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Dublin Dragons/Dragons Heads tablet weaving
This entry is mainly so that anyone else attempting this pattern will have a chance of finding all the information about it. It's a lovely pattern, but a absolute pig to weave!
The reason it is so difficult is because it's a pattern with deliberate missing threads in the warp. Most tablet weaving uses four threads, one in each corner of the card, but this is a pattern that only uses two of the four holes. It gives a slightly three dimensional look to the weave as there are small pits as part of the pattern. It's a style known as Hochdorf weaving after an archaeological find in Germany. (some people call it pebble weaving, because it looks a little as though pebbles of a different colour are showing through the weave, but this tem
I fell in love with the pattern when I saw a photo of it, but would never have managed to weave it without this page . Not only does it have a diagram on how to turn the cards, it has a trouble-shooting guide to help you recover when you go wrong! And boy, did I need that guide! I only wish I could thank the author, but sadly, comments are disabled.
Why is it so difficult to weave?
The short answer is tension. When you have a warp thread in all four holes, the cards stay where you put them. If you have warp threads through two diagonally opposite corners, the cards want to be diagonal too. This is not too bad if you're working on a warping board where the cards tend to rest level on the board, but I was working on an inkle loom, where the cards are suspended in the air. Every time you let go of a card, it flips to the diagonal and you lose your place in the pattern.
After much swearing, I eventually resorted to using stitch holder pins to pin the cards together through the corner holes. This stopped them flipping and also made it easier to turn the card bock. After that, I still made occasional mistakes, but far, far fewer than before.
If you look at the photo of the cards on the loom below, you'll see that each pack (there are three at this particular point in the pattern) has it's own pin.
If anyone is insane enough to weave it, and knows how to do tablet weaving, the pattern chart is below. The letters on the RH edge of the lower diagram indicate which hole is at the top back at the end of each pair of turns. It's the same hole right across the pack - this simple fact will be a lifesaver if you go for it, as it allows you to check your position regularly.
The reason it is so difficult is because it's a pattern with deliberate missing threads in the warp. Most tablet weaving uses four threads, one in each corner of the card, but this is a pattern that only uses two of the four holes. It gives a slightly three dimensional look to the weave as there are small pits as part of the pattern. It's a style known as Hochdorf weaving after an archaeological find in Germany. (some people call it pebble weaving, because it looks a little as though pebbles of a different colour are showing through the weave, but this tem
I fell in love with the pattern when I saw a photo of it, but would never have managed to weave it without this page . Not only does it have a diagram on how to turn the cards, it has a trouble-shooting guide to help you recover when you go wrong! And boy, did I need that guide! I only wish I could thank the author, but sadly, comments are disabled.
Why is it so difficult to weave?
The short answer is tension. When you have a warp thread in all four holes, the cards stay where you put them. If you have warp threads through two diagonally opposite corners, the cards want to be diagonal too. This is not too bad if you're working on a warping board where the cards tend to rest level on the board, but I was working on an inkle loom, where the cards are suspended in the air. Every time you let go of a card, it flips to the diagonal and you lose your place in the pattern.
After much swearing, I eventually resorted to using stitch holder pins to pin the cards together through the corner holes. This stopped them flipping and also made it easier to turn the card bock. After that, I still made occasional mistakes, but far, far fewer than before.
If you look at the photo of the cards on the loom below, you'll see that each pack (there are three at this particular point in the pattern) has it's own pin.
If anyone is insane enough to weave it, and knows how to do tablet weaving, the pattern chart is below. The letters on the RH edge of the lower diagram indicate which hole is at the top back at the end of each pair of turns. It's the same hole right across the pack - this simple fact will be a lifesaver if you go for it, as it allows you to check your position regularly.
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Tablet weaving is a wonderful technique. It's a kind of ancestor of the Jacquard loom.
Some quite complex patterns are surprisingly easy. Zig zag stripes for example, are a doddle. But not the dragon's heads....
If you look at other posts I've tagged 'tablet weaving', you'll get an idea of the scope.
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I've only recently started using a loom. All my earlier bands were done with little more than string, yarn, a ruler, a pack of playing cards and a wide belt.
I did a series of posts a while back on DW and got several people to weave small bands as a challenge. They're all tagged 'tablet weaving'.
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However, there are easier tablet weaving patterns which might surprise you.
There are some where you set up the loom (which does take ages), but the actual weaving is a doddle.
I may do one of those next - I could use a new belt...