Comments

Tue, 03/06/2012 - 01:43

ReedGuy

Never knew that old codger wore a girdle. He lived to be old, at least Ramses II. Most of those people lived into their 30's or 40's.

Nice work by the way. :)
Tue, 03/06/2012 - 04:35

Susan Styrchak (not verified)

the original is so long they think it was a belt for a camel, or so i read somewhere.

Tue, 03/06/2012 - 08:36

aubeweave (not verified)

I'll have to gather up my cards to weave again. Happy you shared this weaving with us. The waves, the enlarged "eyes" and the lines. Beautiful composition and colours. Greate some of us try out older patterns.

Tue, 03/06/2012 - 15:14

sally orgren

...of using the dowel to make sure all the cards got turned.

And I too, use a post-it or some other device to remind me of my turns. Sometimes if a scissors is handy, I just point the scissor in the direction I am turning, then rotate it when I reverse the cards. (if course, that doesn't help track the number of turns, however!)

I also follow Candace Crockett's method of color-coding the deck. I align all the holes, then color side A-D blue, D-C pink, etc. That way, for a 4- turn pattern, I know when a certain color comes up, it is time to reverse direction. 

Happy weaving, and thank you so much for posting some tablet weaving!

Wed, 03/07/2012 - 04:48

sarahnopp (not verified)

I am not sure where I read it, but I believe there was one analysis of the girdle that indicates some of the tablets used to make it were five holed. It was either in Techniques of Tablet Weaving by Peter Collingswood or Prehistoric Textiles by Elizabeth Wayland Barber. I think it was the Collingswood book. If you want me to dig out the reference let, me know.

Fri, 03/30/2012 - 23:51

rosearbor (not verified)

Wonderful - gorgeous colors.  

Tue, 05/01/2012 - 03:20

Susan Styrchak (not verified)

I tracked down a copy of Collingwood's book! Too bad it's out of print but fortunately a friend had one. He did a good analysis and although it can be replicated with cards, it was not originally done with cards. Apparently, even if you are only turning two times, there is still some  twist in the warp threads and there was none in the original, I gather.

Fri, 05/18/2012 - 15:42

cayswann (not verified)

Now I want to weave the belt of Ramses! :)

Mon, 02/24/2014 - 09:06

EvaLilly

This technique is very much alive in Norway, where it seems to have been introduced to Norwegians in ancient times, through tradesmen. T

his information has been passed on via oral traddition - I don`t yet know if there`s anything written about it.

If you google "Beltestakk" you`ll se how its used to this day :)

http://www.bunad-magasinet.no/index.php?id=189140

 

Finished Length Unit
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Finished Width Unit
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Length Off Loom Unit
yards
Length on Loom Unit
yards
Notes

The local crafts museum didn't have any examples of card weaving for an exhibit, so I thought I would do this because it has "historical" connections. According to the book, Step by Step Tablet Weaving, the original belt wasn't card woven, but some people thought it was, so they worked out the pattern.  I always assumed the pattern in the book was correct, but now I can see it needs a bit of tweeking. I found a photo of the original artifact in a copy of a magazine called Ancient Egypt, so I have a better idea of what needs to change. But even as given, it was 47 cards, more than I've ever used. I found putting a dowel through one set of holes and then turning meant I was sure all the cards got turned. The post-it note with the arrow helped me remember which way I was turning- you'd think four turns would be easy to remember, but no! 

Number of Shafts
4
Project Status
Finished
Sett Unit
epi
Width off Loom Unit
inches
Width on Loom Unit
inches