Category: Applesies & Fox Noses

(Originally posted 20 Jan 2015)

Happy new year, all!

All I wanted for Christmas was a copy of Applesies and Fox Noses…and a bike helmet.  Lucky me–I got both!

This is the new go-to book for tablet weaving historians this year (it’s a bigger genre than you’d think!).  Several of these patterns (not all) are based on historical finds from the Karelian iron age in a graveyard just a short drive north of Helsinki.

This book has some seriously complex patterns in it, but the first few look simple enough, so I started there.  The first pattern wasn’t quite so inspiring, so I turned a couple more pages and decided on pattern #5, the S Sign.

Now, because this is in a book, I’m not sure if this is something I can publish in its entirety, so to avoid a problem with the authors, I’ll just show you the turning sequence, which seems different than how the pattern is laid out*.

1.  With A-D at the top of the pack, (my cards are colored blue on that side), turn all the cards back for five quarter-turns (toward the weaver).
2.  Split deck:  cards 1-6:  turn four quarter-turns back; cards 7-12: turn four quarter-turns forward.
3.  Turn all cards five quarter-turns forward
4.  Turn all cards five quarter-turns back
5.  Split deck:  cards 1-6:  turn four quarter-turns forward; cards 7-12:  turn four quarter-turns back
6.  Turn all cards five quarter-turns forward

*All cards have to face right, and there may be some adjustments in the future since I threaded it backwards to begin with…

(Originally published Feb 2015)

After finishing up the #1 band, Colorful Small Applesies, I started a new project for my dear friend, Bekah.  She chose #7:  Tree Climbers.  It’s a four-color band (could be done with 3, but the edging has a two similar light colors that alternate).

This one is a bit more tricky, but not impossible…after some studying the pattern and experimentation, this is what I came up with:

Turn back all cards – 5 turns

Then turn card numbers:

1-4 back; 5-8 forward; 9-14 back – two turns

1-4 back; 5-10 forward; 11-14 back – 5 turns

1-4 back; 5-6 forward; 7-14 back – 2 turns

When twist is too tight on the outside cards, you can reverse the directions of those cards to untwist…

1-4 forward; 5-10 back; 11-14 forward – 5 turns

1-8 forward, 9-10 back, 11-14 forward – 2 turns

All forward – 5 turns

1-6 forward; 7-10 back; 11-4 forward – 2 turns

The twist on 5, 6, 9, and 10 will continue to build up, so you can either put spinners on those cards or untie and untwist those cards when the twist becomes unmanageable.

If, instead of untwisting, you want to simply reverse the pattern, you can get a mirror image of the pattern.  If you want to try this, you would use:

Turn back all cards – 5 turns

1-4 back; 5-8 forward; 9-14 back – two turns

1-4 back; 5-10 forward; 11-14 back – 5 turns

1-4 back; 5-6 forward; 7-14 back – 2 turns

(just like in the first part…but then…)

1-4 forward; 5-6 back; 7-14 forward – 2 turns

1-4 forward; 5-10 back; 11-14 forward – 5 turns

1-4 forward; 5-8 back; 9-14 forward – 2 turns

All forward – 5 turns

Have fun!

(Originally published 2 Feb 2015)

The first pattern in the Applesies book is a fairly simple one-and-a-half pattern…I find this curious.  Did the maker run out of cards?  Or threads?  Or just goof?  Or was this one-and-a-half diamond pattern deliberate?  We’ll never know.

The pattern is easy enough.  After threading with the cards facing right–and remember, because this is a book that is currently being printed and sold, you need to buy the book to get the threading directions (I am only providing a little extra help reading the pattern)–make sure the cards are in the A-D position on top.

There are 11 cards in this little weave, and the turning sequence is quite simple.  The outside cards (three on the left, and two on the right) will continue to turn in the same direction–forward.  The rest of the cards will turn three quarter-turns forward, three quarter-turns backward.  Repeat!  Easy as that.

When the twist gets too much on the outside cards, reverse the direction to turn back instead of forward to untwist.  After another yard or so, you may need to switch back to turning forward again.  When you change directions, there will be a little lump of weft on the edges.  It’s normal.  Don’t worry.  Keep on weaving!

Finished piece–4 yards, about 1/2″ wide

(Originally published Feb 10, 2015)

United Chicken Runs is weave #9 and while I wanted to do #8, I saw this one and went…oooo!

SO, again, while I can’t disclose the threading because it’s *in the book* (which, if you are still reading my blog with interest, you should *totally buy*!), I will explain the turning sequence.

Cards 1-3 and 16-18 need to turn forward all the way through…or switch to turning backwards after it gets too twisted up.
While that’s going on, cards 4-15 will turn back for six turns.
Then 1-3 forward, 4-7 will turn back, 8-11 forward, 12-15 back, 16-18 forward for two turns.
1-3 forward, 4-5 back, 6-13 forward, 14-15 back, 16-18 forward for two turns.
Then mirror…
1-5 forward, 6-13 back, 14-18 forward for two turns.
1-7 forward, 8-15 back, 16-18 forward for two turns.
All forward for 6 turns.

That’s the whole turning sequence!

3 1/2 yards finished.

(Originally published Feb 15, 2015)

Took a step back (or turned a page back) and started Applesies #8 while visiting with my delightful MIL on Valentine’s Day.  Hubby and his dad went out to the movies, and the ladies stayed behind…I didn’t have any need to see Jupiter Ascending.  This one is called Fine Crooked Knees with Small Applesies.  Maybe it loses something in the translation from Finnish.  I liked the color combination from the sample in the book so much that I decided to copy it…although I used Navy blue instead of black, but otherwise it’s the same.

The turning sequence is as follows:
* with cards A-D on the top, cards 1-9 back, 10-14 forward (x 3)
* all cards back one quarter-turn
* cards 1-5 forward, 6-14 back (x 3)
* cards 1-5 back, 6-14 forward (x 3)
* all cards forward one quarter-turn
* cards 1-9 forward, 10-14 back (x 3)

Now, if you want to have lovely, tidy edges, you could turn cards 1, 2, 13, 14 forward always, then reverse direction when it gets over-twisted.

(Originally published Feb 17, 2015)

This is one of those patterns that I will need to follow the pattern, step by step, all the way to the end.  This is not an easy repeating pattern that can be memorized…at least by me.  It’s the last of the “easy” patterns…I’m thinking this probably should have been included in the next section.

I had a lot of difficulty choosing colors for this one, but finally settled on navy blue with a blue-grey background and a border of red and rust-orange.

So once you warp up your loom, you will start rotating your cards starting from the BC position.  Your cards will be facing right.

Cards 1-3 and 20-22 will always be turning forward.
Turning sequence is:
First:  1-3 F; 4 B; 5-6 F; 7-9 B; 10-13 F; 14-16 B; 17-18 F; 19 B; 20-22 F
Second:  1-5 F; 6-8 B; 9-14 F; 15-17 B; 18-22 F
Third:  1-4 F; 5-6 B; 7-16 F; 17-18 B; 19-22 F
Fourth:  1-3 F; 4-5 B; 6-17 F; 18-19 B; 20-22 F
Fifth:  1-3 F; 4 B; 5-6 F; 7-16 B; 17-18 F; 19 B; 20-22 F
Sixth:  1-5 F; 6-17 B; 18-22 F
Seventh:  1-4 F; 5-18 B; 19-22 F
Eighth:  1-3 F; 4-19 B; 20-22 F
Ninth:  1-3 F; 4-19 B; 20-22 F
Tenth:  All forward
Eleventh:  All forward
Twelfth:  1-3 F; 4 B; 5-18 F; 19 B; 20-22 F
Thirteenth:  1-3 F; 4-5 B; 6-17 F; 18-19 B; 20-22 F
Fourteenth:  1-4 F; 5-6 B; 7-16 F; 17-18 B; 19-22 F
Fifteenth:  1-5 F; 6-17 B; 18-22 F
Sixteenth:  1-3 F; 4 B; 5-6 F; 7-16 B; 17-18 F19 B; 20-22 F
Seventeenth:  1-3 F; 4-5 B; 6-8 F; 9-14 B; 15-17 F; 18-19 B; 20-22 F
Eighteenth:  1-4 F; 5-6 B; 7-9 F; 10-13 B; 14-16 F; 17-18 B; 19-22 F

See what I mean?  I can’t memorize this.  I was told that you look at the pattern and that will tell you how to turn the cards…it’s a lovely pattern…it’s just going to take some extra time.

The back is EXTRA cool!