Tablet Weaving in Theory and Practice

Saturday, 28 July 2018

Vines

This pattern was inspired by work done by Shelagh Lewins on a band from the Oseberg ship burial (buried in 834 CE). It's a simple threaded-in pattern and is woven by turning the tablets continuously forwards (or by turning the tablets continuously backwards to work out built up twist). It's reversible, so the pattern appears on both sides of the band and would make a great selvedge pattern as part of a larger band.

This is an easy weave, as the tablet threadings produce the pattern so there's no need to make turning direction changes or keep count of numbers of turns. A perfect pattern to work on if you're new to tablet weaving.

A simple tablet weaving pattern in green, white and black

A photograph of an example band woven using the pattern above

You can download the TDD file for this draft by clicking here

The text version of this draft is here:

Threading:

S threaded tablet
1. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
2. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
3. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
4. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
Z threaded tablet
1. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
2. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
3. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
4. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Black (#000000)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Black (#000000)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Black (#000000)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
2. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
3. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
4. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
Z threaded tablet
1. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
2. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
3. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
4. Japanese Laurel (#009900)

Turning:

As with all of the free 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.

Sunday, 22 July 2018

Tablet Weaving Draft Designer Updates

New additions:

Visual Scale control as part of the Display section of the Control Panel. This can be used to increase the size of the draft, without changing the size of the Control Panel. It will also increase the resolution when exporting an image of the draft to .png or .jpeg.

Image Quality control added to the .png and .jpeg export preview. This starts at the same setting as your Visual Scale control and can also be used to increase the size and resolution of the image of the draft.

Added a link to this blog to the main page, below the link to the Instructions.

Adjustments to existing features:

Changes to the wording of the Instructions Page and the addition of a link to this blog.

Changes to the way the Control Panel behaves with input from keyboards to the Picks control.

Close preview button in the export preview moved to above the image of the draft rather than below.

Friday, 20 July 2018

Basketweave

In 2015 I wove some fabric on my 8-shaft table loom (the "big" loom), with the intention of making a sideless surcoat. I completely screwed up the cutting and ended up with pieces of precious fabric that were unusable for what I wanted. These days I always make a mock up garment out of scrap fabric before I put scissors to the actual garment fabric.

When the sting of my foolishness had faded a year or so later, I used what pieces I had to make a satchel style bag. People who relied on hand looms for their textiles wouldn't have wasted such a resource, so I shouldn't either.

A bag with yellow tassels, made from handwoven red and yellow fabric in a basket weave motif

The almost finished bag, complete with tassels made from loom waste.

I designed a simple tablet weaving pattern for a strap to match the main fabric. This pattern is fairly straight forward, but does involve groups of tablets turning both forwards and backwards, so I would recommend it for an advanced beginner/ intermediate weaver.

You can download this draft as a TDD file by clicking here.

A tablet weaving pattern in red and yellow in a basket weave motif

A photograph of a tablet woven band made using the pattern above

The band woven in cottolin. The weft bumps along the edges disappear if the weft is pulled in tighter.

The text version of this draft is as follows:

Threading:

S threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
S threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
S threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
S threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Red (#ff0000)

Turning:

4F 2B 10F 2B 8F
4F 2B 10F 2B 8F
14F 2B 10F
14F 2B 10F
4F 2B 6F 6B 8F
4F 2B 6F 6B 8F
4F 4B 2F 10B 6F
4F 4B 2F 10B 6F
4F 6B 2F 10B 4F
4F 6B 2F 10B 4F
4F 4B 6F 6B 6F
4F 4B 6F 6B 6F

As with all of the free 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.

Tuesday, 17 July 2018

A Weaver's Little Helper

When I weave, my cat Twist frequently gets bored and tries to turn my attention back to where it should be: him. He strums my warp like a guitar, flosses with fine silks and hunts any trailing weft threads as I work. I find that a squirt bottle of water is an essential weaving tool.

A photograph of a black and white cat poking his paws into a tablet weaving loom during the warping process

A photograph of a black and white cat standing over a loom so that weaving is blocked by his body

A photograph of a black and white cat sleeping belly upwards on top of a book about the history of tablet weaving

That's Nancy Spies' Ecclesiastical Pomp& Aristocratic Circumstance he's asleep on there.

Sunday, 15 July 2018

Rarity Trim

As part of an exchange, a friend once asked me to weave some trim based around Rarity from Hasbro's My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. I chose to go with Rarity's cutie mark, elongated pale blue diamonds on a white background and added borders of purple to represent her mane. To make the diamonds elongated, I offset the turning reversals by one pick. I started off using a purple weft, but it showed through the white yarn of the main pattern too much, so I swapped it to a white weft. To avoid white weft spots against a purple selvedge, I used a white floating selvedge (an extra piece of yarn not controlled by the tablets which the shuttle went over on the way into the shed and under on the way out of the shed). If I wove it again, I would add an extra tablet on each side of the selvedge, carrying all white yarns.

I would place this band's difficulty level at advanced beginner/ intermediate. The pattern repeat is in multiples of 8 picks.

A pattern for tablet weaving based on the cutie-mark of Hasbro's Rarity

Thread your tablets as above.

You can download the TDD file for this draft by clicking here

The text version of this draft is here:

Threading:

Z threaded tablet
1. Flirt (#990099)
2. Flirt (#990099)
3. Flirt (#990099)
4. Flirt (#990099)
S threaded tablet
1. Flirt (#990099)
2. Flirt (#990099)
3. Flirt (#990099)
4. Flirt (#990099)
Z threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
4. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
S threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
4. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Flirt (#990099)
2. Flirt (#990099)
3. Flirt (#990099)
4. Flirt (#990099)
S threaded tablet
1. Flirt (#990099)
2. Flirt (#990099)
3. Flirt (#990099)
4. Flirt (#990099)

Turning:

15F
15F
10F 3B 2F
5F 8B 2F
2F 11B 2F
2F 11B 2F
2F 8B 5F
2F 3B 10F

As with all of the free 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.

Thursday, 12 July 2018

Ermine Spots

Is it possible to tablet weave ermine spots? Absolutely!

I've come up with two options, both in double-face and can be done using the same warp, so you can try both and see which you prefer. The first one, horizontal ermine spots, has a pattern repeat length of 12 picks/ rows.

You can download the TDD file for this draft by clicking here.

A pattern for weaving horizontal ermine motifs in double-face tablet weaving

A photograph of a tablet woven showing horizontal ermine spots

You will need to flip the threading direction of 10 of the pattern tablets (6, 8, 10 ,12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24) before you try the second version of the pattern. The second version of the pattern, vertical ermine spots, has a pattern repeat of 24 picks/ rows.

You can download the TDD file for this draft by clicking here.

A pattern for weaving vertical ermine motifs in double-face tablet weaving

A photograph of a tablet woven band with vertical ermine spots

The text version of the horizontal ermine spots is as follows:

Threading:

S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)

Turning:

5F 15B 10F
5F 15B 10F
8F 2B 5F 7B 8F
8F 2B 5F 7B 8F
7F 3B 20F
7F 3B 20F
8F 2B 5F 7B 8F
8F 2B 5F 7B 8F
5F 15B 10F
5F 15B 10F
30F
30F

The text version of the vertical ermine spots is as follows:

Threading:

S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)

Turning:

7F 2B 2F 2B 2F 4B 2F 4B 5F
7F 2B 2F 2B 2F 4B 2F 4B 5F
5F 3B 1F 2B 1F 3B 1F 2B 4F 2B 6F
5F 3B 1F 2B 1F 3B 1F 2B 4F 2B 6F
5F 1B 8F 5B 2F 4B 5F
5F 1B 8F 5B 2F 4B 5F
7F 6B 17F
7F 6B 17F
5F 3B 4F 13B 5F
5F 3B 4F 13B 5F
9F 2B 19F
9F 2B 19F
5F 4B 2F 4B 2F 2B 2F 2B 7F
5F 4B 2F 4B 2F 2B 2F 2B 7F
6F 2B 4F 2B 1F 3B 1F 2B 1F 3B 5F
6F 2B 4F 2B 1F 3B 1F 2B 1F 3B 5F
5F 4B 2F 5B 8F 1B 5F
5F 4B 2F 5B 8F 1B 5F
17F 6B 7F
17F 6B 7F
5F 13B 4F 3B 5F
5F 13B 4F 3B 5F
19F 2B 9F
19F 2B 9F

As with all of the free 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.

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Two Colour Tablet Woven Swirls

This pattern is a good introduction to more difficult patterns like Ram's Horn.

A simple tablet weaving pattern in red and black

It looks like a complex pattern but is deceptively easy to weave; since most of the "pattern" is actually an optical illusion.

You can download this draft as a TDD file by clicking here

Difficulty Level: Easy

Materials:

8 4-holed tablets

16 red threads

16 black threads

Weft thread in either red or black

Thread your tablets as shown in the threading diagram at the bottom of the draft. For the first four turns, turn every tablet backwards (towards you if you are sitting so that the woven band will be between you and the tablets). For the next four turns, tablets 1, 2, 7 and 8 will continue to turn backwards and tablets 3 to 6 will turn forwards. To help you remember which direction each tablet needs to turn you can push tablets 3 to 6 along the warp away from your body (forwards).
You will now have two groups of tablets, tablets 1,2, 7 and 8 and tablets 3 to 6. Turn those close to you backwards and those away from you forwards until you have completed four turns, then slip tablets 3 to 6 back to their original places in the pack. Repeat these steps until the woven band is long enough. For a wider band, use a multiple of six plus 2 tablets, so for a band with 3 pattern repetitions across the width, use 20 tablets.

A photograph of two tablet woven bands made using the pattern above

The text version of this draft is as follows:

Threading:

Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Black (#000000)

Turning:

8F
8F
8F
8F
2F 4B 2F
2F 4B 2F
2F 4B 2F
2F 4B 2F

(This pattern was originally published in the November 2012 Baelfyr)

As with all of the free 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.

A Tablet Woven Insulae Draconis Sun

This woven version of the ID sun makes a handsome belt or trim for your favourite tunic.

Difficulty Level: Easy

A simple tablet weaving pattern in black, yellow and blue

20 4-holed tablets

40 blue threads

20 yellow threads

20 black threads

Thread your tablets as shown in the weaving draft. Turn your tablets either continuously forward or backward. When you have built up twist behind the tablets, either comb out the excess twist and re-secure the warp or start to turn the tablets in the opposite direction.

A photograph of a tablet woven band made using the pattern above, next to a red handled pair of scissors and a set of weaving tablets

You can download the TDD file for this draft by clicking here

The text version of this draft is as follows:

Threading:

S threaded tablet
1. Blue (#0000ff)
2. Blue (#0000ff)
3. Blue (#0000ff)
4. Blue (#0000ff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Blue (#0000ff)
2. Blue (#0000ff)
3. Blue (#0000ff)
4. Blue (#0000ff)
S threaded tablet
1. Blue (#0000ff)
2. Blue (#0000ff)
3. Blue (#0000ff)
4. Blue (#0000ff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Blue (#0000ff)
2. Blue (#0000ff)
3. Blue (#0000ff)
4. Blue (#0000ff)
S threaded tablet
1. Blue (#0000ff)
2. Blue (#0000ff)
3. Blue (#0000ff)
4. Blue (#0000ff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Blue (#0000ff)
2. Blue (#0000ff)
3. Blue (#0000ff)
4. Blue (#0000ff)
S threaded tablet
1. Blue (#0000ff)
2. Blue (#0000ff)
3. Blue (#0000ff)
4. Blue (#0000ff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Blue (#0000ff)
2. Blue (#0000ff)
3. Blue (#0000ff)
4. Blue (#0000ff)
S threaded tablet
1. Blue (#0000ff)
2. Blue (#0000ff)
3. Blue (#0000ff)
4. Blue (#0000ff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Blue (#0000ff)
2. Blue (#0000ff)
3. Blue (#0000ff)
4. Blue (#0000ff)
S threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
S threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)

Turning:

(This pattern was originally published in the September 2012 Baelfyr)

As with all of the free 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.

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Hugs By Post

A photograph of a person wearing a shawl knitted using my new pattern

Last week I posted a new free pattern to my Ravelry store. It's been just over a year since I submitted the last one, but I've been bitten by the designing bug again.

I knitted the sample of the Hugs By Post shawl to send to E's mum in just less than five days. It's a quick little knit, especially given that I wasn't particularly focused on it. The yarn came from an LSG swap and G took the photos of the sample for me.

A photograph of a person with a shawl wrapped around their face

Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Drachenwald Kingdom Artisan Competition

Every year Drachenwald holds a series of competitions throughout the year to choose the next Kingdom Artisan. There are a total of four competitions, each with an individual winner (plus two special categories for our younger members), where contestants can collect points towards the position of Kingdom Artisan.

A photograph of the two Yule Ball prize tablet woven bands made in white and blue

Last year (2012) at Flintheath's Yule Ball I gave away two prizes for the Arts and Sciences competition, one for the main winner and a smaller one for a promising beginner.

I used blue and white 18/2 wool yarns to match the event's theme colours and Linda Hendrickson's Textura Quadrata from her book "Please Weave a Message". I also used her flower motive, which I subsequently modified to resemble a snowflake. We had a lovely display of Arts and Sciences at Yule Ball and the main prize was won by Lady Jahanara Vivana, who happens to be the Minister for Arts and Sciences for Drachenwald. She asked if I'd make a similar prize for the first of the Kingdom Artisan competitions at Twelfth Night. Intrigued, inspired and excited, I agreed to make prizes for all four events, including mini ones for the special categories.

I made a 3m striped continuous warp on my Ashford Inkle loom in black, red and yellow (the Drachenwald colours) 18/2 wool and set to work.

For the first band I reused the modified snowflake motif I used for the Yule Ball prize, after a little further modification to centre it properly on the band.

A photograph of the Twelfth Night prize tablet woven bands

For the second band I slightly modified a bird motif from Nancy Spies' book "Here Be Wyverns" to represent all of our migratory birds that return in spring.

A photograph of the Spring Crown prize tablet woven bands

For the third band I went back to Linda Hendrickson's flower motif and modified it slightly to centre it. This one is my personal favourite, but if I never weave another "M" I won't be sad.

A photograph of the Midsummer prize tablet woven bands

For the final band I designed a sycamore leaf pattern to represent falling autumn leaves.

A photograph of the Autumn Crown prize tablet woven bands

I used a technique called tablet woven double-face for all of the above prizes, giving some of the tablets a double turn between bands to reverse the background colours. I finished the ends of the bands by sewing the weft tail back along the path of the weft. I wove the prizes over the course of 6 days, which shows that once you get the hang of it double-face can be done fairly quickly and efficiently (or that I'm a crazy woman and need to do more work on pacing myself with things).

I source most of the wool for my tabletweaving from the Handweavers' Studio in London.

A photograph of all the prize bands together

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Saturday, 28 July 2018

The text version of this draft is here:

Sunday, 22 July 2018

New additions:

Adjustments to existing features:

Friday, 20 July 2018

Tuesday, 17 July 2018

Sunday, 15 July 2018

Thursday, 12 July 2018

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Tuesday, 1 January 2013