First and most exciting: Ancient Textiles, Modern Science is available for pre-order from Oxbow Books/David Brown Books (here’s the UK link).
The European Textile Forum was founded as an annual meeting for academics, craftspeople, re-enactors and enthusiasts to share their experiences and compare notes. With varied day workshops and evening lectures, the ‘Textilforum’ has something for everyone. […]
Table of Contents
Introduction (Roeland Paardekooper)
1. A conference from the Craftsperson’s Perspective. Introduction to the European Textile Forum (Sabine Ringenberg & Katrin Kania)
2. The Spinning Experiment – Influences on Yarn in Spinning with a Handspindle (Katrin Kania)
3. Structural considerations for understanding historical tablet weaving (Sarah Goslee)
4. The Use of Craft Skills in Historical Textile Research (Viktoria Holmqvist)
5. The 13th -16th Century tablet-woven bands from Estonia (Ave Matsin)
6. Textile Techniques of the Stone Ages (Anne Reichert)
7. Tracing production processes and craft culture – the reconstruction of the Gunnister Man costume (Martin Ciszuk & Lena Hammarlund)
8. Reconstructing the dyeing industry of Pompeii through experimental archaeology: the challenges and rewards of a new approach (Heather Hopkins)
Nancy Spies is now offering PDF versions of her books for sale, including the out-of-print Ecclesiastical Pomp and Aristocratic Circumstance: A Thousand Years of Brocaded Tabletwoven Bands.
Here’s a new puzzle. I was asked:
I once saw someone at a Swedish folk music and dance etc. weekend turning string into bands for wrapping around the top of the cute little pointy toed northern Swedish boots. They accomplished this by means of a forked stick. They did something that results in crossing threads on a diagonal to make the bands. Sadly, I have no idea what it might be called, so I can’t really ask my friend google, and I would like to know how it is done, since I have the boots, but not the bands. If you, or any of your friends, has any idea what this technique is called, I would love to know. Thanks!
The textile it makes is a flat band, a couple of cm wide, and only as thick as the yarn gets when it crosses over itself in one place at a time. At a distance one might guess tablet weaving or inkle woven band, but instead of a separate warp and weft all of the strands served both functions, crossing at an angle to weave down between the adjacent threads.
It sounds like finger “weaving” to me, but then what’s the stick for? I’m sure some of you know what it is.
Upcoming SCA events of interest:
Hrim Schola, March 23, Clinton, MA. The East Kingdom’s premier fiber arts event (and one of the inspirations for FFF).
Mynydd Seren Textiles Day, March 16, Bloomington, IN. A new fiber-focused event for the Midrealm.
I don’t expect to be at either, but if you’re in the area you should consider them.
The first 120 volumes of the Archaological Journal are now available online.
