The Lagore Crannog Band, Encore

Last night, I restrung my tablet-weaving loom for the Lagore Crannog band, hoping to do a better job with both keeping the weave even and the correct count for turning the cards. My ultimate objective was to do a better job in order to obtain a band long enough to use as a headband. I considered buying some Shetland wool for this attempt, but decided I should see whether I've improved significantly before I waste money on expensive new wool.

The start of my new band.

To my surprise, the pattern that is forming this time is very different from my first effort. It's more like the description in the article in the Complex Weavers' Medieval Textiles newsletter (Issue 38, December 2003; ISSN: 1530-762X) from which I obtained my information. The article says that the cards should all be threaded "to the right", but I wasn't clear as to which direction that was last time. I'd bet that I'd strung them the other way (I always did tend to mix directions), explaining the difference in pattern.

For those of you who want further information on the Lagore Crannog band, here is the citation from the Complex Weavers' article:

Hencken, Lagore Cranog.  Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, volume I.III, 1950-51.

In any event, I'm glad I tried this band again! It is interesting seeing how different the pattern is, and the experience in weaving a band that uses open holes in the design will stand me in good stead when I start my Snartnemo band.

EDIT:  pearl has supplied me with a full, corrected cite for the Royal Irish Academy article about the Lagore Crannog band:

Hugh Hencken, Liam Price and Laura E. Start. 1950/1951. "Lagore Crannog: An Irish Royal Residence of the 7th to 10th Centuries A.D." /Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature/ Vol. *53*; 1-247.

Jacqui's Orkney Hood

The other day, I found an interesting article about the Orkney Hood, a roughly Viking era textile found more than 100 years ago in the Orkney Islands. A more detailed web version of the article may be found here.  A color photograph of the hood, from the National Museums of Scotland's website, may be seen here.

The article is by Jacqui Wood, a British archaeologist whose primary interest is the prehistoric period. Unlike most finds that old, the Orkney Hood is a complete garment, and Ms. Wood was commissioned to make a replica of the Orkney Hood, and wrote the article to describe what she learned in the process of making the replica. One example is how she learned that the hood was woven with threads of unequal thicknesses:

However when the weaving was complete and I measured the fabric and it was at least 20 cm too long! This was turning out to be a very challenging project. I had to go back to my measurements and re- think where I had gone wrong. It had to be something to do with the thickness of the weft threads as the width was the right measurement. I had wrongly assumed that all the weft threads in the fabric were the same thickness I found when I calculated the widths of the chevrons to the number of rows that there were in fact four very different thickness of yarn used for the weft. This was very noticeable with hindsight the 42 row band measured 4 cm where- as the 38 row band measured 5 cm. I ascertained that the four distinct yarns were as follows 7 rows per cm, 8 rows per cm, 9 rows per cm and 10.5 rows per cm. These different thicknesses of yarn were erratically distributed throughout the fabric.

Ms. Wood notes that the discrepancy of thicknesses is likely due to the fact that four different spinners made the thread used in the hood:

Having had some experience teaching groups of people how to spin on a spindle whorl I have found that people find their own thickness of yarn that they find easy to spin. Most students acquiring spinning skills find that they can easily spin an even yarn at their own personal thickness, some very fine yarn and some much thicker. Whereas a skilled spinner can spin any yarn thickness to order the average spinner tends to spin always at the same thickness. I suggest that therefore that there were four distinct spinners making the yarn for the hood. This would account for the uneven chevrons of the pattern. If a fine thread was added after a thick one this would form a ridge in the weaving and be noticeable, but if one always changed the direction of the chevron when a new yarn was added the difference is unnoticeable, as I found to my cost when making my first replication of the weaving.

I lack the skills at weaving to make these kinds of discoveries myself, so I am all the more impressed when someone who can weave engages in the process and documents what she finds. The rest of Ms.  Wood's report contains more discoveries of this type, and I recommend that anyone interested in weaving, or in the clothing of the early Middle Ages read it.

EDIT: Although it was once suggested that the hood might belong to the Viking Age, ingaborg correctly reminded me that the hood has since been carbon-dated to between (roughly) 200 and (roughly) 600 C.E., as Wood's article itself notes.  My apologies for the error.

My Lagore Crannog Band--Finished!

Tonight, I finally finished my Lagore Crannog band.  The pictures here show the full band, and close ups of the best section.  Once I finally figured out how to consistently get the turning sequence right, I was able to pack the threads properly and complete it quickly.

Top side, as I was weaving.

Back side, as I was weaving.

The band is very short--too short to use as a headband.  It is just long enough for the good part to decorate the area between the two brooches of a Viking apron dress--except that the original band was 1) Irish, and 2) pre-Viking age.  I may wear it as a bracelet (even though that obscures the best section), or use it to ornament a small bag.

However, I like the pattern; it is elegant, and the band itself is very solid and would be useful, in a longer length, as a belt or a strap for an item.  I might make up a longer band in this pattern, sometime, now that I understand how that pattern works.  But next, I think I'll start the Snartemo band.

The whole thing.

Saxon Brocaded Tablet Weaving

It's been hectic around here since my cat was horribly ill with a kidney infection last week (she's finally better, and home), but I've found another interesting link to share anyway.

This page by SCA member Elizabeth Peters contains instructions, and links to specific patterns, that will allow the discerning reader to reproduce the gold brocaded tablet woven bands Sonja Hawkes and Elizabeth Crowfoot wrote about for Medieval Archaeology. A PDF of the 1967 Hawkes and Crowfoot article may be downloaded here.  This sounds like a wonderful page to explore after I finish the Lagore Crannog band and my planned Snartemo design.

17th Century Fabric Reproduction

A day or two ago, I found a link on the h-costume list to this page describing yet another historic fabric that Duran Textiles plans to manufacture for sale by a museum. The last one I wrote about was a reproduction of a fifteenth century textile made for Queen Margareta and preserved in Uppsala Cathedral.

This time, Duran is making a reproduction of an embroidered silk broadcloth used to make a wedding suit for King Gustav II Adolf, who ruled from 1615 to 1632. The reproduction fabric will be sold by the museum shop of the Royal Armouries of Sweden, where the original of the suit now resides. The original was purple colored and embroidered in gold, with genuine gold spangles (i.e., sequins) studding the floral design. The reproduction will be available in two modes; printed in gold on purple or red cotton, or printed on wine-colored or blue silk; the silk version costs 590. SEK per meter and is 145 cm wide (no word on the cost of the cotton version). Also available for the truly wealthy is a limited edition version in hand-embroidered silk that costs 3 200. SEK per meter.

The article has clear enlargeable photographs, both of the original suit and of the reproduction fabrics, and I commend both the photographs and the article in general to the attention of lovers of sumptuous fabric and 17th century costume alike.

The Lagore Crannog Band--The Beginnings of a Pattern

I have finally woven a sufficiently long proportion of my Lagore Crannog band that I can keep track of which way I have to flip the tablets for each pass. 

Top side (while weaving)

Reverse side (while weaving)

A pattern is beginning to form, though I fear I'm having to relearn any skill I had at tablet weaving and even my best sections look amateurish.  The attached photographs, which features the best section of the band to date, show the pattern.  It's kind of interesting, though I think the other side is more attractive.  I have edited the photos slightly to sharpen detail.