by Jane Bynum

Inspired by blankets that Petra brought to the TWG meeting, I went home and surveyed my stash and my library.  My looms are smaller, my stash has a lot of fine yarn, and I have a collection of Swedish and Norwegian books that include drafts for coverlets and other household textiles.  According to Ulla Cyrus-Zetterström1, the term, “monksbelt,” usually refers to the structure used as a border, with other names, including, “plattväv,” applied to all-over patterns.  The Norwegian name for the continuous patterns is, “tavlebragd,” and that is the term where I found the most information.The structure is usually woven as two blocks of weft floats in a pattern yarn on a plain weave ground.  There are four shafts, four treadles, and at least two shuttles.
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My first projects have warps and ground wefts of Brassard 16/2 cotolin and pattern wefts of 2/8s Shetland and Norwegian fingering weight wool.  The first warp was narrow and was meant to be a way to sample colors for the final coverlet.  The draft is Snasen-akle2 and the color choices were based on traditional Swedish coverlets and the yarn in my stash.  I had an abundance of navy, dark navy, and bright navy yarn.  The final colors for the larger piece were chosen based on published examples of traditional Swedish plattväv and what I had on hand.

For the later lap blankets, the remains of a long warp of Bockens 16/2 cotton were rethreaded for Tavlebragd fra Vikna3 and woven with 20/2 cotton for ground weft and 2/7.5s wool (Borgs Brage) for pattern weft.  I was trying to use up partial skeins of Brage, which has been discontinued, while following traditional Norwegian color combinations.  The short pieces at the end of the warp are the right size to cover cushions.  There are two pieces that are about 24” x 36”.  They will be bound with handwoven bands and backed with sheepskin in the style of traditional sleigh robes.

Next up?  Telemark vev/ Telemarksteppe/ Enkel Skillbragd – woven in a similar manner, but with three blocks on six shafts/5 treadles.

1 Cyrus-Zetterström, Ulla (2004) Manual of Swedish Weaving, Vavstuga Press, p.95
2 Ranen Husflidslag (2004) Vevtradisjon til hygge og nytte, p.26
3 Breiset, Randi (2001) Om fellen kunne fortelle, Nord-Trondelag Husflidslag, p.82

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​These are the four pieces from the last warp – two cushions and two lap robes

These are both sides of the large 3′ x 5′ piece and the color samples that I rejected. The samples will make cushions.

​The first sample warp:

​These are the two cushions in different treadlings and different blues.