Tablet Weaving: Birka 12

The city of Birka was thriving trade center on the island of Björkö, Sweden during the 8th - 10th centuries. Archaeological finds include a number of tablet woven fragments. Many of these are in the brocade technique, in which threads of precious metals were woven into the top of the bands. Apparently, this is an advanced technique, but many of the Birka patterns have been interpreted as threaded in for less experienced tablet weavers. Birka 12 is one of those bands. 

Pattern

Credit: Lady Eleyws of Finchingefeld

This is the third in the Weave Along with Elewys series. New for this lesson are an increased number of tablets, plus the two-color border. 

Yarn

Lion Brand Coboo (cotton / bamboo rayon blend)

Warping

Elewys uses an inkle loom for her tablet weaving. Since I'm using the backstrap method, I've pretty much skipped over the warping section of her videos. I was de-stemming cherry tomatoes the other day, however, and so watched the entire episode to pass the time. What I noticed was that she was able to measure her warp threads in pretty much color order. If I could do that, it would help eliminate the huge tangle I get from measuring my warp by color sections. For this pattern, each tablet contains two colors, so measuring two colors at a time was easy. 

I also decided to add a warp cross to help keep track of thread order!

Side note: In Tablet Weaving: Skip Hole Ladoga, I showed you how I used ponytail elastics to stabilize the tablets with skipped holes. I also like to use them to stabilize the cross when I use my warp holder. It helps me to not pull out too many threads at once and mess up the warp order.

Conclusion? This measuring method is a keeper!

My band

I think I had more challenges with this one than any so far!

What I learned

One challenge of this band was that it was wider than any I'd done previously. The tablet turning sequence is short, which helped keep track of it. Even so, I messed up on one card which made a mistake in the pattern. I just turned it to the correct position and restarted from there. This was just a learning piece, so it didn't matter, but it told me I might want to add extra warp when weaving a project.

The other challenge was the building up of twist in the pattern cards. The pattern repeat is 10 turns long, with cards turning forward for a total of 7 and back for 3. Twist can be dealt with a number of ways, typically by reversing the direction of turning the tablets. A fancier set-up attaches warp ends to fishing swivels. I've been using the method of flipping the cards, so that S becomes Z and Z becomes S. This is what I tried for the pattern cards and it changed the pattern! Another interesting lesson learned.

One thing I'm getting better at is my selvedges. I'm finally pulling the weft firmly enough to get a smooth looking edge, instead of little weft bumps. 

After I got my two problems behind me, weaving went quickly, and I finally managed to get a section of correctly woven Birka 12, which you see pictured above.

Tablet Weaving: Birka 12 © Aug 2023

 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Sampler Off the Loom

I've woven my sampler to the end of the warp and taken it off the loom. I zig-zag stitched its edges and  washed it.

Hand washed in cold water and Dawn dish washing detergent. Cold water rinse.

After rolling the excess moisture out in a towel, I laid it flat to take measurements. In looking it over, I can see that I improved with practice! My weft beating and selvedges became more consistent and I made fewer mistakes. There's still a lot of room for improvement, but I definitely made progress.

First 7 samples with mistakes and wonky selvedges!

Last 6 samples; much more consistent and even.

At first I was just going to line dry it. But I've been thinking about dish towels and thought, 'how many people line dry dishtowels?' I use my clothes line all the time when the weather's cooperative. But hand towels make good gifts, and how many people are able to line dry everything? I decided to dry the sampler in my clothes dryer to check for further shrinkage. 

Sample particulars:

• Yarns:
• warp - 8/2 cotton
• tabby weft - 8/2 cotton
• pattern weft - 3/2 cotton
• reed: 10 dents per inch
• Sett: 20 EPI
• Sley: 2 ends per dent
• Total ends: 120
• Width in reed: 6 inches
• Threading: straight draw (plain twill)
• Woven width on loom: 5 - 5.25" (depending on sample)
• Woven length on loom (per sample): 3 - 3.25"
• Wet finishing - cold water hand wash (with Dawn) and hot machine dry
• Washed width (still damp): 4.75 - 5 inches
• Washed length, per sample (still damp): 3 - 3.25"
• Finished width after machine drying: 4.75 - 5 inches
• Finished length (per sample) after machine drying: 2.75 - 3"

Observations:

• I'm happy with the yarns and sett.
• I like the fabric's hand after washing and drying.
• I lost width with washing.
• I lost length with machine drying.
• The turquoise weft on the white warp was diluted both the color and the pattern.
• The turquoise weft on the blue warp offered good contrast to make the pattern stand out.
• The purplish pattern weft was the opposite; good contrast on the white but visually obscured on the blue.
• Even though I didn't especially care for the white and dark warp stripes, they were useful to show how color differences between warp and weft interact. 

Samples after washing and drying:

Here's the pebble weave I blogged about here:

Sample #6, pebble weave

And here are a few more. The links go to their original on-loom posts:

Sample #3, vertical herringbone

Sample #7, waffle weave treadling

Sample #8, overshot

Sample #10, warp emphasis twill

Sample #12, broken twill

Sample #14, Monk's belt

The next step is to plan my project. More on that soon.

Sampler Off the Loom © Aug. 2023

 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related posts:

Table Loom Sampler: First Set of Samples

Table Loom Sampler: Second Set of Samples 

Table Loom Sampler: Third Set of Samples

Table Loom Sampler: Third Set of Samples

Sample 11

II 343 A (Basket Weave on Twill) from
Helene Bress's The Weaving Book

Until this sample, I didn't consider adding floating selvedges for twill warp floats because this is only a sampler. Basket weave, however, calls for two weft picks in each shed. The treadling looks like this:

1-2

1-2

3-4

3-4

repeat

I could see myself pulling the thread out when I sent the shuttle back the other way, so I decided it would be prudent to add floating selvedges.

I used t-pins to anchor add-on warp ends for floating selvedges.

Film canisters filled with coins to weight the floating selvedges.

With a table loom, there's not much hanging room for the warp weights, unless I turn the loom to hang them off the back side of the table. Either that, or I'll just have to unwind them frequently.

I think basket weave would be fun to weave with painted or variegated yarn.

Sample 12

II 93 A (Broken Twill Treadling) from Helene Bress's The Weaving Book.

I have to say that I'm really beginning to appreciate these small repeated patterns. I'm thinking fabric for garments. Subtle color choices for yarns could add a rich depth to the fabric.

Lever lift sequence

1-2

1-4

2-3

3-4

repeat

Sample 13

Novelty Twill from Marguerite

 Porter Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book.

Lever lift sequence

4

3

4

3

2

1

4

3

2

1

2

1

4

3

2

1

The treadling sequence is a bit long, but the pattern made it fairly easy to keep track of.

Sample 14

II 359 A (Monk's Belt Effect) from Helene Bress's The Weaving Book

I've never woven Monk's Belt before, but will definitely come back to explore it soon.

Lever lift sequence

1-2 x6

3-4 x4

1-2 x6

3-4 x2

1-2 x2

3-4 x2

1-2 x2

3-4 x2

use tabby

Sample 15

Horizontal Stripes from Marguerite Porter
Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book

Lever lift sequence

4

3

2

1

2-3-4

1-3-4

1-2-4

1-2-3

repeat

And that's the end of the warp. 

The next step is to get the sampler off the loom and wash it. I'll take measurements before and after. From that, I'll have a better idea about my yarn and sett choice, plus how to plan using these next. 

When I started out with this little exercise, I lamented that the warp was so long because I wasn't sure what I'd do with it (all two yards of it!). But discovering how much variety I can weave on a simple twill threading has been fascinating. I could have easily kept going! Plus, it caused me to weave things I probably never would have chosen for a project by simply browsing photos in a book. Add to that getting used to a new loom plus some improvement in my beat consistency and selvedges. I feel ready to move onto a project.

Table Loom Sampler: Third Set of Samples 

© Aug. 2023 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related posts:

Table Loom Sampler: First Set of Samples

Table Loom Sampler: Second Set of Samples 

Sampler Off the Loom

How Many Pokeberries in a Gallon?

Of all my natural dye experiments (pics here), I've never seriously considered pokeberries. This is because the color is notoriously not color fast. My thought is why bother? Poke plants are prolific in our yard, however, so every year when their berries ripen I can't help but think about their color. 

Recently, I found Carol Leigh's "Non-fading Pokeberry Recipe." After I read it, I knew I had to try it.

Her discovery is an interesting read, the gist of the recipe being 1 to 2 gallons pokeberries to 8 ounces of fiber. The recipe also calls for 56% acetic acid rather than vinegar. 

I'm toying with the idea of using this recipe for the dyeing aspect of the Permies.com textile badge. The challenge is that I'd have to dye two pounds of fiber for the badge. That means I'd need two to four gallons of pokeberries. That's a lot of berries, so first I'd have to see if I can collect that much. 

We have a lot of poke plants around, but not enough to pick the required amount in one picking. So, I decided the best course of action would be to pick them as they ripen, then de-stem, weigh, and freeze them until I get what I need.

First picking yielded 14.5 ounces of pokeberries. 

Picking them off the stalk was rather messy, so I tried cutting them off with my kitchen scissors. That was still messy, but the job went a lot faster. I put them in a gallon freezer bag which I labeled "TOXIC! DO NOT EAT!" and popped them into the chest freezer. 

My second challenge will be finding 56% acetic acid. Looks like I'd need a quart for two pounds of fiber. So far, I've found 4%, 20%, 50%, and 99%. The other consideration is that acetic acid is apparently considered hazardous material, which requires extra fees for shipping. 

Even if I can't collect enough to dye two pounds, I'd still like to try this. Considering the colors pokeberries yield, it would be pretty amazing to have at least some fiber died with it. 

How Many Pokeberries in a Gallon?

 © Aug 2023 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related posts:

Natural Dyeing?

Non-fading Pokeberry Dye Part 1 

Non-fading Pokeberry Dye Part 2 

Planning a Color Play with Pebble Weave

With my sampler nearing the end of its warp, I find myself contemplating what to do next. I think it's time for a project! Nothing terribly challenging, because even though I'm resuming my weaving life comfortably, I still need review and practice. So. One of the table loom samples that has caught my interest is pebble weave. 

From Marguerite Porter Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book.

It's easy to weave on the table loom and visually offers some interesting things to think about. It makes me want to experiment with things like

• the optical illusion of texture
• color blending

What I'd really like to weave is a gamp with sections of shade gradations of color. Nothing terribly large; maybe a dishtowel or a scarf?

The mental wheels are turning, so I check my stash.

I have two cubbys filled with size 8/2 cotton, but I don't have the color choices to create a chromatic gradient. Well, what about my 10/2s?

Hmm. Closer, but not quite what I have in mind. It seems that after bragging to my husband that I have enough yarn to last a lifetime, I've got a problem! And you know what that means,don't you?

LOL! Can anybody relate?

I'm not even sure where to find weaving yarns online for a good price any more. Any suggestions? I browse the online shops and discover that prices have really jumped since the last time I ordered anything. Between that and my decreased income, I may have to put on my thinking cap and see what I can come up with from what I have. 

Planning a Color Play with Pebble Weave 

© Aug. 2023 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related post:

Table Loom Sampler: Second Set of Samples