Tag: Birka 22

Birka 22…Weaving in Reverse!

One thing that tablet weavers experience frequently is twist in the warp that builds up until *something* has to be done about it. There are a few options that a weaver can consider.

  1. You can untie and comb out the twist and re-tie…but that can create some exceptionally bad tension problems.
  2. You can use a warp-weighted system that will untwist your warp as you go, but that is somewhat less portable.
  3. Or you could try using fishing swivels, which is fine for a shorter warp, but when you’re doing upwards of 7 yards, like I am for this project, chasing the twist through a dozen or more pegs means you need another plan.

I’m sure that there’s a term for it…mirror image weaving…flip card weaving…or…untwist weaving…but I’m calling it Weaving in Reverse! This method weaves out the twist while still maintaining the pattern. Sure, it has a small variation in it, but it’s virtually invisible at first glance.

Here was my first attempt at changing direction. It has…elbows. Sure, it works, but it’s not hard to spot. I wasn’t really happy with it, so I experimented a bit…

And this is what I came up with!

A virtually invisible…or at least excellently camouflaged…design!

And this is how it’s done. First, you’ll be weaving the pattern from bottom to top:

When you finish this sequence, weaving 1 through 8, loosen the tension on your warp a bit and flip all your cards–S will become Z and Z becomes S. Then retighten your tension on your warp.

Then you need to weave four picks of a transition, which are rows 4, 3, 2, and 1, in that order. You will only need to do this once.

Then weave the pattern from top to bottom–8 down to 1–and repeat. The white squares are still forwards; the grey squares are still backwards.

When your warp has twisted too tightly in the opposite direction, you can transition back. After you finish your 8-1 sequence, you will need to flip your cards again, and your transition sequence is picks 5, 6, 7 and 8…then start at pick 1 and proceed through to 8.

Give it a try! Let me know how it works for you! If you have any questions, of course, feel free to reach out and ask questions.

Happy weaving!

Elewys

Weave Along with Elewys, Episode 4: Birka 22

I had planned to do a woven piece in celebration of Atenveldt, but I had a commission to work on and it seemed perfect to do a video and blog post on another Birka tablet woven piece!

This one was found in grave 824 and is known as Birka 22. It’s a brocaded tablet woven piece that dates from the 8th to 10th centuries.

This piece was one of several that were found in graves from that time period.

There have been several threaded in patterns that have been around the internet (Pinterest) but they seemed rather complicated. I then found one from Maikki Karisto and Mervi Pasanen (of Applesies and Fox Noses fame) that is much more simple!

Note that the cards are labeled counter-clockwise and the slashes indicate the angle of the card, the rows are labeled DCBA…so this can be confusing to beginners.

I used that layout and put it into the tablet weaving pattern generator that I use so that the pattern is consistent with the way I’ve been teaching it. I love this pattern generator–it’s easy to use, doesn’t require a download, and it’s free!

Remember, the white backgrounds turn forward–away from the weaver–and the grey backgrounds turn backward–toward the weaver.

I warped this one up with 20/2 silk as it is to fulfill a trade with a woodworker to made a lovely Monster Loom for me! It holds over 13 yards (I haven’t actually measured it out yet), and it’s very flexible for doing any lengths of weaving over 3 yards. This is great for those longer commissions that I sometimes get.

I’ve named him Mike Wazowski.

You’ll notice that there are several pegs that were missed, which would add 25″ of length for each vertical space, plus the zig zag around the upper pegs. There are 100 different ways for warping the thing, and two tension bars, so lots of options.

When you get doing, you can do each repeat of the pattern in about 2 minutes, which means in about 21 1/3 hours, I’ll be done. If I work 4 hours a day, I can get it done in under a week…we’ll see how long it really takes.

16 mm wide!