Card Weaving

I bought a book about card weaving many years ago, in part, I think, because it looked like weaving that would take up a small amount of space. The book has gone through several moves, patiently waiting on the bookshelf for me to use it. Since I started learning abou Scandinavia and the Vikings, I made a Viking costume which has woven trim, which would have actually been a card woven edge. That made me remember the book.

In card weaving the pattern comes from the warp threads, rather than the wefts, which are woven back and forth. The pattern is made by turning cards that have the warp yarn threaded through holes towards you and away from you. One end of the weaving is anchored to an object, the other to the weaver. The Vikings used card woven bands with long wefts left hanging as the top edge for weaving fabric, the wefts essentially became the warps on a weighted loom. The book, "Card Weaving" by Candace Crockett, from Interweave Press, came with enough cards to get started, and I had yarn I had collected for tapestry weaving.

I read through the step-by-step instructions and was thankful that I had already done some weaving, a lot of it made sense. Much more sense than when I first got the book.

I was all set to go but needed a shuttle. This seemed like a good excuse to finally visit Carolina Homespun. It was a good visit, Morgaine is really personable and knowledgable. I got the shuttle, a real tapestry beater (I used a kitchen fork previously), and some sock yarn as well.

One evening I picked out some yarn, and marked my cards. I don’t have warping board so I looked around the dining room my sewing room for a solution and keyed in on the chest of drawers. It worked quite well.



I spent a bunch of time threading and combing the cards. It probably would have been easier if the yarns were all the same weight. I did a little that night, and then some more at a sewing group. See the pattern?



No? Don’t worry, it’s not your eyes, I had a hard time keeping the cards moving right. This is as much as I got done:



Verdict: Cardweaving will have to wait a while. It is not a good thing to try to put down with a toddler roaming around. It was difficult to pick up the rhythm of the pattern with distractions both at home and when I was gabbing.