A&S 50 - 2: Snartemo II Band

For my second-ever attempt at tablet-weaving, I decided to weave a band supposedly found in the Snartemo II grave. The band is woven from cotton thread in two colors using twelve pattern tables threaded through only two holes, and a total of four border tablets threaded through all four holes. The original band was woven in wool and had an extra border tablet, presumably used to attach it to a cloth. I have been able to find very little information about the original band or the Snartemo finds in general, but hope that I will be able to track down more books on this in the future as the techniques used in these bands are both beautiful and fascinating.

In making this band, I learned two important lessons. First, when working with multiple colors, one should be certain that the weft thread matches the warp threads on the outer-most border. The weft
is visible on the outside of the band where it turns, and these turns are quite obvious if contrasting threads are used. Second, when threading only two holes, supporting the cards in some way makes
weaving much easier. I am not certain if my warp tension was off in some way, but I had fairly consistent problems with unstable cards. The best way for me to deal with this was to tie my band in such a way that it the cards were able to rest on my ironing board while I was weaving. This prevented them from flipping over, which they tended to do when suspended.

This is not a complicated pattern, but in hindsight was not the best pattern to choose for my first real project. It presented a number of challenges I was not prepared for and I had a great deal of
trouble correcting mistakes as my understanding of tablet-weaving was still quite limited. However, I learned a great deal and the band looks quite well on my husbands tunic.

Sources:
Lewis, Shelagh. The tablet Woven Band from the Snartemo II Grave.
(http://www.shelaghlewins.com/tablet_weaving/Snartemo_II/snartemo_II.htm) Last accessed Nov. 18, 2010.

Collingwood, Peter?