Lattice

During a series of videos I made for Advent last year, I showed a band each day including a few that I've never published the drafts for. One of the most requested out of the unpublished drafts was this one. It uses a tablet woven structure commonly called "Anglo-Saxon" technique, despite the key historical example having been proved to be medieval. You can read more about the original fragment in work done on it by Shelagh Lewins by clicking here. Tablet Weaving Draft Designer can't (currently) generate drafts in this style, so I've constructed this one using draw.io and edited the text description of the draft to match the turning sequence described below. I'm hoping that we can add this structure to the next TDD update, but time will tell.

  

The sequence of turns needed to produce this band is extremely straight forward. Separate all of the even numbered tablets from the odd numbered tablets into two packs, then:

 1. Turn all odd numbered tablets forward, then pass weft from left to right

 2. Turn all even numbered tablets forward, then pass weft from right to left

Continue repeating these two rows, only turning half of the tablets each time and letting the remainder idle, passing the weft from the side where the outermost tablet has just been turned. Additionally, you will need to pull the weft in much tighter than usual for the yarn you're working with, to the point where the threads that make up the design become almost parallel with the selvedge. The tighter you pull the weft, the smoother the motif lines will become. The result will be a thick and extremely sturdy band with the pattern on both sides, excellent for use as a belt.

You can download the TDD file by clicking here

You can download the text description by clicking here

As with all of the free drafts/patterns on this site, you are welcome to weave them, sell bands woven using them, and use them to teach other weavers, just as long as you state where you found them.

Book News and a Blurb Sale

Apologies for the radio slience over the past few months. I've been deep in writing the next book in the series (still am, but at least two thirds of the way there now) and it's been tricky to motivate myself to doing any additional writing. 

I've shared a few details in a few places, but I can officially say that this year's book will be a beginner's guide based on the way I understand tablet weaving. It will act as a bridge for the absolutle beginner and advanced beginner to make the other books in the series more accessible. I have another book project I've been playing with too, but that's gone on the back burner until this one is out in the world, hopefully around November.

Speaking books, Blurb, my publisher, is having a 20% off hard cover and soft cover books (use the code AUGREAD20 at check out by 11.59pm local time on 19th August 2025 to get the discount). If you're in the US, Blurb is a print on demand service and will use their printer closest to you (just make sure you select your location flag in the top right corner of your screen), so there's no need to worry about tarrifs or customs fees. You can find links to all my books by clicking here.

Hallstatt Triforce

Every now and then, I'm feeling whimsical (who am I kidding, it's pretty much all the time!) and I want to weave something a bit different to the sensible book samples I've been working on. My husband has a green summer tunic for SCA events, but last year during a heat wave, he was wearing his thicker winter one and risking melting because his summer tunic didn't have any of my trim on it. The time has come to fix that! He's a big Legend of Zelda fan, so I wanted to work an element of that into it. Having pondered various options, I settled on the Triforce. Once I had drawn it out on graph paper for 3/1 broken twill double-face, the arrangement of the triangles reminded me of a historical band known as Hallstatt 123[1][2]. The band was excavated in 1990 in Hallstatt, Austria, and dates to the Early Iron Age. It is held by the Natural History Museum in Vienna (inventory number: 89.832). I worked the meandering line of the Hallstatt band into my design as it frames the Triforce nicely and is in keeping with the types of designs found in Legend of Zelda. I wove the sample band with King Cole Merino-Blend 4ply in the colours Buttercup and French Navy, with Buttercup as the weft.

The Triforce symbol does, of course, not belong to me and is a trademark of the Nintendo Corporation.

You can download the TTD file for this draft by clicking here
You can download the text version by clicking here

[1]Bichler, P. et al (2005): "Hallstatt Textiles" Technical Analysis, Scientific Investigation and Experiments on Iron Age Texiles. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 2005, 81-90 https://www.academia.edu/11916994/Tablet_woven_Ribbons_from_the_prehistoric_Salt_mines_at_Hallstatt_Austria_results_of_some_experiments

[2] Hartl, A. et al (2015):Reproducing colourful woven bands from the Iron Age salt mine of Hallstatt in Austria: An interdisciplinary approach to acquire knowledge of prehistoric dyeing technology. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 133 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275897796_Reproducing_colourful_woven_bands_from_the_Iron_Age_salt_mine_of_Hallstatt_in_Austria_An_interdisciplinary_approach_to_acquire_knowledge_of_prehistoric_dyeing_technology

As with all of the free drafts/patterns on this site, you are welcome to weave them, sell bands woven using them, and use them to teach other weavers, just as long as you state where you found them.