TABLET WEAVING

EVA SANDERMANN OLSEN

I hope that this book may solve some of the problems many tablet weav-
ers meet during their weaving, and I will thank my two daughters Lisbet
Lavaud and Birgit Sandermann Justesen for their help during my work.

Gammel Holte, November 2013

The photo on the front page is taken in the Keltenmuseum Hochdorf, where they have
reconstructed a chieftain’s grave from about 450AD. The grave was excavated in 1978,
and the museum in Hochdorf/Enz was opened in 1991 with the reconstructed grave.
Go to www.keltenmuseum.de. The band on the photo is analyzed and recontructed
by Lise Ræder Knudsen, www.tabletweaving.dk.

TABLET WEAVING 2
Content
Preface .............................................................................................. 4

Definition, tools and aids ...................................................................... 6

Patterns for tablet weaving ................................................................... 8

The first sample band: How does tablet weaving work? ............................ 11
A pattern with single slanted lines ......................... 12
Preparing the work .............................................. 13
Now the weaving can start ................................... 14
Starting and ending a tablet woven band ............... 15

My way of pattern drawing ................................................................... 16

Two dark two light – to and fro ............................................................. 19

Two dark two light – double-faced with identically positioned tablets ........ 21

Two dark two light – double-faced with opposite positioned tablets .......... 24

Two dark two light – diagonal weaving ................................................... 27

Two dark two light – twill weaving ......................................................... 30

Three threads in every tablet – Missed-Hole = Vacant-Hole ....................... 33

Two threads in diagonally opposite corners – Latvian patterns .................. 36

Two threads in the holes in two neighbour edges – pebble weave ............. 39

How can we use the tablet weaving? ....................................................... 42

Books about tablet weaving, websides ................................................... 43

Postscript ........................................................................................... 44

TABLET WEAVING · Content  3

Preface
I have always been very interested in tablet weaving, and I have tried several times and
stopped again, until 1993 when I participated in a class on tablet weaving and suddenly
understood a lot of it. The following year there was a Nordic tablet weaving symposium in
Kalmar in Sweden, where I met many people with the same interest and got further inspira-
tion to go on with the tablet weaving. In the course of time I have learned that you can get
a lot of aids to get an easier working position. I use a home-maid loom, which I can use for
both inkle weaving and tablet weaving.

My interest for tablet weaving grew, but I got more problems. Sometimes you must have a
pattern to look at, but I did not understand many of the patterns I saw. With the help of my
computer I have succeeded in doing my own patterns in a way that immediately shows how
the finished band will look like.

It is fascinating to think, that tablet weaving was known in the prehistoric world in many dif-
ferent places and that the technique is used in several countries even today. At excavations
in the Nordic countries as well as in other places in Europe during the last 100-200 years
numerous bands have been found, many of them woven in special techniques, which must
have required great skill. But the historic subject is so big, that I will not include it here, but
instead give some literature references.

From the Nordic countries archaeological finds show, that people have woven with tablets
since the Iron Age until the Late Middle Age, but then the technique sank into oblivion, un-
til the German textile researcher Margrethe Lehmann-Filhés about 1900 accidentally heard
about the technique in Iceland and later on saw some tablets in the Danish Folk Museum
(the present National Museum of Denmark) in Copenhagen. With the researcher´s curiosity
and care she succeeded in understanding the tablet weaving principles and making several
bands.

TABLET WEAVING · Preface4

 A long band and a long
zip may together turn
out to be a nice little
handbag. The band is
woven in the pebble­
weave technique.

In this book I will:

1: describe some tools and aids, which will help to make it easier to weave with the tablets.

2: describe and compare different methods for pattern drawing, which I have met during the
time, and tell a little about my own system.

3: describe different tablet weaving techniques and give a few patterns to each of them.

4: give some suggestions to the use of tablet woven bands.

TABLET WEAVING · Preface  5

Definitions, tools, and aids
In shaft weaving we have two sets of threads. The warp threads are lifted or lowered with the
help of shafts, so a shed is formed, and the weft threads are put through the shed.

Tablet weaving is a simple method to make bands and narrow weavings. The necessary tools
are few, but the possibilities for patterns are many. There have been found tablet woven
bands from the Bronze Age with very advanced patterns, which have required very great
skill.

Here is the warp held between my

belt and a clamp on the table.

The only tools you need are the

tablets and your hands, and then
you need some yarn. The tablets
are small plates, which can be
triangular, square, hexagonal or
perhaps of quite another form. Near the edge, normally in the corners there are made holes.
In this book I will mainly tell about square tablets with a hole in each corner. Through each of
these holes a thread is drawn, which corresponds to the warp in a shaft loom and when the
tablet is raised on the edge there will be a shed between the upper and the lower threads.
Every time you turn the tablets, the four threads will twist and the shed will change. When
we want to weave a band, we use more tablets beside each other and stretch the warp
threads between two posts. The tablets stand parallel with the threads and are turned for-
wards or backwards due to the pattern. After every turn the weft is put through the shed and
when you tighten it, the warp threads will gather and you will see the pattern in the band.

The tablets can be made of wood, horn, bone, leather, cardboard, or whatever you can cut
out to squares and give a hole in each corner. The width can vary from 2-3 cm to 8-9 cm and
the material must not be too flexible. A fine material for the first test is playing cards, which
you cut out into squares with rounded corners and cut a hole in each corner 1 cm from the
edge. Most playing cards are 6 cm wide and that is a fine size.

TABLET WEAVING · Definition, tools, and aids 6

The best yarn to use for the test is not too thin cotton, e.g. knitting yarn or crochet yarn
(mercerized cotton). The threads with the tablets must be stretched during the weaving as
between a hook in the wall and a belt you wear. It is a little better to use an upturned clamp
on the edge of a table as the fixed point. If you sit at the opposite side of the table, the tablets
can rest on the top of the table and you can raise your belt higher on your back. That will
give a better and less tiring working position. Another possibility is that you purchase a band
loom. You can get them in many different forms and sizes.

It may be good enough to make a butterfly for the weft and you can use your fingers as a
beater. But it is more comfortable to use a shuttle and the shuttle can be formed as a beater,
or you can have a separate beater.

It is very important to keep the tablets in the correct order, when you leave the work; the
easiest way is to use one or two safety pins of the sort on which you keep your resting knit-
ting masks. Put the safety pins through the corresponding holes of the tablet in order to fix
the work.

TABLET WEAVING · Definition, tools, and aids 7

Patterns for tablet weaving
Patterns for tablet weaving can be made in a lot of different ways, and I will only mention a
few of them here. But there are some few rules, which everybody must agree on:

If you hold a tablet in vertical position in front of you and with one edge towards you, it is S
threaded when the thread is entered from the right; the threads are slanted in the same way
as the slanted line in an S. During the weaving the threads are stretched, and the tablet will
slant to the right like the slanted line in a Z, and we say that the tablet is Z positioned. If you
thread a tablet from the left, it is Z threaded and will be S positioned.

S twisted and Z twisted thread S threaded Z positioned Z threaded S positioned

In the same way we talk about S twisted and Z twisted threads. A thread with the twist going
from right up towards left is S twisted; it has the same direction as the slanted line in an S. A
Z twisted thread has the same twist direction as the slanted line in a Z.

When you turn a Z positioned tablet forwards, its threads will twist in Z direction; when it is
turned backwards, the threads will twist in S direction, and vice-versa when the tablet is S
positioned.

A tablet weaving consists of a threading draft, which tells us how to thread the tablets, and
a pattern draft, after which we turn the tablets. These drafts may look very different, and
may be understood in different ways. The problem is that we work three dimensional, and
the drafts are made two-dimensional on a flat area (a piece of paper or a computer-screen).

Here you see the most common threading draft, I think.

The figures in the upper line show the numbers of the tab-
lets; A, B, C and D are the names of the holes in the tab-
let, and Z’s and S’s tell us the threading or the position of
the tablets. To use this draft you must know, where in the
tablets the letters are placed, and whether the S’s and Z’s
mean threading direction or how the tablet is positioned.

During the weaving the tablets are turned forwards or backwards after a pattern draft. When
the tablets are turned, the threads in a single tablet will twist and gathering the tablets with
the weft thread forms the pattern. Behind the tablets the threads will twist in the opposite
direction, and after some time the twist may be so tight, that it will bother the weaving. If
you then change the turning direction, the twist will loosen again.

TABLET WEAVING · Patterns for tablet weaving  8

Some bands are threaded with threads of different colours, so that the pattern is formed by
a number of forward turns followed by a number of backward turns. These bands will never
bother the weaver, because there will never be any tight twists. But there are found lots of
fine tablet woven bands with very fine patterns which have needed a pattern draft to follow
and an individual turning of the tablets. Some of these patterns are found in ancient graves
of which some are from the Middle Ages. But nowadays you can also find people through-
out the great World weaving very beautiful bands with their tablets.

This band is woven after a band from the Bronze Age, found in Hallstatt in Austria.

Here is a band from the Viking Age found in a chieftain’s grave in Mammen in Jutland. A lot of
textile pieces were found in the grave and a reconstruction of the buried chieftain’s clothes
can be seen at The National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.

Around the World you can still meet people, who weave with tablets and make beautiful pat-
terns. The patterns in this band are from the island Sulawesi in Indonesia. They have made a
long band, cut it into shorter pieces, which they have sewn together to a bag. The bag can
be seen in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam.

TABLET WEAVING · Patterns for tablet weaving  9

Here I will show you a few of the types of pattern drafts you may try to use as
templates for tablet weaving. The draft with the dots is the one, which Egon
Hansen used in his book – with a little modification. Egon Hansen uses tab-
lets, which have one edge coloured blue and the opposite edge coloured red.
In the pattern draft there are figures under the dots whose tablets must be
turned forwards, and the rest of the tablets must be turned backwards. The
big dots show, which colour a tablet has on the upper edge after a turn. The
small dots are added to show, which colour the tablet has on its front edge.

The pattern draft with grey and white squares

shows clearly, which way the tablets are to be
turned, white for forwards turning and grey for
backwards turning. It is easy to use as weaving
template, but it is impossible to see, how the pat-
tern will appear.

The two coloured pattern drafts look like each

other, and it is very easy to see, which technique
has been used, and how the finished band will
look. In one of them every square has a coloured
slanted line. The slanted line tells us, which way
the threads in the tablet must twist, and its colour
shows us, which colour will be seen on the upper
side of the band. I think it is the quickest way to
sketch out a pattern.

The last pattern draft is

my own, which I have
sketched out during sev-
eral years. It also uses
slanted lines, but there are
two in every square. There
are also some curved lines
in many places to tell, that
the turning direction has
to be changed. I will tell a
little more about this in a
later chapter.

TABLET WEAVING · Patterns for tablet weaving  10

The first sample band
How does tablet weaving work?
All threads in one tablet must be threaded from the same side of the tablet; otherwise you
cannot turn it. An S threaded tablet is Z positioned, and when you turn it forward, its threads
will get Z twisted. In the same way a Z threaded (S positioned) tablet will get S twisted
threads by a forward turn. If you arrange the tablets S Z S Z S Z and so on, and turn them in
the same direction at every turn, the band will look like a knitted band.

It is possible to change the position of a tablet during the weaving by revolving it about a
vertical or horizontal axis, and in that way change the twist direction. So it is possible to turn
all the tablets in the same direction all the way during the weaving; but it may be difficult if
you make a mistake and have to go backwards in the weaving.

Let us look at a pattern for a single tablet in a band. The lowest lonely
square shows us how to thread the tablet. It has two green threads in
the bottom holes and two red threads in the top holes. The slanted line
under the square shows us, that the tablet is Z positioned; it has the
same direction as the slanted line in a Z. The right side of the tablet is
the front, and it turns forward to the right. The tablet turns backwards
to the left, towards the weaver. Over the lonely square there is a col-
umn with 8 squares that show the turns of the tablet. The line to the left
of the first square shows us, that the tablet has to be turned forward,
and it is red, because a red thread is moving between the top holes of
the tablet and is seen in the band. In the next turn a green thread will
show on the band. Now follow two turns, and the tablet is back in its
start position with the two red threads on top. The next four slanted
lines show, that the tablet must turn backwards, and they will be seen
as red, green, green and red in the band.

When I weave after a pattern draft I use a homemade ruler, which I have cut out from a plas-
tic folder and given a distinct Indian ink line along one edge. I put the pattern into another
plastic folder together with a steel plate and fasten the ruler over the pattern with one or
two magnets. It is easy to move the ruler, and I can see the row I am going to weave, as well
as the rows under and over it.

TABLET WEAVING · The first sample band 11

A pattern with single slanted lines
I have made a little pattern with 6 pattern tablets and 2 border tab-
lets. Try to weave the little band after the pattern, and see what hap-
pens, if you try to change the number of turns in each direction. Re-
member that the red and yellow slashes show the twisting of the
threads during the weaving. If all the tablets were positioned in the
same way, the two halves had to be turned in each direction. So here
it is most practical to thread them opposite; then all the tablets can
be turned in the same direction, forwards or backwards.

You need 8 tablets, some yarn – I prefer not too thin cotton, two
clamps, a pencil or a stick of the same thickness as a pencil, a safety
pin for knitting use and four round toothpicks. The two border tab-
lets get 4 threads of the same colour. They may be turned the same
way during all the weaving. If the twists behind the tablets get too
tight, you must change the turning direction and turn the tablets
backwards, and the twists will loosen. Or you can revolve the tablets
so they get the opposite position, and the twist will loosen, when
you go on with the forward turning.

The tablets do not need to have letters or figures in the corners during
the weaving. But when you are threading the tablets, you must know
which thread threading through which hole, and for that you need
letters. In this pattern draft the figures are numbers of the tablets; the
letters to the left correspond with the letters in the drawn tablet, and
the Z’s and S’s tell us how the tablets are threaded. The drawn tablet
shows us the position of the letters, and to the right you see a Z posi-
tioned (S threaded) and an S positioned (Z threaded) tablet.

Beneath the pattern to the right I have made my special threading

pattern. The holes have got the colour of the threads, and the slant-
ed lines under the tablets show their positioning. In the left side the
tablets are S positioned and in the right side they are Z positioned.
We know, that when a tablet is Z positioned and turned forwards its
threads will twist in Z direction, and when it is turned backwards its
threads will twist in S direction, and vice versa for an S positioned
tablet. That means that in this pattern you can turn all the pattern
tablets together.

Now follow the instruction for “the first sample band” in the next
chapter.

TABLET WEAVING · The first sample band 12

Preparing the work
The first band you try to weave must be manageable in length and number of tablets, and
the pattern must be simple. I will recommend mercerized cotton yarn, which is smooth and
will not get tangled up. For this pattern you need six pattern tablets and two for the borders,
and calculate with 1 -1½ meter for the warp; when you weave with tablets, you must know,
that it is impossible to use the last 50 centimeters for weaving. I will suggest you to colour
two opposite edges with a light and dark colour respectively; mine are red and black. It may
many times be a good help to find the position of the threads during the weaving. Besides
the tablets and the yarn you need two clamps, a pencil or a stick of the same thickness, a
safety pin of the sort you use to keep your resting knitting masks on, and four round tooth-
picks.

Here you see some of my aids. On the first photo you see a wood-
en block with a peg, in which I can fasten the tablet, while I put
the threads through its holes. On the next photo you see another
wooden block with two thin sticks. The distance between the
sticks is the same as the distance between the holes in the tab-
lets. In this block I gather the threaded tablets, so I can keep their
order, and on the photo beneath you see the ready threaded tab-
lets held in order with two big safety needles, one of them home
made.

The first tablet is a border tablet; thread it with four threads of

the same colour, and the weft thread must have the same colour.
Measure out four threads and put them through the holes of a
tablet; tie the four ends together with two knots, so you get a
little loop between them. Put the pencil/stick through the loop,
and place the tablet on the table or place it on the block with the
sticks. The six pattern tablets must be threaded after one of the
two threading drafts – they should give the same result. Place
the tablets on top of each other, thread the second border tablet
and put it on the top. Finally you stick the safety pins through all
the 8 tablets in order to keep the tablets in their correct position.

It is nice to sit at a table, on which the tablets can rest during

the weaving. If you have two clamps, you can put them upside
down on the edge of the table and tie the pencil to them (look
at the photo). Then you take all the threads in your hands and
adjust them, until they are in order and evenly stretched. They
are now tied together and held stretched by a solid cord, which
reach further than to the opposite edge of the table and is given
a weight. The size of the weight depends on the number of tab-
lets and the warp material. The warp must be stretched, but also
flexible when you turn the tablets.

TABLET WEAVING · The first sample band 13

There are many other ways in which to arrange your tablet weaving. You can have the warp
stretched between a belt around your waist and a hook in the wall. Or you can have a vertical
warp fastened in the ceiling or somewhere else. In this case the band is on the top, and you
beat upwards, and if there is a weight on the warp threads from each tablet, the twists will
open by themselves.

In many illustrations from the Middle Ages we see a woman sitting at a board with two posts
in between which the warp with the tablets is stretched. Such a tablet weaving loom has
been found in the Norwegian Oseberg ship from the Viking Age.

Here is the loom I have made together with my husband. I can remove the posts and fasten
them in other places, and thus weave inkle bands by using the same loom.

Now the weaving can start

Arrange the eight tablets after the threading draft beneath the pattern draft. Do not forget,
that the black slanted lines show the position of the tablets, and the coloured slanted lines in
the pattern draft show, how the threads from a tablet are twisted. Make a butterfly from your
weft yarn or wrap it around a piece of cardboard or a shuttle, if you have one.

TABLET WEAVING · The first sample band 14

Starting and ending a tablet woven band
Put a toothpick into the shed and turn the tablets one quarter turn forwards; put the next
toothpick into the second shed and turn one quarter turn forwards. Press the sticks a little
together, and go on with the last two toothpicks in the same way. Now you are back at the
start position and can continue with the yarn. Put the weft into the shed, but leave about
12-13 cm of the end and turn the tablets a quarter turn forwards; put in the warp from one
side and the end of the yarn from the other side and leave a little loop in both sides. Turn the
tablets, beat carefully and pull the threads until the loops just disappear at the edge of the
band. At this moment It is important to fix the width of the band. The weft must be as little
visible as possible, and the woven band must be beaten so much as possible, so it has a solid
structure. The free end of the weft is put into the shed 3-4 times, and then you go on with the
weft alone. The weaving rhythm is: put in the weft thread, leave a little loop, turn the tablets,
beat and pull the thread, until the loop just disappears. Put in the next weft - and so on.

When you want to end the band, it is a good idea to lock it as you did in the start. But you
must use a different method. Take a thin thread and fold it double; the double thread must
be longer than the width of the band. Stick the double thread into the shed together with
the weft thread and keep the loops at the same side of the band. Turn the tablets, beat and
draw the weft thread as usually, but keep the loop of the thin thread open. Do the same
with two other thin threads. At last you stick only the weft thread through the shed, turn the
tablets, beat and cut the thread 15 – 20 cm from the band. Put the end of the thread through
the nearest loop and draw the weft thread through the band by help of the thin thread. Do
this two times more, and the band is locked.

TABLET WEAVING · The first sample band 15

My way of pattern drawing
When drawing my tablet weaving patterns I use a computer program: “Stitch Crafts Gold”,
which is meant for cross stitching, but it can be used for many different purposes.

In the drawing underneath I imagine, that the weaving goes from left to right on the paper.
The weaver is sitting in the left side, and the unwoven warp disappears out to the right. A
forwards turn goes to the right – clockwise, and a backwards turn goes to the left – counter-
clockwise. If you look down from the weaver’s place on the tablets, they are slanting in the
same way as the slanted line in a Z; they are Z positioned, and that means that they are S
threaded. You have to play attention to this, when you read a pattern draft, because some
weavers mention the threading, and others think of the position of the tablets.

Z positioned tablet

The woven band

The weaver Warp

is here

Z positioned tablets
Backwards turn Forwards turn

Nearly all my tablets are coloured red on one edge and black (or blue) on the opposite edge;
that is a great help, making it easy to find the different threads during the weaving. If I have
two light and two dark threads I put the light ones at the red edge and the dark ones at the
black edge.

The patterns, I use for weaving, are positioned in the same way as the band I am weaving.
When I start the drawing of a new pattern, I begin in the bottom of the paper and draw all
the tablets – unless it is a very wide band. Here we have eight pattern tablets with two light
and two dark threads, the light ones at the red edge and the dark ones at the black edge. In
both sides there is a border tablet with four dark threads; they are turned forwards all the
time, until the twist behind the tablets get too tight. Then the tablets are turned backwards,
and the twists will be neutralized. After this we do not any more think of the borders.

TABLET WEAVING · My way of pattern drawing  16

The eight pattern tablets have two
blue threads at the blue edges and two
yellow threads at the red edges. All
eight tablets are Z positioned, which is
shown by the black lines underneath;
they are slanted the same way as the
slanted line in a Z. Over the squares I
have shown, which colour the threads
in the top holes have. Square number
one has a yellow thread to the left - the
back, and a blue one to the right – in
front. Square number 2 has two blue
threads, number 3 has a blue thread to
the left and a yellow one in front, and
number 4 has two yellow threads.

Now we look at the first row in the pat-

tern. Every square has two lines, and
they all slant to the right. That means
that all the tablets have to be turned
forwards away from the weaver. After a forwards turn the first tablet has two yellow threads
in top and a yellow thread over a blue one in front. By looking at the first square in row one
we read, that the tablet was turned forwards, and that the colours at the front edge now
must be a yellow over a blue one. We can control the colours of the threads all the way up
through the pattern. All the tablets must be turned forwards in the rows one to six. In row
7 we meet a new symbol, a curved line that is open to the left. This symbol tells us, that the
tablet must change its turning direction. It is the thread in a
top hole, which stay on the top and float, until it is tied in the
next turn. All the tablets must be turned backwards (towards
the weaver) in row 7. In the rows 8, 9 and 10 the lines in the
squares tell us, that the tablets must be turned backwards; the
lines slant to the left. In row 11 we meet a curved line, which is
open to the right; so we must turn the tablets forwards (away
from the weaver).

In my pattern drafts the black lines under the squares tell us

the position of the tablets, and the coloured lines inside the
squares tell us how to turn the tablets. When I weave, I mainly
have the tablets positioned in the same way. It has the great
advantage that it is rather easy to weave back, when you find
an error.

Now let us see, what happens during the weaving.

TABLET WEAVING · My way of pattern drawing  17

 In the drawing to the left we turn the same way all the time. The threads
have their fixed places in the tablet, and they will come to the top in a
fixed order: blue and yellow, two yellow, yellow and blue, two blue and
so on, until the turning direction is changed. The red lines are drawn
round a thread as it is seen in the band, and the green lines show the
place of the weft.

If we want to change the turning direction with

the blue thread floating, there are two possibili-
ties, as you see in the next drawings. They will
look a little different from each other in the band.

Here is a part of a striped band with narrow stripes to

the left and a little broader stripes to the right.

On the last pattern drawings there

are shorter and longer floats, which
we find e.g. in the four coloured
Snartemo band found In Norway.
On the little photo you can see the
blue floats over two and four weft
threads.

TABLET WEAVING · My way of pattern drawing  18

Two dark two light – to and fro
Now we will thread eight tablets with two dark threads beside each other and
two light threads in the opposite holes and see, what a lot of patterns we can
do with this threading. But start with this little pattern by turning forwards and
backwards in the right order.
Arrange the tablets after the threading draft under the pattern draft. Perhaps it
is a little difficult to read it, so here it is.

The first three quarter turns go backwards, then follow four forwards and four
backwards, which is written 4F-4B. The figures look like each other; I have put
an arrow, where you must change the direction, and in some places you must
turn 3F-4B and then 4F-4B again. That gives pattern variations up through the
band. Follow the pattern or play with the possibilities. Do not forget to lock the
band both when you start a pattern and stop it, so you eventually can cut the
patterns from each other if you want.
If we leave the principle of turning all the tablets together and instead turn
them individually or in small groups, we will get a lot of possibilities for pat-
terns, as we will see in the next chapters.

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – to and fro  19

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – to and fro  20
Two dark two light
– double faced identically positioned
In this band the patterns are identical on both sides, but the colours have changed
places. The threading is very easy; the border tablets each have four threads of one col-
our, and they are positioned opposite to each other. The pattern tablets have two dark
and two light threads, and one of the colours must be the same as the border colour. All
the tablets are Z positioned with the same colour in the front holes. Start with turning
all the tablets in the same direction several times to get some cross stripes. If you want
to get a plain-coloured start, you turn 2F-2B, when you have two identically coloured
threads in vertical position. If you want to weave a pattern, you split up the tablets into
blocks which you turn different ways. But don’t forget that you must only change the
turning direction when the colours are in a vertical position. Be aware that the twists of
the two colours all the time are opposite to each other in the same row. Follow the pat-
tern and get a feeling of what happens, and also try to make your own small patterns.

Many tablet weavers prefer to split up the tablets and gather them into two blocks with
different turning direction and turn a whole block at a time.

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – double faced identically positioned 21
TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – double faced identically positioned 22
 Tablet woven band from Nepal
Here is a tablet woven band, which I bought on a trekking
tour in Nepal. It is 156 cm long and ca 4.5 cm wide. It was
made with 48 tablets: 10 tablets for each of the centre stripes
and 9 border tablets in each side. The border tablets are posi-
tioned so, that they all must be turned in the same direction,
until the twists are too tight. Then the tablets are turned in
the opposite direction, and the twist will loosen and at last
twist again.

The long band is a sort of belt, and the long cross striped
centre part has been hidden under other clothes. The easi-
est way to weave it is to revolve every other tablet about its
axis, so they all are opposite positioned and can be turned
together. If you study the photos, you will see that the border
tablets and the pattern tablets do not change turning direc-
tion at the same time.

Here is the threading draft; don’t forget, that there are 10

tablets in each of the center stripes.

10 tablets 10 tablets 10 tablets

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – double faced identically positioned 23
Two dark two light
– double faced with opposite positioned tablets
We still use the threading with two dark and two light threads, but in this pattern we will use
opposite positioned tablets and turn them all together: Two forwards – two backwards. I will
suggest that you position all the pattern tablets in the same way e.g. Z positioned; then you
can turn them individually, when you are weaving a pattern. That is the easiest way for me to
weave patterns. But there are other possibilities; you can revolve the tablets, so they change
their position. Try it, and find out, which method is best for you.

Remember: When Z positioned tablets are turned forwards, the threads will get Z twisted,
and when they are turned backwards, the threads will get S twisted. For S positioned tablets
it is vice versa. You can still use the patterns with the slanted lines, when you remember, that
the threads must get the same twist as the slant of the lines in the pattern.

By the way it is a technique, which gives the possibility to do a lot of exciting patterns – the
more tablets the more variation in the pattern. We know many very fine patterns made this
way from Persia but also from several European countries.

Here are two bookmarks, the patterns of which you can try, when you dare use some more
tablets. Here are 42 pattern tablets; for every ten tablets I draw a vertical line through the
pattern, and correspondingly the edge of the tenth tablet has a dotted colour. In this way it
is easier to keep order in the weaving. In this technique the slanted pattern lines go one to
the side and two up, so they are rather steep. I have made the pattern draft for one of the
bookmarks in a different way. Every little rectangle means one tablet and two wefts.

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – double faced with opposite positioned tablets 24
TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – double faced with opposite positioned tablets 25
 An easy way to draw patterns for this technique is shown here. Every rectangle
symbolizes one tablet and two turns with weft in between.

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – double faced with opposite positioned tablets 26
Two dark two light – diagonal weaving
This pattern is also called Egyptian diagonals; but I prefer simply to call it diagonal weaving,
as it is used in many other places around the world. The shown setting up of pattern will give
diagonal stripes, as long as you turn the tablets in the same direction, and the band will twist
like a spiral. When you change the turning direction regularly this will be no problem. The
three black and white bands in the picture have some shadows, which show that they are
not quite flat. The lowest one is a belt, which has been finished with a piece of skin, joined
with glue and dried under pressure.

You can continue with the sample band for diago-

nal weaving on the same warp with 8 pattern tab-
lets and 2 border tablets. The threading pattern is
a little different; so here it is.

Diagonal patterns can of course have another

combination of colours as for example three
threads of one colour and one of another colour.

Or you could thread the tablets light-dark-

light-dark as it has been done in the red band
here. It will give very fine and often different
patterns on the two sides

You can also use three different colours and

with four different colours for example yellow,
green, red, and blue you can make a copy of
a very fine band from the Viking Age like the
one, which was found in Snartemo in Norway.
The band to the left is made in the same tech-
nique as the Snartemo band.

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – diagonal weaving 27

The area between the two red lines shows the
pattern repeat in a band from Kaukola in Finland.

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – diagonal weaving 28

1-2-1-2-diagonal
If the threads with the same colour are threaded into diagonally opposite holes,
it is possible to make small very fine patterns. Sometime it is the same pattern
with reversed colours, and sometimes both sides have very fine but different
patterns. If you have warp left
in the tablets after the sample
bands, you can change two of
the threads and try these three
patterns, or perhaps make
your own patterns.

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – diagonal weaving 29

 Two dark two light – twill weawing
Twill or 3/1 Broken Twill is the last tablet weaving technique, we will try on this warp
with two light and two dark threads in the tablets, and I think it is the technique,
which has given most trouble to inexperienced tablet weavers. But at the same time
it is one of the techniques, which gives the possibili-
ties to make extra fine patterns. The slanted twill-line
appears, when you after every weft turn 2F-2B all the
way through the width of the band. After the next
weft you move the 2F-2B turn one tablet to the side;
that means that in row number two you turn 1B-2F-1B,
in row number three 2B-2F, and in row number four
1F-2B-1F. You go on in this way as long as you want
a ground weave in one colour. If you want the twill
line to slant into the opposite direction, you move the
2F-2B rhythm to the other side. If you want to change
the twill direction through one row, the threads from
every second tablet will get a little longer floats than
the others.

When the twill line changes direction about a vertical

axis, there are no longer floats, as you can see in the
drawing.

Here is a little pattern draft, which I hope can explain a bit more of the twill weaving’s
mystery. At the bottom in the start the twill lines in the left half slant to the left and in
the right half they slant to the right. After the pattern figure the twill direction in the
left half has changed about a horizontal axis, and all the twill lines slant to the same
side; the pattern uses 15 tablets. When you turn a tablet four quarter turns in the same
direction, the colour will change automatically. In the
same way the colour will change, when you turn 2F-1B-
1F (or 2B-1F-1B), as you can see inside the little pattern.

In the band shown here I have reproduced some of the

figures from the woollen Mammen band. The twill has
the same direction throughout the band.

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – twill weawing 30

Shown here is a pattern for the sample band in twill. If your 2 dark 2 light warp is
long enough, you can use it for this pattern too.

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – twill weawing 31

False spiral
Here is a pattern, in which I have
tried to keep one twill direction
all the way throughout the weav-
ing, but in some places I have been
obliged to give a tablet an extra
turn to get the changing of the
colour correct.

I have called it “a false spiral” as the

figure never twists like a spiral, but
two corners of a square have been
folded over the center line. In this
way I can show, how the tablets are
turned, when two pattern bands
cross each other.

In this pattern a vertical line is

drawn in the mid-column. Corre-
spondingly the mid-tablet has red
and black spotted edges

TABLET WEAVING · Two dark two light – twill weawing 32

Three threads in every tablet
– Missed-Hole = Vacant-Hole

In the first chapters we have worked with tablets, which were threaded through all four holes
in the corners; but of course you can use only three or two of the holes, and in that way get
other possibilities for patterns. The simplest way is to use a rather thick weft thread with a
colour, which differs from that of the warp. The weft-thread will be visible in every place,
where the warp-thread is missing and form the pattern, and that must have given the tech-
nique the name “Missed-Hole”. In the recent years many weavers use the name “Vacant-Hole”,
and it may be a little more correct. Here I will only talk about the bands, where the tablets
have two threads for the ground-weave in diagonally opposite holes, one in another colour
and perhaps a little thicker for the pattern, and the fourth hole is empty.

When a tablet is turned in the same direction, the pattern thread will be visible on the top
side at every fourth turn – with three turns in between. If you arrange the tablets in the right
way, you can get diagonal pattern lines in the band with the two ground threads in between,
and the weft thread can faintly be seen between them. If you want more than three turns
between the pattern lines, you must turn the tablets forwards and backwards one or more
times and in this way get a broader ground between the lines. When the tablets are turned to
and fro one or more times with the empty hole in the top, the ground threads will go up and
down in turn and make shifting sheds; over a bigger area it will look like a tabby ground, and
the pattern threads will be unbound on the back side of the band.

It is always a great help to have a pattern to weave after, and in this technique I prefer to use
grey squares for backwards turning and white squares for forward turns. You can draw the
pattern on ordinary squared paper. Horizontally the number of squares corresponds to the
number of pattern tablets, and vertically the number of squares corresponds to the num-
ber of wefts; usually the borders are not drawn in the pattern drafts. Start with the pattern
lines, and do not forget, that there must be an odd number of squares between them. Lines

TABLET WEAVING · Three threads in every tablet – Missed-Hole = Vacant-Hole 33

from the lower left corner up towards the upper right corner show a forwards turn, and the
lines from the lower right corner up towards the upper left corner show a backwards turn. All
squares with a backwards line must be coloured grey, and two squares over and two squares
under them must have a grey colour too. But be careful where the lines change direction.
Normally there must be two turns in the same direction; but when they change direction, the
grey and white squares meet horizontally or vertically along a line over two or three squares.
Look at the two small pattern drafts; it is the same draft, but in one of them the red spots
show, where the pattern thread is positioned after a turn.

Try to weave the band on the photo as a sample.There are 24 pattern tablets. You can make
your own decision concerning the border tablets; the threads in the outermost tablet must
have the same colour as the ground threads, but it may have a fine effect to put one or two
tablets with threads of the same colour as the pattern threads inside the first border tablet.
The border tablets have four threads and are turned in the same direction just like the former
sample bands.

Here is the threading draft for the band. The two yellow
dots are the ground threads positioned diagonally oppo-
site. The red dot is the pattern thread, and the empty hole
is a black circle. The four tablets must be repeated 5 times
to get a total of 24 pattern tablets.

TABLET WEAVING · Three threads in every tablet – Missed-Hole = Vacant-Hole 34

On this page you see some photos, which show some effects of the “Missed-Hole” technique.

The three yellow bands are woven on the same warp. The first to the left is a common diago-
nal band with three yellow and one black warp thread. If you remove the yellow thread di-
agonally opposite to the black thread, you will get a band woven in missed-hole technique.
If you put back the black thread and remove the yellow thread from the opposite hole and
use a weft with a third colour and perhaps a little thicker, the weft will show as the pattern in
the band as you see in the photo to the right.

Underneath here we have four photos, the front and the back side of two different patterns.
Notice that it is possible to weave two different ground weaves. The pattern to the left has
a fine ground made by weaving one row 1F1B alternating with one row 1B1F. As you see on
the next photo, the pattern thread floats on the back side. If you weave 2 rows with 2F2B
alternating with 2 rows with 2B2F, the ground will get a little more rough, and the warp will
be bound on the reverse side. You can also let the warp float on the upper side as a part of
the pattern, as you see on the first photo.

TABLET WEAVING · Three threads in every tablet – Missed-Hole = Vacant-Hole 35

Two threads in diagonally opposite corners
– Latvian patterns
In Latvia tablet woven bands with only two threads per tablet have been found, and the
technique dates back to the Bronze Ages. The Latvian bands are mostly woollen and have
very beautiful colours, and to get more colours in a band many of them are brocaded.

The tablets are threaded with two differently coloured threads into diagonally opposite
holes. They are turned as usual with a quarter turn between the wefts, and because there
only are two threads in the tablets, they are very lively and will stand on the corner, so it may
be very difficult to keep their order. I put a long knitting needle through one of the lower
holes after every turn, and that works.

I will propose that you weave a

sample band with 8 tablets, which
may give a lot of small patterns.
The black band on the photo is
woven after the pattern on the
next page. The border tablets get
four threads as usual. It may be an
advantage to turn them only eve-
ry second time; then you turn the
tablet in the side from where you
enter the weft thread.

Every two squares in the pattern

belong together and are turned in
the same way two times with a weft after every turn. I will try to explain the pattern draft
with this little “mini draft”:

The threading draft consists of 4 tablets which are

repeated a number of times. Look at the left column.
Number two tablet is threaded with a red thread in the
upper back hole; when it is turned a quarter turn back-
wards, the thread is visible on the top of the band, but
only to the middle of the column. Number one tablet
in the same column has the red thread in the lower
back hole, and at the first turn the thread will go to
the upper back hole. At the next turn the thread will
show on the top of the band as a continuation of the
thread from tablet number one. The pattern consists
of slanted lines and diamonds with a dot inside. Try to
weave after the pattern draft on the next page, and try
to draw your own patterns.

TABLET WEAVING · Two threads in diagonally opposite corners – Latvian patterns 36

TABLET WEAVING · Two threads in diagonally opposite corners – Latvian patterns 37
Here are two patterns which are fine for belts. In the photo you see a gleam of red which is
an effect from the red weft thread. I think it is fine. The other pattern has a red border thread
and some brocading with a red thread in the pattern. In a brocaded band an extra thread is
drawn from side to side on the top of the band to build a pattern. It has been used in many
Latvian bands.

     

TABLET WEAVING · Two threads in diagonally opposite corners – Latvian patterns 38

Two threads in holes in two neighbour edges
– Pebble-weave
The technique of pebble weaving is rather new, and it differs somewhat from common tab-
let weaving. It is the Dutch weaver Marijke van Epen, who has evolved the technique after
having visited South America and seen the many beautiful textiles, which the people there
had made on their backstrap looms. It is a ribbed weaving, and changing the two colours
makes the pattern; that means that the bands are double faced with reversed patterns on
the two sides. There are only two threads per tablet, and they are threaded through holes in
the middle of two neighbour edges. The tablets get a quarter turn forwards or backwards,
and sometimes they idle. Here is a little pattern for explanation.

We read the pattern from bot-

tom to top. Every square cor-
responds to a tablet. In the
bottom row all the squares are
white; that means that the light
threads are in the top. In row
number two the first square is
dark, then follow two lights, two
dark all the way to the other
side. The dark squares mean
that the dark threads must be turned upwards and the light threads are tied. The third
row is white, and the light threads all turn up. In the fourth the light and dark squares have
changed places compared with row number two, and the other group of light threads are
tied. The ground of the band looks like a net of light threads with small dark dots. When you
want to do a pattern, you connect the dark squares by drawing dark squares in the white
rows. The pattern will mostly consist of slanted lines, but it is possible to make patterns with
horizontal lines, as you see in the pattern draft to the right. In two white rows a number of
dark squares form a line, and in the dark row between them three dark squares are omitted
to form a white row.

Here is a photo, which tells you, why this technique is

called pebble weave; the threads are turned as pairs and
form a net in which you see the other colour as small
spots. The reverse side has the same pattern, but the
colours are opposite. In the Latvian technique you can
weave the same patterns, but the reverse side looks dif-
ferent. Look at the photo in the chapter about Latvian
patterns.

TABLET WEAVING · Two threads in holes in two neighbour edges – Pebble-weave 39

  Try to weave a band with 16 pattern tablets after the following pattern draft. The tablet must
have holes in the middle of two edges beside each other. The shed is not so big; so perhaps
it is an advantage to use tablets which are 8 cm. and it may be a good idea to give the two
edges respectively a dark and a light colour. Do not forget that it is important to give the
band the correct width at the start. It may be difficult to correct it later on. The border tablets
have two threads and are turned in the same way as the pattern tablets. There may be two
or four border tablets; but you can also have more so you can weave a little pattern in the
border, as I have done in the green band, you see on the photo.

The 16 tablets must be threaded in the same way, and they must be positioned in the same
direction all the way throughout the weaving. If the tablets are coloured on the two edges
with the threads it is very easy to follow the pattern. If you do a wrong turn the tablet will
spring upwards, and you will see the mistake at once. Start the weaving with some stripes
and try to get the correct width immediately.

TABLET WEAVING · Two threads in holes in two neighbour edges – Pebble-weave 40

    

The circles correspond to the pattern row in the top of the previous coloumn.

TABLET WEAVING · Pebble weave 41

How can we use the tablet weaving?

The horse pattern is designed

by Lise Ræder Knudsen

There are many possibilities for the use of tablet woven bands. Perhaps we first of all think of belts
and small bags; braids on sewn or knitted clothes may look very exciting. I have seen a table cloth
with tablet woven bands interwoven into it. I find jewellery attractive, but I am just at the beginning
of that project. Small bags, big bags made of several pieces sewn together. The possibilities are
boundless, when the imagination works within you.

TABLET WEAVING · How can we use the tablet weaving? 42

Books about tablet weaving, websides
Andersen, Paulli: Brikvævning (danish)

Collingwood, Peter: The techniques of Tablet Weaving: The tablet weaver’s bible.

Crockett Candace: Card Weaving.

Van Epen, Marijke: First steps in Tablet Weaving.

Marjke van Epen has made many books about tablet weaving; look at her website!

Hansen, Egon: Brikvævning, historie, teknik, farver, mønster. (Danish and English)

Hendrickson, Linda: Tubular Cardwoven Neckpieces.

Joliet-van den Berg, Marga und Heribert: Brettchenweben: (German).

Joliet-van den Berg, Marga und Heribert: Mit Brettchen gewebt, Bänder, Gürtel, Borten.
(German).

Lehmann-Filhés, Margarethe: Om Brickvävning: (A Swedish translation from German).

Malan, Linda og Kris Leet: The Willful Pursuit of Complexity. (About Missed-Hole)

Michelsen, Lise: Brikvævning, sådan laver du bånd: (Danish).

Spies, Nancy: Ecclesiastical Pomp & Aristocratic Circumstance. (About brocaded bands)

Staudigel, Otfried: Der Zauber des Brettchenwebens: (German and English).

There exist many books about tablet weaving; These are from my own book shelves.

There are also many websites, so many so I will only mention two, which have been very
interesting for me to study. They are German: www.flinkhand.de and www.b-oberholz.de.

www.weavershand.com : Here are lots of links to websites with content of interest to tablet
weavers and other persons who work with bands and similar things.

“TWIST” means ”Tablet Weavers’ International Studies & Techniques” , publishes a newspaper
about tablet weaving three times a year.

TABLET WEAVING · Books about tablet weaving 43

Postscript
The photos on page 14 and on the back of the book show my band loom, which I have
constructed and built together with my husband. I can take it apart and assemble it again,
so I can use it for both inkle bands and tablet bands. The distance between the two posts
is about 70 cm. The start end of the band is fastened to the little beam in the middle of the
loom. The threads from every single tablet are passing the edge of the table and given a
weight of about 60 g. When the threads get too short, I extend them with another thread,
so the weights still hang under the top of the table. We made the box underneath the tab-
lets to give them some support during the weaving. In addition the box gives room to all
the things a tablet weaver needs to use.

I hope this book will be useful for many

tablet weavers; it is short, if you wish to
go into more details you can get much
more information about the single
techniques as well as the history about
tablet weaving on other tablet weavers’
homepages. Visit www.weavers­hand.
com and find them.

I will recommend one more home-

page; If you understand German then
visit www.gewebte-baender.de, which
belongs to Anneliese Bläse. Anneliese
Bläse began to tablet weave many years
ago and later on, she got so interested
in inkle weaving that she has worked
with it all her long life. Go to her home-
page and read her articles and look at
her great gallery.

Wherever I go I bring my
tablet weaving with me as
on this picture where I am
enjoying a nice summer’s
afternoon on the terrace.

n If you find errors, or if you have any problems,

please send an e-mail to me: evase@post.tele.dk

TABLET WEAVING · Postscript 44

TABLET WEAVING
EVA SANDERMANN OLSEN

NOVEMBER 2013