Fiber Monday - Card (Tablet) weaving

I'm so glad there are some of you out there that enjoy these posts! Thank you for letting me know. 

One of the projects I finished this week was weaving the band on my inkle loom. Here it is.

One of my goals for this project was to learn how long a band my teeny tiny inkle loom could weave. It's more than I thought for something so small. This band ended up at about four feet. 

Now I just need to sew it on the bag I made a couple years ago for handles.

Having this done meant that I could start another project trying a different weaving technique. Here is the loom all warped.

Do you notice something different? This time, instead of using string heddles, I am trying card weaving, which is why you see the warp threaded through cards. Essentially, when using cards like this, it becomes a prototype of a four shaft loom. 

Each card has four holes.

Notice holes A and B are at the top meaning those warp threads will show above the weft thread that goes through the shed (opening) that is made. Then, to make a pattern, the cards are turned depending on what the pattern calls for.

Here you can see I have turned all the cards forward so that holes B and C are now on top, putting different warp threads showing above the weft. Patterns can be very simple, such as the one I'm doing where all the cards get turned the same way all the time. Others are very complex with some cards turning one direction and others turning another.

Here is the pattern I'm making.

This is based on textiles found in the Oseberg ship buriel from 834 AD. 

This form of weaving is incredibly old. Examples of bands woven this way have been found with the mummies found in the Taklamakan desert near Urumiqi, China which date back to thousands of years BC. This is incredibly ancient technology and I'm fascinated by it.

I'm using cards I made out of card stock.

They can be made out of just about anything... playing cards, wood, plastic, bone (this would probably be the materials ancient people used.) They just need to be somewhat thin and be able to have holes punched in them. 

This project is going to be a bit of a steeper learning curve than the previous band. I'm already thinking I have used thread that is a little too thick. But it's a learning process, right?

The other thing I finished was spinning that green batt I made a couple of weeks ago. I love how this turned out.

What you can't see is how soft and squishy it is. There is a lot of alpaca in it, so I think that's what gives the softness. Here you can see the different colors in it a lot better. 

This is destined to become a hat along with that brown hand spun I made last year. The awful weather has made me realize that I need something significantly warmer for my head. 

I'll try to get it done as quickly as possible because by having handspun and hand knit a significantly warmer hat, I'm guaranteeing that the weather will turn and I'll not get a chance to wear it. You're welcome.