Hello everyone,
Here's what I've been working on lately.... and I have a question.
I have just finished weaving a double-faced band using the method described in "The Techniques of Tablet Weaving" as "working with half turns between picks". The structure is shown in Fig. 164.
This band was commissioned by the architect Ben Nicholson for a book he is writing on geometry. It has meander designs found on Greek vases from the 5th century BCE, and begins and ends with a long straight line. The entire design on the band is one continuous line.
I wove it with all tablets threaded in the same direction, because that seemed to best threading for the appearance of the lines. And I wove this structure instead of the usual one because I have been having problems with tendonitis, and believed that I would not have to beat as hard. So both of those -- threading direction and structure -- were new to me.
I used 5/2 perle cotton, and a 6-dent reed scrap as a warp spreader, with the threads from 2 tablets in each dent. The band is about 2-3/4 wide, and was spread to about 5" wide in the reed.
It was definitely easier to weave -- as long as I remembered to just beat and not to put in a weft after the first turn! I was able to weave about 11 rows of the graph per inch instead of the usual 9, with less effort. So this is also one solution to the problem of elongation of designs.
The border tablets are only turned after the second pick, and the warp-twining looks better, since the threads aren't squashed as they are usually with a double-faced band.
The band is much softer than usual, so perhaps not as strong or sturdy. Maybe that's why it wasn't used as much historically as the typical double-faced weave. But of course, depending on the intended use, this could be an advantage.
One thing is puzzling me. Most of the time, the band looks OK, but in the double-faced area near the borders, some warp threads of the opposite side show through. I have not had this problem before. The band is beige and brown, so on the beige side, some brown is showing, and on the brown side, some beige is showing. This only happens near the borders. Would that problem go away if I weave the band a little narrower? Why does it only happen some of the time?
I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience with weaving a band like this.
Take care, Linda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Linda Hendrickson, Portland, Oregon USA Tablet Weaving & Ply-Splitting Workshops, Books, & Supplies E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web site: www.lindahendrickson.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
