Jag har tänkt på vanten från Lödöse under rätt många år och arbetat med den då och då. Vanten har fått sin egen sida på textilverkstad.se. På vantens sida finns nu “Funderingar kring ett randigt tyg”
Eftersom den svenska texten redan finns på Textilverkstad räcker det att hänvisa till den HÄR.
I have thought about the mitten from Lödöse rather many years, and have worked with it from time to time. The mitten has got its own page on textilverkstad.se. On the mitten´s page is now “Funderingar kring ett randigt tyg” /Thoughts about a fabric with stripes.
The swedish text is already published on Textilverkstad, and I link to it HERE. There is also some more pictures.
The mitten from Lödöse made me ponder upon striped medieval fabric. When looking at the upper side of the mitten you find that the repeat is 16 cm – the stripe is 2,5 cm and the space between 13,5 cm. Now, as the mitten has no seam on the top you can measure the space to the next stripe – it is 16,5 cm. This repeat is then 19 cm. After that there is no further stripe and the space to the bottom is 18 cm. You can observe three stripes, all of them 2,5 cm. The space between them 13,5 cm, 16,5 cm and at least 18 cm. This differ too much to depend on deformation during the years in the ground. I think they have weaved a stripe, some space, next stripe and so on. But not caring to get the same space between the stripes.
As a weaver I ask myself if this is a “medieval” way of weaving and looking at patterns and stripes or perhaps this fabric is woven by an unskilled weaver. To get the same space between the stripes is not very difficult. Perhaps the weavers of our time want it more symmetrical than the weavers in the medieval time.
Now, what will happen with the mitten if you use a fabric with regular space between the stripes, after weaving such a fabric?
I did weave a fabric regularly striped. When planning the weaving I calculated to place the pair of mittens side by side. That would be a fabric width of about 50 cm and a length of 63 cm for one pair of mittens. The fabric should be enough for three pairs of mittens. If I then weave a fabric with a report of 16,5 to 18 cm there will be also a stripe on the base of the mitten´s inside.
The fabric also became an experiment with a new quality. I fulled it roughly in the dryer to get the right width and length. The result was a repeat of 16,5 cm and you get four stripes on each mitten.
