Jakob’s Socks are Falling Down

A Study on Monochromatic Twist patterns in Tablet Weaving

Project Background: 

I started this project out of necessity; my socks kept falling down repeatedly during events (especially while I was fencing) and I knew I needed garters to keep them up. I realized I wanted to make a pair in time for Mudthaw this year and I had about two weeks to get them made. 

Not knowing what pattern to try and wanting to challenge myself a little bit, I reached out to Magnifica Arabella De Mere and asked her if she had any pattern recommendations. After chatting a bit, she recommended a monochromatic twist pattern that she used in part for her apprentice belt.

Historical Background: 

(Belt of Philip of Swabia, German, 11th-12th c.  Historisches Museum der Pfalz; D. 334 via Collingwood p.117)

Historically, this pattern is a recreation that Arabella did based on the Philip of Swabia belt dating around the 11th-12th century. The pattern itself is very simple, but because it was all one color it’s very easy for mistakes to show. The threads form a checkerboard design throughout the piece which creates a light play effect when done in silk. 

First Pair Details:

Unfortunately, I didn’t have silk while making the first pair. I was on a time crunch, and I wanted this pair of garters to be very durable and able to survive being thrown into the washing machine since I was planning on fencing with these on (and we all know how bad the mud is at Mudthaw). Cotton in hand, I warped up my loom and wove my first pair of garters.

(The pattern for the garters. The border cards are colored black for ease of identification)

I knew that I wanted these new garters to be a touch on the fancy side when I was finished weaving I fingerloop braided the ends. I have been told by many scadians that this was a period technique, however, I am still having trouble finding sources on it. I adore fingerloop braiding so I chose to braid the ends because they look fabulous. The braids I used were “A brode lace of V bowes” c. 1475 and “A grene dorge of VI bowes” c. 1475. 

I used two different braids because I have 112 threads in this pattern which are not evenly divisible by 5. (Math is not my strong suit so I didn’t think about this originally). Therefore, I would always wind up with 6 loops at the last braid, and switch the pattern. 

(Right, close-up of the fingerloop braided ends of the cotton/first pair of garters). 

The cotton pair was a complete success and I knew that one day I would absolutely make another pair out of silk to show off what this pattern can really do. I just needed the right opportunity to do it since I wanted to also finally enter an A&S competition for the first time. Enter Novice Day! The perfect time for me to do both of those things!

(Left, Both finished pairs of garters. Silk on the left, Cotton on the right). 

Materials:

Historically the materials used for this would be as follows: 

• 60/2 hand-dyed silk thread
• Wood, Bone, Leather, or Pasteboard Cards
• A Backstrap, Box, or Osberg Loom
• Wood or Bone Shuttle (they may have had a separate weaving sword to beat with)

Second Pair Details:

After placing several orders to Eowyn de Weaver, I received all of the silk I needed (and then some) and got to work. This was my very first time working with silk and I was nervous but also excited. 

The plan was to create a second pair of garters as identical to the cotton pair as possible to show off the differences a simple change in material type could create and to make something that would be closer to what it would have actually been in period. 

This required following the same pattern once more and also fingerloop braiding the ends with the same exact braids as last time. Once again, I had about two weeks to get this made. (I’m noticing a theme here…)

I very quickly noticed a few major differences when working with silk versus working with cotton:

• Silk does have some slippage and a mind of its own. However, because of its slick texture, it’s very easy to work with in terms of moving the shuttle back and forth and allows smooth movements and flow when weaving. Cotton is much rougher and therefore can be a pain to move things along in a smooth fashion at times.

• I was using 20/2 silk, which is much thinner than the size 10 crochet cotton (10/3), which made the silk garters narrower than the cotton pair. 

• I was able to get the picks tighter with the silk than I could with the cotton. 

• The silk warp held the tension a lot better than the cotton did. I was constantly having to adjust my tension while I was weaving the cotton pair, and I had to loosen it up quite a bit while working on it. 

The finickiness of the cotton led to Arabella telling me to beat the devil out of it to get the squareness to improve. I could only respond with “Beatings shall continue until Squareness improves!” 

Thankfully, I didn’t have that issue with the silk. I was able to adjust my tension and it would hold without slippage. I was even able to go looser than I normally would trust the cotton, which helped keep my checkerboards nice and square. (When weaving, patterns can get elongated, being able to keep your tension looser lets you pack the rows closer together).

• Because of the reflective quality of the silk, the light play on the design is visible from across the room. You can only see the pattern in the cotton band if you look closely.  

• The twist build-up on the border cards was a lot less noticeable when weaving with the silk than it was with the cotton. This probably has to do with it being a thinner thread, but it was definitely a lot easier to manage this time. 

• When the twist build-up got to be too much on the border cards I flipped them and kept weaving, this can create a noticeable transition point within the weaving on the border. (I personally don’t mind this but others do). This transition point was definitely more noticeable on the silk than it was on the cotton. 

• When braiding the ends, the silk braids tighter and is absolutely stunning when finished. However, it’s definitely more fragile when dealing with departed bowes than the cotton. I had several of the knots slide apart while I was braiding and it was the only time I wished I was working with cotton again during the whole project.

For reference, departed bowes are a period fingerloop braiding term for taking two singular strands and tying them together in order to form a loop. It’s handy for finishing the ends of tablet weaving, or if you want a loop that is two different colors.

(Right, Close-up of the fingerloop braids being done in silk. Notice the departed bowes before they’re braided)

What I would have changed: 

I probably would have tried to leave myself more length on the tails so I’d have more room to braid. I wouldn’t have been as nervous to work with silk knowing what I know now. And honestly? If not for the need to have it machine washable, I would have loved to do the first pair out of silk. 

I also would have checked my math on how many threads I have and what that can evenly (or evenly-ish) be divided by so I don’t end up with all the same braid but one when braiding ends again. 

Conclusion:

I learned a lot from this pattern, and I can say with certainty that it’s definitely one of my favorites so far. It’s absolutely improved not only my technical skill as a weaver but my confidence as well. I’m looking forward to working with silk a lot more in the future and I’m excited about what other awesome projects I can create. I’d also love to revisit this pattern again and use it for other projects like a brocade pattern or even weaving words on a belt as Arabella did. 

Bibliography:

Bwa, Mistress Rhiannon y., et al. “Fingerloop Braid Patterns.” Fingerloop Braids, Greg Lindahl, https://fingerloop.org/patterns.html. Accessed 22 June 2023.

Collingwood, Peter. The Techniques of Tablet Weaving. New York, Watson-Guptill, 1982.

De Mere, Arabella. “Monochromatic Twist Patterned Apprentice Belt – Arabella De Mere.” Arabella De Mere, 3 March 2020, https://www.arabellademere.com/2020/03/03/monochromatic-twist-patterned-apprentice-belt/. Accessed 22 June 2023.

“20/2 Silk From.” Eowyn de Wever at Dixie Weaver, https://www.eowyndewever.com/. Accessed 22 June 2023.