Tablet weaving (also known as card weaving) is an ingenious technique for taking long bundles of warp threads and passing them through perforated tablets, then manipulating these to make strong patterned bands. Historically this was done with either a back strap method or a structured loom. To weave with this technique, each card is normally …
Category: Celtic Weaving
The Warp Weighted Loom
The warp weighted loom has been found in European archaeology as far back as the Neolithic period, more than 6000 years ago, so in Northern Europe and Scandinavia this has been the dominant weaving technology for 5 of the past 6 millennia. The distinctive feature of this type of loom is the use of clay …
Broken Diamond Twill
I am weaving broken diamond twill this time - iconic weave of the Anglo Saxon and Viking periods. The loom is warped up with Shetland wool again with a sett of 12 ends per inch, but this time with black warp threaded in a 2/2 broken point twill. The first sample is woven with the …
Ancient designs on the floor loom
I have warped up the loom in natural undyed white Shetland wool with a sett of 12 ends per inch, so it is a nice chunky proportion that weaves up quickly. Initially, I tied it up in a simple 2/2 twill, for the herringbone variations and the basket weave. The terms 'herringbone', 'point twill' and …
More tablet weaving
I have been experimenting with different yarns for tablet weaving … and there has been plenty of trial and error! But I've learned a few things. Some are life-lessons I have resisted for years, like: it is much easier to get it right the first time that to fix things once they are all wrong. And …
Celtic Weaving 