So probably one or two years ago now I bought some lovely wet spun linen and decided okay I am going to weave an apprentice belt so that I have a leather belt and also fabric belt for all the different kinds of clothes that I love to wear.... Recently my family took a trip to Washington DC which for us is about a 10-hour drive including stops. Instead of working on my St Bridget's cap, which in hindsight I probably could have finished on the trip,... I decided now is the time to work on this belt. In a vehicle, on a trip. In many Finnish Iron Age finds twill woven (over two, under two) braided bands have been found. These are always woven in odd numbers of strands; for example the Perniö and Ravattula Ristimaki finds for the headpieces with Temple decorations are 17 strand and 13 strand braids, respectively. These braids are used for head bands/temple ornaments, belts, etc. This technique is not new to me at this point in my journey, I've done multiple projects now with it but for some reason in both the trip up there and the trip back, so we're talking 20 hours-ish, this project just would not start. It was either the three colors together looked muddy in the braid with not enough contrast, or one of the three colors was... wrong. The lightest color was also a smaller size so that may have contributed to the off-ness. Now three colors are typical for the belts using this braid especially the ever popular Finnish use of red white and blue in motifs. I finally started the braid with the thinnest one and got about 2 in and it just does not want to be this braid... I don't like the look of it, it is too skinny (because at this point it was down to 11 strands), and my frustration factor is up to I give no more spoons. I did not want to measure and cut more strands. I was done. So, after 20 hours of work- a lot of which was measuring 33 lengths of string, and getting them organized and paired up and then going back because the one color muddied the mix and blah blah blah on and on ... this poor project is just a non-start. 20 hours of work I shoulda coulda been finishing a Birgitta's cap and all I would have had to do was remind myself where I was in the project ... because it's been probably 3 years since I started that one lol So what did I learn from this... Hand sewing projects are best for the car number one. If this had been a single color braid like white or red for the headpieces it would have been done. Also for this project and the way that this braid twill is woven I don't think the linen is the right material ... Which funny enough would not have been the material that they were braided with in the iron age either lol All of the analysis I am aware of fiber finds with this braid style show the yarns are woolen. In the finds, if there is plant matter it is in the weft of the weaving, typically of tablet woven bands. Moving on from here I will take these linen strands and try to tablet weave a pattern with them and if they are still muddy well then maybe I'll weave them into a hand towel. It is okay for projects to fail. It is okay for projects to be a non-start. It is okay to create something else.
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September 2023
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