Innovative Tablet Weaving Abstract Tablet weaving is believed to date back at least to 8th century B.C.E. in early Iron Age, and it has a very wide distribu on from Far East to Scandinavia. It has been defined and prac ced as a technique for weaving strong, narrow, decora ve bands with a wide range of possible pa erns. But, the hidden and undiscovered poten als of tablet weaving could dras cally change the descrip on and applica on of this technique not only as a method
Introduc on
Tablet weaving is not the most familiar word for cra -enthusiast people and it has been classified as a basic weaving technique in comparison to sha looms. Although the rediscovery of card weaving happened in the beginning of 20th century, it has not completely paved its way to art and cra world yet. A part of this unsuccessfulness is due to limited applica on of this technique to weave narrow bands. This property of card weaving has stopped it from finding a fi ng place in current cra 's flow. The very few amounts of published books and ar cles about this technique in past decades state the low level of interest and s ll being unknown, while many books have been compiled about other types of hand weaving. A main factor to prevent or slow down the downward direc on of card weaving is to find its possibili es and discover the poten als of this technique to make stylish, fresh looking and a rac ve textures and tex les for different applica ons. By considering in mind that many different handcra s have already found a worthy posi on in high end tex le and fashion industries, we could be hopeful about card weaving to play a main role in some crea ve art and design shows. There have been some contemporary fiber ar sts that have challenged the tradi onal applica on of card weaving and have tried to use the technique in crea ng different art pieces, from Lillian Ellio 's tablet woven curtain, to Candace Crocke 's neck garment (Crocke , 1973: 67 & 72). These efforts are for sure efficient moves to keep card weaving going, but such crea vi es in weaving with cards could be way more prevalent in the design context. The simplicity of learning the technique, accessible equipments and materials, and flexibility of the technique, would make card weaving a very prac cal form of cra for professional ar sts willing to benefit from a unique weaving technique, as well as a good DIY for individuals who like to create and make. This ar cle will try to portray some innova ve solu ons to make card weaving a more prac cal an enchan ng form of cra as well as presen ng a brief history line about the technique and its methodology. The aim is to provoke the reader's sense of enthusiasm and providing them with few ideas that might help them to get inspired and mo vated for weaving with cards.
Methodology
I In tablet weaving, tablets or cards are used to create the shed (or 'space' between longitudinal threads or warps) through which the we is passed, while in loom weaving the warp threads, pass through harnesses that allow the weaver to form the shed. Although it requires li le equipment and is easy to learn, card weaving is a sophis cated cra capable of producing a weave unavailable with any other technique. What makes card weaving different from other weaving techniques is that, the nature of woven piece is based on con nues twis ng of warp threads together. The fundamental principle is to turn the tablets to li selected sets of threads in the warp. The tablets may be turned in one direc on con nually as a pack, turned individually to create pa erns, or turned some number of mes "forward" and the same number "back". These turning sequences are based on desired pa ern and texture on the woven bands. The materials for tablet weaving are simply cards and yarns. Tablets which are used in weaving are typically shaped as squares, but also other regular polygons like triangle cards that might be used for especial needs. The cards have holes near each vertex and possibly at the center as well. Usually yarns are chosen from fine thin threads made of co on, wool or silk based on region, but today a very wide range of yarns with different textures and material combina on are used by individual enthusiasts. Picture 1 is a sketch, showing a Caucasian tablet weaver from late 19th century. By threading all the cards and ghtening the two ends of warp threads to two holding points, the weaver can start to weave by turning the cards forward or backward, passing the we through shed each me he turns the set of cards. Tradi onally, one end of the warp was tucked into, or wrapped around the weaver's belt, and the other is looped over a toe, or ed to a pole or furniture. Pa erns are made by placing different-colored yarns in different holes, then turning individual cards un l the desired colors of the warps are on top. A er that, a simple pa ern, like a stripe, small diamond or check, can be repeated just by turning the deck of tablets. Tablet weaving is especially freeing about making pa erns, because any pa ern can be created by turning individual tablets. This is in contrast to normal looms, in which the complexity of the pa ern is limited by the number of sha s available to li threads, and the threading of the heddles.
Picture 1. A Caucasian tablet weaver, ( Crocke , 1973 )
Tablet weaving, a brief history
Despite the fact that tablet weaving has been prac ced in many cultures and some archeological evidences have been found, s ll it is not possible to say if there is a specific origin for the technique or is it the result of local developments in the different places. Many anthropologists have explored and researched tablet weaving technique and its geographical distribu on from northern Europe, to Middle East and China. Many theories have been advanced about the beginning of tablet weaving like: it was invented in china and transported by Sassanid monks to Persia and from there to Europe, it was first invented in Mesopotamia, and so on, but, it is o en erroneously believed to date back to pharaonic Egypt. Although this ques on much debated around the 1900's, there were no conclusive results (Cordwell & Schwarz, 1973: 425& 426). But, one thing is for sure, that card weaving is spread widely from china to Western Europe and Scandinavia. It had been a popular weaving technique for producing wide fabrics, but in thirteenth century by the revolu on in tex le technology that swept Europe, it never again prac ced in the produc on of larger tex les(Priest-Dorman,1998: 56). Tablet weaving declined in structural complexity and popularity in late medieval centuries, but it stayed as a home cra between upper class people of society and there has been le many manuscripts depic ng women of high ranked families, or in many cases Mary, weaving with cards (p. 2). In Iran and during the flourishing era of Safavid Dynasty, tablet weaving had paved its way to cour er art as a very fine form of weaving decora ve gi bands with highly fine materials (Amini, 2004: 110 ). These bands were mainly woven with words of happiness and good luck on them to be granted to beloved friends and family members (Pope & Ackerman, 1964: 620)(p. 3). There are many evidences of card woven pieces found on the basis of producing for upper class of society, for example, gli ery Yemeni's bands for their na onal dagger,Jambiya, which is made of silver and silk yarns ( Camman, 1977: 30), or big sized tablet woven wall hangings made for Ethiopian royal family church's sanctuary(Gervers, 2004: 588) (p. 4). A er late medieval centuries, there is almost no evidence of fine bands woven to meet the needs of high ranked parts of society. However it remained almost untouched as a pure cra between many tribal and rural people in different places from northern Scandinavia to Middle East. Studying different mo fs and pa erns on these bands among these people has revealed a lot about their beliefs and culture on an anthropological level, due to the fact that these bands had stayed unno ced by dealers of tribal and nomadic arts to recent years, so the weavers have had the opportunity to stay untouched by the mainstream bazaar of nomadic woven arts that destroyed the values of their originality up to many levels. Picture 2. Medieval Manuscript Images, Pierpont Morgan Library, Book of hours
Tablet weaving was discovered again at the turn of 20th century due to rising interest in anthropological studies and also some archeological evidences that were found from different parts of the world sta ng historical the existence of card weaving, for example a card made out of bone was found from Birka, Sweden in 1873 and mo vated some scholars like Margarethe Lehmann-Filhes, to inves gate and study about this technique, which later led to publish a book about card weaving's history and methodology in 1901, named Uber Bre chenweberei (About Tablet Weaving).
Picture 3. Persian Card Woven Bands, 17th or 18th century
Picture 4. Tablet Woven silk hanging from monastery of Abba
Innova ve tablet weaving
To start with innova ve tablet weaving, you have to be ready to adopt yourself to trial and error manner, because once you get to execute an idea, it usually takes some efforts to get the best results out of it. You might mess everything up, but luckily it is not a big deal since star ng everything over is easy and won't take much me of yours, the key point is just to free your imagina on, being brave and pa ent. A good way to start the way of being crea ve about tablet weaving is to use thick yarns rather than usual thin yarns that have been the very main characteris c of card weaving through me. It is possible to use yarns with any thickness easily in this technique, so why not make everything easier and weave with thickest yarn that you can find?! It just requires bigger cards with bigger holes on them. Cards are very easy to make at home out of cardboards or ply woods, so based on thickness of yarns you need to make a new set of weaving cards with different sizes. When weaver has given the possibility to use very thick yarns, he can weave much wider bands with less number of cards, which makes the whole process of weaving faster, easier and more interes ng. Now, it is possible to weave a winter neck scarf easily without spending too much me on kni ng one!
Another advantage of using thicker yarns is that the woven’s texture would turn into an important visual feature, while it is not a no ciable element when the weaver uses usual thin yarns. The structural texture that ck yarns would bring to tablet weaving is an appealing outcome of twis ng warp threads together. The weaver would be able to make different texture effects by changing turning sequences (Forward and backward turns) of the tablets, and with different threading posi ons(S-threading and Z- threading) of cards. Picture 5 shows a piece made by a very common turning sequences of ff bbbffff... , along with card threading posi on of ZZ, SS, ZZ, SS,… . As a result, a very interes ng texture with uneven surface is emerged on the woven. Normally in tablet weaving, we is completely hidden between warp threads, although by u lizing thicker yarns, the we finds an opportunity to show itself off, but s ll, there is a capability to maneuver more with we as a visual element. This capability can be achieved by pu ng blank spaces between the warp threads; in another word by spacing between each set of cards, the we gets the opportunity to expose itself as a floa ng we in the spaces between the ver cal rows of warp threads, which we can name them pedestal rows. However, this is a bit tricky since the spaces between the pedestals might make the whole piece flimsy, the key to prevent an unstable flabby tex le is to make sure that the spaces are not too wide. Picture 6 shows how this func on works.
Picture 5. A woolen neck scarf, made by eight cards and con nues turns of four forward and four backward.
These floa ng we s would make a mesh-like effect on the woven piece and they can be handled in interes ng methods, for instance picture 7 presents a woven piece made by a floa ng zigzag we . To achieve this kind of we , weaver should try to weave each even pedestal row for few cen meters with a separate we at first, and then use a joint we for all the rows. As a result the we stays on a bit upper in even rows rather than odd ones to make a zigzag floa ng we . Having the pedestal rows, would also award Picture 7. A zigzag floa ng we the weaver with other weaving possibili es. The weaver could change the posi on of the pedestal rows simultaneously as he weaves; he would be able to add or reduce spaces between the rows by simply moving the ends of warp threads close, or far from each other, even making intersec ng rows is possible. Tablet weaving does not have to be limited to weaving narrow bands; it can simply be transformed to a simple loom to make wide tex les. By sewing together different pieces, weaver would be able to make a remarkable decora ve or prac cal art work, like a wall hanging or a garment. Picture 8 shows a high neck garment with short crocheted sleeves, which is made by benefi ng from intersec ng pedestal rows. The pieces of this woolen top have been woven separately and then sewed together to form a complete piece.
Picture6. Pedestal rows that make a floa ng we Picture 8. A woolen top made by crossing pedestal rows
Before star ng to think of weaving a whole tablet- woven garment, it is be er to sketch down your idea and draw your weaving plan first. This would give you a concrete perspec ve on how to con nue and execute your idea more efficiently to reduce the risk of mistakes in the weaving process. For instance, picture 9 presents a primary sketch and a weaving plan that determines an idea for a vest with zigzag floa ng we s and an over-sized high collar. In this example front side, back side and collar are woven separately, and then s tched together to make the whole piece complete. Pictures 6 and 7 already showing the back and front side of the top, and picture shows the completed woolen vest. The possibili es that are described here are meant to hint weavers with few ideas on how to break an old cra ’s shell in order to make something exquisite and fresh. Apart from the examples that are shown in this ar cle, tablet weaving has a special feature of producing unending different pa erns that can be added to the beauty of woven pieces. Weaver would be able to merge this technique easily with other weaving techniques such as crochet, macrame, kni ng, and even sha loom weaving to make the final outcome flawless. The poten als of tablet weaving for crea vity and innova ve products are s ll needed to be discovered by curious individuals who love making with their hands and who love to u lize tradi onal cra techniques to design solu ons for improving already exis ng products or crea ng something completely new.
References: - Crocke , Candace. Card Weaving (1973). Watson-Gup ll Publica ons: New York - Priest-Dorman, Carolyn. Scutulis Dividere Gallia: Weaving on Tablets in Western Europe (1998). Tex le Society of America Symposium Proceedings. Paper 200. - Cammann,S. The Cult Of Jumbiya:Dagger Wearing In Yemen (Winter 1977).Expedi on Magazine.No 43. - Gervers,M. The Tablet Woven Hangings Of Tigre, Ethiopia: From History To Symmetry (2004,september).The Burlington Magazine. Vol 46 - Cordwell,M. & Schwarz,R.The fabrics of culture: the anthropology of clothing and adornment (1973).Chicago: Mouton de Gruyter Publishers. - Pope, Arthur & Ackerman, Phyllis. A Survey of Persian Art (Vol. 5)(1964). London and New York: Oxford University Press. - Amini, Shahla. Persian Bands (Fall and Winter, 2004). Golestan’e Honar Magazine. No 2. - Book of Hours, (MS M.453). MS M.453 fol. 24r. Pierpont Morgan Online Library , www.them organ.org Picture 9. Guiding sketches help weaver to follow his idea be er during weaving process