I have longed for some time to compile a swatch book of plausible Viking textiles. It will include samples of some purchased items (which will include information such as what I think is good and bad about each), but also a large number of weaving samples that I create myself. I have seen several people put together very nice collections of handwoven swatches that display period appropriate weave structures, but the yarns used are often heavy and the warp and weft highly contrast each other to better display the weave. I want to take that concept one step further and show those structures in textiles that are of an appropriate weight of yarn as well as fiber type. Eventually I would also add in samples of very cloth types (such as Veka cloth) or perhaps event eventually recreate some extant textiles.
The thing that has held me back is that my floor loom is often tied up with larger projects, and further, I only have access to it at certain times of the week (my time is split between two houses in two different states/Kingdoms). That means large projects such as rugs or tunics take four times as long as they should.
I finally have have a solution for this - a table loom. I recently purchased and 8 shaft Ashford table loom from a friend. There was a huge mess with the shipping, given that UPS pretty much destroyed the loom in transit (still fighting with them over that... ugh). BUT I have received replacement parts from the US distributor (who, by the way, is FANTASTIC to work with), and this weekend I assembled her and did a test weave. She works and the warp is measured to start my first set of cloth samples and I am more than excited about this. It is my goal to have the first batch ready to display at Pennsic. Realistically, there is no "end" to this project, it could take years and the things I could do with it are pretty much endless. I love the idea though, and if all goes well, I hope to be able to share it with others at events.
The thing that has held me back is that my floor loom is often tied up with larger projects, and further, I only have access to it at certain times of the week (my time is split between two houses in two different states/Kingdoms). That means large projects such as rugs or tunics take four times as long as they should.
I finally have have a solution for this - a table loom. I recently purchased and 8 shaft Ashford table loom from a friend. There was a huge mess with the shipping, given that UPS pretty much destroyed the loom in transit (still fighting with them over that... ugh). BUT I have received replacement parts from the US distributor (who, by the way, is FANTASTIC to work with), and this weekend I assembled her and did a test weave. She works and the warp is measured to start my first set of cloth samples and I am more than excited about this. It is my goal to have the first batch ready to display at Pennsic. Realistically, there is no "end" to this project, it could take years and the things I could do with it are pretty much endless. I love the idea though, and if all goes well, I hope to be able to share it with others at events.
RSS Feed