Showing posts with label Thomas Victor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas Victor. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Krokbragd and bandweaving are not the same!

I think I confused a lot of blogistas by taking a break from bandweaving and trying out krokbragd. They're completely different forms and don't intersect. Both are lovely and need skill and practice, and they're not interchangeable. 

But it looked as if they're related because I plunged into one in the middle of the other, with an added trip into weaving on, breaking,  and repairing, a frame loom.

Bandweaving has long warp (lengthwise) threads organized into a color pattern, using a long weft thread on a shuttle, and picking up different threads to create the design. Very little finishing is required. The pattern shows on both sides, as a reversed image.

Krokbragd, however, uses multiple short weft (crosswise) threads, and a massive amount of finishing is needed, see pictures of completed latest small work, and the pattern is on the front only. The back is filled with woven in threads.



Back of the finished piece and all the trimmed off ends after the weaving in is done. Every pick (row) needs one or more ends woven in and trimmed. 


Front of finished piece. I'm still working on a possible bandweaving that will use a flower motif like this. It's tricky, doesn't translate easily.

I like both and I want to pursue bandweaving further. You can see how krokbragd doesn't translate into bands or belts, and how bandweaving does.   And how krokbragd can be used in much wider widths than I've done with my learning pieces, and how narrow patterned bandweaving can't. 

Today was a great Tuesday knitting group, so much so that someone came and shut our door on us because we were noisy. We had knitting, crochet, weaving, braiding and, drumroll, embroidery!




Booties for baby due any minute 


Fun fur yarn donated to another member 


Familiar weavings 


Squares for the upcoming community granny square wall piece 


This is Estonian knitting, incorporating weaving 

Chat ranged over the madeleines one vacation returner brought us from Paris, techniques of weaving, knitting, and braiding, high school reunions, the Xerces society, master gardeners, Jack Russell terriers, cats as home nurses, the community granny square project, fun fur yarn, TV animal actors, and more.

Then home to afternoon tea with madeleines, and Textiles and Tea, with Thomas Victor.

He's a weaver dedicated to the finest most heirloom-worthy thread, alpaca singles, dyed and woven into scarves. He has rebuilt looms to fit his needs, including a jacquard loom with hundreds of warp threads. 









This piece is about 15"x12", though it looks much bigger 


Here he is, very interesting, fearless dyer and weaver. 

Another great Tuesday, happy day everyone. Hotter days to come, and while I'm sheltering indoors, I'll be thinking about my next project. 

Everything is tidied away now, so as to have a clear space, mentally and physically, then I'll bring out what I need for the next project once I know what it is. 

Clear up between projects then you won't get distracted by the last one.

Meanwhile, smart baby story:

Many years ago, when Handsome Son was about three months old, he was sitting on my arm at the front door as a friend and her baby were leaving. 

I'd turned so the sun was behind us, not in his eyes, and our shadows fell on the step. He held out his hand and flexed his fingers. Then he did it again, watching his shadow hand. Then he looked up at the sun, back to his hand then at the ground,  then flexed his fingers again. 

My friend, a Cambridge physicist, said look at that thinking, he analyzed the sequence, he understood the light source, it's amazing!  Which I guess it was. And I wonder how often children make and consider discoveries like this and nobody notices.