Hexagonal tablets weaving

My first meeting with weaving was tablet weaving. I like making trims. Although in the beginning I didn't understand how it works at all. I couldn't understand the way patterns appear. Now I know much more, but I'm pretty sure it can surprise me.

Just before going to Czersk Rosamar asked me to do two trims: one for her and one for her husband. The trim for Blondi wasn’t very complicated but Rosamar chose the pattern which has to be done with hexagonal tablets.

How to prepare hexagonal tablets

First problem: I don't have hexagonal tablets. I thought about it almost whole night and just before falling asleep I realized I had my niece's old books made of hard lacquered cardboard as children books are usually made of.

So I cut one book into hexagonal pieces.

One of tablets

The most difficult thing is the warp. I hate doing it. The trim was made with twenty four tablets, each six holes it means 576 threads. Horror.

Ready to weave

 But the weaving was a pleasure. As Rosamar says: this is the cherry on the top of a cake. 

Weaving in progress

Here it is my work.
 

The whole trim

Details of the trim

  I think this hexagonal trim isn't my last one, but I have to prepare better tablets. Definitely.

The Amber Tablecloth

Several years ago I got a beautiful gift: a little coffee table made especially for me from pine. I decided that as wonderful table deserves as charming tablecloth. So I started to create it.

I decided to use not white linen but ecru to harmonize with warm colour of the table. The design of embroidery was inspirited by some pattern from a magazine.

May I introduce one of my favourite tablecloth which I have made. Here there is The Amber Tablecloth. The name comes from real amber stones I used to make a lace around it.

 

The Amber Tablecloth

The middle of this work is some piece of embroidery: a sprig of wild roses with mayweed.

 

The central sprig

Around the sprig there are five posies of small roses. All embroidered with écru silk. And it was the easy part of may work. It takes may be two or three hours. Then I started tatting…

 

One of posies

The trim is a tatting lace made of ecru cotton and sixty little amber stones. It took me so much time to finish it that I can hardly say how much. 

The lace with amber

Many times I was close to give up. I was tired, bored and full of doubts. But fortunately I made it and saying immodestly: I am very proud of myself.

The Medieval Merchants

So, the new season is opened! The long May weekend we spent with our friends in an educational farm in Osice near Pruszcz Gdański. Nights were cold but fortunately we had enough wool blankets to be warm. There were quite many guests visiting the farm and press, TV, radio...

Our stall (photo made by Klaryssa)

 Of course we took all our stuff to show. My laces, yarns and naalbinding goods, Klaryssa's beautiful pincushions, weaved textiles by Rosamar...

 On Saturday Rosamar presented old techniques of spinning and weaving with short introduction about historical sheep, wool and preparing fleece.

 

The presentation of wool and spinning (photo made by Klaryssa)

Weaving (photo made by Klaryssa)

 We also showed our medieval clothes from the end of 14 and the beginning of 15 century. I could appear myself in my new apron.

 In the evening we treated our guests to some medieval dishes.

 

Medieval dishes (photo made by Klaryssa)

The most funny incident were when some lady was absolutely surprised that we are educated. She expected simply peasants taken off from a plough. 

The beginning of the tournament (photo made by Klaryssa)

 Next weekend we went to the court of Konrad Mazowiecki where a tournament were given in the castle of Czersk near Warsaw. This time we were members of some nomadic tribe called Kipchak, Kuman or Połowcy. 

Our castle stall (photo made by Rosamar)

Klaryssa could wear her beautiful caftan first time. We had also our stall with woolen stuff.

 

Wool, wool and once again wool (photo made by Klaryssa)

 And I were asked to give a short interview for television aobut our reenactment.

 

Me and TV camera (photo made by Klaryssa)

 All in all the event were very nice although there could be more customers in our stall.

The smocked apron for a medieval innkeeper

I wanted to begin new medieval season by a quiet and nice picnic. May be two days picnic. So I persuaded my friend Klaryssa to call our friendly farm if it was possible to pick up our tents there. The landlady was so excited that instead of calm picnic it will be a real fest with invited very important persons, press and gods know who else. I want to serve some medieval dishes and that means spending some time in the kitchen. As an innkeeper I need some apron.
Watching The Luttrell Psalter (an English illuminated psalter written and illustrated c. 1320–1340 by anonymous scribes and artists) I found several smocked aprons I liked.

A poor woman cultivating her field

Some peasant working with sheeps

A woman feeding chickens

A spinner

Harvesting women

I used white linen to create my apron. Firstly I drew lines for chosen pattern, then I made so called honey comb.

The begining of a honey comb

When the honey comb was ready I hemmed it by pale pink Egyptian cotton.

The honey comb is ready

The second line of my pattern it is made of trellis stitch which let me achieve half diamond shape.

A half of diamond shape under the honey comb

Under this part I made a chain using the same pink cotton.

In the end of the pattern I made a honey comb once again.

The whole pattern

Then I added a belt, hemmed the whole apron and there it is, my apron for medieval innkeeper.

My apron in its magnificence

The aprons in The Lutterell Psalter are more decorative. It was black thread used to make the patterns. But I think that one apron it is not enough for me, so next time I will create a black ornament.In the pictures you can also see a wonderful pincushion gifted me by Klaryssa who made it by herself using the pattern of a cushion from XIV century (Victoria & Albert Museum).

Easter is coming - time for eggs!

Easter is coming... (How dificult it is to free from this quoting) It is an old Polish tradition to paint and decorate eggs for this joyfull festival. Sometimes eggs become a real work of art. But after eating all these delicate and beautiful decorates vanishes. My recipe is... a lace ornament! Ornaments made of threads.

The Easter impression

I have made a lot of different patterns, but it is immpossible to show them all. Tere are some of the most beautiful (in my absolutely not objective opinion).

The Rapsody in Blue

Pinky

The Snowdrop

The Pink Clover

Daisy

The Spring Meadow

 And the best thing is you have to cut one thread to take the egg out of lace and eat. But lace can be retained for next year.

Pearls made of thread

Needle lace also known as Armenian lace, Nazareth lace or Arabian lace. All I need to make it is a needle, thread and scissors of course.

Some archaeological evidences prove that this kind of lace was known in prehistoric Armenia where almost everything possible was decorated by this kind of ornament. Many women prepared their dowry making lots of laces. In XIX century Greek girls and women treated it as a source of incomes. Sometimes the only one. They started their work in five o'clock in the morning and finished when the sun went down making delicate beauties.

 As many handicraft I also learned it from books. The names of individual parts of this lace are wonderful: pearls, bows, crowns, pine-apples, hives, bells, roses and many others.

 My first work was a set of small tablecloths made for my mother. I used white linen and pink pearl Egyptian cotton. The base stitch is called pearls.

 

Pearls and crowns for my mum

My first work, not perfect but quite nice

 Then I decided to make a gift for my friend Klaryssa. There were also a set of tablecloths made of gray linen embroidered in an English style with a lace trim.

 

A tablecloth for Klaryssa

White embroidery and needle lace with gray linen

 It was 2007 year and I was invited to visit my sister in far far far-away country in the end of the world. The second end. So I wanted to give her something special. It was a much bigger tablecloth made of lilac thread.

 

A present for my sister

The edge of the work

The middle of the work

Bows and pine-apples can be seen

Being there I had a lot of time so I made also several smaller and bigger works. A set for a dressing table, embroidered in blue and finished with white silk lace.

 

A small tablecloth with silk

A tablecloth for a dressing table with parts connected by a lace

Lace roses

And some gift for my sister's mother-in-low.

 

A present for Leila

The edge of a spiral work

 Long time ago somebody said: Lace - an invention of a godess, a work for a queen. I can agree with that.