twisted, the woven part varying in thickness, and the pattern completely disappeared! Assuming something went wrong in the process of flipping cards to untwist them, Tika is still working on repairing their weave. Despite the challenges, they still find the process enjoyable, and look forward to seeing everyone’s final products.

This picture of a close up of the brown, green, and beige woven band. It creates a change like pattern until half-way through, where the weave becomes messy and the pattern changes into uneven triangles. The band is on top of a brown and white tabby cat. — The section of Tika’s weave that went wrong after attempting to untwist threads by flipping cards.

This picture shows a woven band of brown, green, and beige. The tied end is at the top of the image, and the working end at the bottom. The band is on top of a white and brown tabby cat with green eyes, the band is as long as the width of the curled up cat. — The section of Tika’s weave that went wrong after attempting to untwist threads by flipping cards.

Kierrah’s weave

Kierrah’s weave experienced quite a few issues from the get go. As her pattern was rather complicated, the number of threads required made the initial organizing and warping difficult. Additionally, keeping the threads untangled was it’s own task, one that required another set of hands to wrestle the threads in order. Once working, Kierrah was again faced with unexpected problems; knots in the threads, S and Z threading errors, and the pattern appearing upside-down! She was able to work through many of these problems, with great success, but has had to continue weaving in reverse for the pattern to appear correctly. Though challenging, she has found the process to become increasingly relaxing, and with practice, easier with each session.

In this image I am holding my weaving in my hand. The weaving is messy and a pattern is only beginning to show at the bottom of the page. — The beginning of Kierrah’s weaving. At the very bottom the pattern begins to form.

This image shows me holding my woven band, showing off the completed section of the band which has a pattern made up of brown and cream thread. — The beginning of Kierrah’s weaving. At the very bottom the pattern begins to form.

Quynn’s weave

Quynn’s weave had been quite tricky to start. She experienced issues with tangled threads during transport, and ultimately had to warp her tablets twice due to threads flipping and tangling. She also had some difficulty with tension to begin the weave, but once both threading and tension were organized, she was able to begin working on her pattern. The first few inches demonstrate her trial and error in the beginning, but now she is able to work on her pattern.

A dark brown table with white paper tablet cards on top. The tablet cards are strung with green, brown, and beige threads, which drape off the right side of the table. — Quynn’s tablets and threads, in the beginning of her organization.

A woven band of green, brown, and beige, tied at the top of the image on a rattan piece of furniture. — Quynn’s tablets and threads, in the beginning of her organization.

As we have worked on our projects by ourselves, it will be very exciting to see each of our outcomes all together. This project has taught all of us about the process of tablet weaving, and especially the knowledge and skill that it takes to successfully create the beautiful bands which survive in archaeological sites today. Regardless of if a pattern is easier or harder, the skill it takes to create any of these bands successfully is truly impressive. By attempting to recreate some ourselves, we have certainly learnt a new perspective on historical textiles.

Birka B6 – Progress Update 1

I am reproducing the Birka B6 tablet-woven band, which is one of many tablet-woven bands discovered at the Birka archaeological site on Björkö Island in Lake Mälar, Sweden.

The pattern I am using is one which was graciously made and shared by Lady Elewys of Finchingefeld on her blog.

**Figure One: Birka B6 recreated pattern.**

To begin with, I had to prepare my threads. Given that we were sharing our three chosen spools of thread between the three of us, we gathered together to cut all of our lengths at once, before warping them through our tablets.

**Figure Two: Cutting my warp threads.**

Transporting my cut threads back home on the bus proved to be a slightly bad choice, as I then had to spend a while untangling them. I suppose we all learn from our mistakes, though, as you will see in a bit, I did not.

I then warped them through the tablets – a set I’d been let with a few homemade ones added in – with the aid of a long table, a chair, and my favourite podcast. It took me just around an hour and a half, I think, when adding in the time it took to untangle and sort the threads into their correct bundles of four, in the right order of colours.

**Figure Three: my tablets, completely warped.**

Once I’d done that, I unfortunately had to move the threaded cards to another room before I’d started weaving them. It was at this point that it became clear I had not learned from the earlier trial of transporting them back from campus. Somehow, the cards had managed to flip themselves around and switch their S and Z threading, no matter that I’d very carefully wrapped them up to move them. I later figured out that they were simply all upside down as well as the cards managing to flip themselves several times, but by that point, the threads were all so tangled that it was just easier to unthread everything, untangle it, and start again.

So. Warping (pt. two) went a whole lot smoother than part one, and I made sure to carefully tie off both ends and leave them in the same, secure place to prevent tangling. I swear, you so much as breathe on this thread and a knot appears.

It took me a bit to get the hang of the backstrap method, and for a while the tension on my pattern was off. Due to this I took a while to really get the pattern started properly. My pattern is a type that involves turning groups of tablets in different directions, but to get it started, I was simply turning all of them forward to test my tension and make sure I’d threaded everything properly. But now, with my tension mostly figured out and my pattern at hand, I am finally ready to properly start weaving!

May your threads stay ever untangled,

Quynn

Our Project

Tablet Weaving

Let’s start off with a brief introduction to what tablet-weaving actually is. Tablet-weaving produces patterned, decorative bands which can be used to decorate the edges of existing clothing, such as the ends of sleeves, or as selvedge edges for garments on standing looms. It’s a type of weaving that requires less space and resources than other traditional methods, such as a standing loom. Today, tablet weaving is performed by hobbyists and experimental archaeologists alike, and was a popular form of textile production throughout the medieval period.

Tablet weaving uses a set of tablets, or cards, that come in a variety of sizes. The tablets have four holes, one in each corner, which are labeled A, B, C, and D. The weft threads are threaded through these holes, and the turning of the cards creates the shed in which the warp threads are inserted. The patterns visible in tablet woven textiles are created both by the way the cards are threaded – that is, which colour of thread is put into which hole – and the way the cards are turned.

Tablet weaving can be done on a small loom, but the technique we are using is called the ‘back-strap’ method – where one end of the warp threads are attached to something like a door handle or the leg of a chair, and the other end is tied to a belt around the weaver’s waist.

The Process

The first step of our project is the first step of nearly any textile project: picking a pattern! There are many, many options out there, with varying ranges of size, colours, cards, and difficulty. In choosing our patterns we considered things like using patterns which were historical reproductions of extant tablet bands, how many colours of thread we wanted to use, and the number of cards.

An example of a tablet weaving pattern. Image credit: The Dutch Tailorette.

After you choose a pattern comes a step which can be very fun but also very hard if you are indecisive like us – picking our colours!

After you choose your threads, make sure you have enough cards for your chosen pattern. If you don’t, extras can be made out of things like playing cards, thin cardboard, or cardstock, using a hole-punch to create the holes.

Once the desired number of cards is obtained, the warp threads need to be cut to length and threaded into the cards following the pattern. Your warp threads can be any length, depending on how long you want your tablet-woven band to be.

After that, it’s just following the pattern until the band is complete – essentially, until it’s as long as you want it to be! Once the bands are completed, we will reflect on how the project went as a group, including what we learned, what we might have done differently, and how our bands turned out.

Our Questions

We have four major questions we hope to answer through the course of our project.

What is it like to produce tablet-woven textiles and what does this tell us about textile production in the medieval ages?
How much variety can tablet-weaving produce with the use of a similiar number of cards and a consistent colourway?
Is the variety seen in tablet-weaving caused by different methods of warping or weaving?
How does the level of knowledge/skills of the artisan affect the final product?

Supplies

Tablet weaving is a fairly accessible craft in that not that many supplies are needed, and it’s fairly easy to get the things you do need. Firstly, each of our group members will require a set of weaving tablets. We were lucky enough to be lent two sets of tablets already, so all we have to do is make another set (as well as some extras). In order to do this, we will utilize a piece of cardstock or thin cardboard – whichever is on hand – and cut it to size, rounding the corners and punching a hole in each corner to match the existing paper tablets.

Each person will also require access to a belt, either from their wardrobe or made out of a piece of lacing – really anything you can tie around your waist and then fasten your warp threads to will do. Each member will also need access to a shuttle for weaving, which can be made out of cardstock or popsicle sticks depending on the materials available to the group.

Finally, the group will need access to two to three colors of yarn for weaving. Weaving yarn can be purchased locally from Knotty by Nature Fibre Arts for $14-$16 dollars a cone. As a group, we decided to forgo complete historical accuracy for materials more easily accessible and cost-efficient, and therefore decided on using cotton thread. Overall, supplies should cost approximately $30-$50 in total and are easily accessible locally.

Shelf of weaving cotton at Knotty By Nature. Image Credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy3rUifxPz9/

In Conclusion

In completing this project, we hope to gain a better understanding of what tablet-weaving may have felt like for medieval artisans, taking into consideration the conditions that may alter our modern experience of this craft.

In the course of reproducing a historical pattern, each member of the group will document their reconstruction, sharing update posts along the way that highlight their struggles and successes.

Experiential archaeology is as much about the journey as it is about the end result, so welcome aboard if you’re along for the ride! It should be a fun one.