Month: December 2020

Weave Along with Elewys, Ep. 12: 10th Century Mammen

In the mid 1800s, in the town of Mammen, just outside of Viborg, Denmark, a farmer discovered a grave from the 10th century. Inside was a treasure trove of rich textiles and weapons, laid there to honor a man who was in the service of King Harold Bluetooth. Among the many finds, which included wax candles, silver axes, and silks, was this lovely piece of tablet weaving.

My middle kid, Cam, asked for a piece of weaving for Christmas, and sent me a photo (from Pinterest) with this pattern on it. I recognized it as a period pattern, and knew that I had to share it all with you. She chose the colors–so it’s not part of the Laurel Kingdoms project. And it’s not exactly like the period piece–apparently the original had 17 cards, was made from both wool and a vegetable fiber (probably linen) that degraded, and the pattern was likely done in a brocade technique. However, this double-sided, skip-hole weave is so lovely, I think you’re going to enjoy it!

Because the black threads in this piece were threaded ABBA, it made me think of music from my very young childhood…and I named this piece Mamman Mia. I know…terrible joke, but I’ve been spending a lot of time indoors….the weather is dreary and the endless months of virus lockdowns have taken their toll.

Despite 2020 being the dumpster fire that it is, I have a lot to be grateful for–my family, my friends, YouTube, and my faithful viewers. Here’s to a much better 2021. Thanks for a terrific year!

Elewys

Christmas Spirit

It is mid-December and the holidays draw near
I found it imperative that I spread good cheer.

You’ll find here below a pattern for you.
Its turns are complex, I admit that is true.

But with the skills you have learned here so far,
You will do just fine and earn a gold star.

I’ve changed just a few things to make it more merry.
Now I’m going to get me a big class of sherry.

(OK, I don’t actually drink sherry–maybe a bottle of hard cider instead.)

I was asked this morning by a viewer about the red, yellow and black piece in the opening sequence of the video, and where that pattern could be found. The answer is that the original is on Pinterest, but it’s written in a rather hard-to-read format, so I set out to “translate” it into the Tabletweaving Draft Designer (TDD) (jamesba.github.io/tabletweave) charting system.

However, the original pattern has a little hidden swastika in the middle of it, which always gave me a level of consternation. For those who are outside of North America, the swastika–although used extensively in the Medieval period–is still very much a symbol used in hate crimes and the sight of it causes distress to some people in minority communities. It wasn’t really IN YOUR FACE, but still…it was there, so I hesitated in including it in some displays or teaching the pattern. Today, I set about altering the middle of the design to remove the symbol while maintaining the amazing movement and color that so many people remark on with this piece.

I hope you enjoy weaving it!

With much love and appreciation, and wishing you all a very happy holiday season and a fantastic, healthy and happy new year!

Elewys

Weave Along with Elewys, Ep. 11: Estonian Virunuka

Here’s the big one, folks…hold onto your hats!

This is the recreation based on the three extant pieces that were found dating from the 12-14th centuries in Estonia. The fragments are housed in the University of History in Tallinn.

Many thanks to Julia Christie Amor for her draft from which I drew heavily for information: http://www.yrmegard.net/ee/tablets/patterns/tw_artefact_pattern_02

Due to the size of the image, I had to paste it in here in three parts or it would be blurry. I tried a couple different ways and neither of them worked…so three chunks it is.

Parte the Firste: picks 1 to 60.

Note that card #3 should be S threaded, not Z; I had completed it, saved it and started a new project and much later discovered that error. The only way to correct it now is to re-draft the entire thing, which took hours the first time….SO that’s not happening just yet. Just make card #3 S threaded, K?

Parte the Seconde: picks 61 to 120.

Middle bit of the pattern.

Parte the thirde: picks 121 to 184. I discovered that the pattern was missing the last two picks (somehow I didn’t clue in that 182 was not divisible by 4, so the cards would not be back in the ‘home’ position at the end). Oops…not sure if that was my error or that of the original that I was translating from. So, I created two extra picks that I added on afterwards and while they’re not perfect, it creates pattern continuity.

You’ll note the last couple of picks in the above pattern–what should be 183 and 184–were added when I discovered it was missing from the pattern.

Print out all three parts for the complete pattern. I have them on separate sheets of paper so they’re large enough to read easily.

This piece celebrates my Kingdom, An Tir! It was created in 1982, formerly a principality of the Kingdom of the West, it covers the states of Washington, Oregon, Northern Idaho, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia*, Yukon and Northern Territories. Our colors are black, white and yellow.

*A small chunk of BC is actually part of the Kingdom of Avacal…geographical distance and topography being what it is…you know…

This piece is not any more *difficult* than any of the other pieces we’ve done, but there are a lot more picks to complete for each repeat (184, to be exact), but if you take your time, be patient, and follow the directions, you should do just fine.

Good luck, and have fun!

Elewys