I found the design for this band in an article by Thora Sharptooth (Carolyn Priest-Dorman) reprinted here: http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/saxontw.html [1]
This girdle is woven using Thora’s threading sequence. Thora seems to have based her sequence on the original article about the piece by Grace Crowfoot and discussions with Peter Collingwood. In The Techniques of Table Weaving, Collingwood has a similar pattern draft but it doesn’t include the white dashed lines that occur on either side of Thora’s sequence. Peter says that this design was found “on a scrap of a band, adhering to an Anglo-Saxon bronze buckle excavated at Cambridge”. Thora implies that it -is- a belt. I can only assume that she got this information from the original article “Textiles of the Saxon Period in the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology” written by Grace Crowfoot published in Cambridge Antiquarian Society Proceedings 44 (1950).
Band is the same on front and back
Threading diagram for use in Gutram’s Tablet Weaving Thingy
Turning sequence:
This band is turned only in one direction using a technique Peter Collingwood calls “Pack idling”[2]. Separate the cards into a pack made of even numbered cards and a pack made of odd numbered cards. Insert the first weft from left to right. Turn only the even cards, beat, and insert the next weft from right to left. Leave a little loop on the right-hand side of the weaving.
- Turn only the odd cards, beat, pull the last weft thread taut. Insert the next weft from left to right leaving a little loop on the left-hand side of the weaving.
- Turn only the even cards, beat, pull the last weft thread taut. Insert the next weft from right to left, leaving a little loop on the right-hand side of the weaving.
Alternate turning the packs alternately: even, odd, even, odd until the weaving reaches the desired length.
Comments:
Using 18 cards threaded with four pieces of size 10 cotton crochet thread this piece came out to a width of just a little under 0.5 inches(~1 cm). This pattern is naturally double sided. Because of the alternations, this band weaves up narrower and a little more dense than it normally would with only 18 cards.
I wove this piece out of size 10 cotton crochet thread warped on an inkle loom.
It’s unlikely that the original band was woven in cotton. It’s more likely that it was woven in silk, wool or linen. None of the sources I have access to referenced the material nor colors of the original band.
It’s also unlikely that the original band was woven on an inkle loom as the inkle loom that I’m using wasn’t invented until the 19th century. It’s more likely that it was woven on a warp weighted loom or a backstrap loom. Because this pieces is turned all in one direction there was a great deal of twist build up behind the cards. Three times in the weaving I had to untie everything and release the twist. Given the amount of twist on this piece I suspect it would most easily be woven using a warp weighted loom.
Citations:
- Carolyn Priest-Dorman, Pikestaff: The Arts and Sciences Issue (December 1990), reprinted at http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/saxontw.html.
- Peter Collingwood, The Techniques of Tablet Weaving (McMinnville: Robin & Russ Handweavers, Inc., 2002), p. 122.
NOTE: Just last night(4/24/2003) I received a copy of the original article written by G. Crowfoot sent to me by Nancy Spies (Thanks Nancy!!!). OMG!!! I’ve only read it through once.. but here’s the gist. It looks like the original piece was about 1 cm (~.5 inches) wide and was made of a bast fiber.. possibly linen!! Yes, LINEN!!! G. Crowfoot writes that it looks like the original band was done with the outline and the stripes in white with the inner diamonds a light blue and the ground a darker blue (possibly woad dyed). It is “firmly adhered” to a strap end, embedded between the bars in the strap end.
I’ll re-read this some more and update this page when I have more to say.
This band completed: 10/23/2002
Other Resorces
Anglo-Saxon Belt Weaving Instructions by Shelagh Lewins
