I’ve been researching sprang, looking for evidence of this textile technique in North America. Archaeologists at the Manitoba Museum tipped me off to an experimental archaeologist in Minnesota. Grant Goltz has successfully recreated pottery using native clay. Normally the clay found across the American mid-west cannot be formed into the thin-walled large pots commonly found at sites of human habitation excavated by archaeologists. Mr Goltz, lead by the textile imprints in the pots, creates sprang bags, and then forms the pot inside the sprang bag. The bag supports the clay when wet and permits the creation of thin-walled vessels. The results are very accurate replicas of pots excavated from 900 year old sites. Bags made as a rectangle, folded in half will not work to re-create these artifacts. The markings on the pottery clearly indicate ‘decreases’, fewer threads at the bottom of the pot than at the rim. He told me that he initially tried to form the bag working from the rim down, tying knots as he removed threads. This did not yield satisfactory results. When he got the bright idea to work from the bottom up, he discovered that this method allowed him to create pots with markings identical to the pots from the dig sites. Now, I find this exciting for a couple of reasons. It is another piece of evidence suggesting that North American people were creating textile bags 1000 years ago. It suggests that one textile technique used could have been sprang. I love the fact that it is a loom-less version of sprang. I’m really wanting to re-popularize sprang. Mostly the instructions for sprang start with the description of the loom or frame required. I’m wanting to find the ‘no-tools’ method, get people hooked with the technique, and then they will be motivated to fork out for the frame.
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Challenged myself recently to make a garment using the sprang technique. Using an egyptian cotton I began with a very large rectangular shape, working from hem to hem. At about armpit level I added warp to allow for sleeves. Yes the work was very wide at that point. I worked from right to left in sections, each tied off with a safety cord. I left a slit for the neck, and finished with a safety cord that goes from wrist to wrist, across the back of the neck. The finished garment was worn, seen by many at the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence in Albuquerque. At Congergence I kept hearing about the ‘Ancient One’s Shirt’. Finally tracked it down on the net. You can view it at http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/coll/peris2.shtml Based on images of this garment, I’ve spent the last two days working out the pattern. I’ve now created a scarf, playing with the design. While at Convergence I saw the perfect frame for smaller sprang projects. It’s called ‘Loom in a Tube’ from Rebecca Smith. She sells a set of plumbing pipes that fit together to make the frame. Adjustment as the cloth grows and shrinks are easily made with threaded pipe and screws. Check it out at http://www.loominatube.com/
I’ve been doing some research. Frances Densmore, writing in the book Chippewa Customs, describes the work of a woman creating a sprang sash, working around stakes in the ground. I followed her directions and found the technique to work quite well. I created a bag, photographing the process. OK, now I’m going to retract a bit. Technically this is NOT sprang, as you get but one row of cloth for every row worked. The technique to be described is what I’m now calling ‘unsprung sprang’, that is, the simple interlinking technique. Interlinking is a stepping stone to sprang. True sprang uses the tangled mass, trapping it at the bottom of a frame … nevertheless, the following is as accurate as I can make out to the technique described by Densmore and her observations of the Ojibwa in the early 1900s. This is the bag I made. The bag is worked in a long skinny rectangle. Starting at the bottom of the bag, you sprang towards the string ends, then return to the bottom and sprang in the other direction, up the other side of the bag. Finally you attach the drawstring and sew up the sides with an invisible seam. What you need: I used strings that were about 30 inches (80 cm) long. Tie them together in a knot midway along the length. Use the contrasting color of string and large needle to organize these threads, dividing them into bunches of four: The red yarn goes around each bunch of four threads. The bunch of yarn is attached to the notched stick by the red yarn. The stick will help to hold the yarn bunch. Attach the whole affair to a fixed point. In the picture above, I attached the yarn bunch to a chair across the corner of my work table. Now pick up two threads from each bunch of four. Begin spranging. After weaving about 8 inches (20 cm) I figured this part was long enough. I now returned to the initial shed at the stick. I removed the stick, and slipped a knitting needle into the first row. I am thinking that I should have put a ‘safety cord’ in the first shed to facilitate this a bit. This spot will be the very bottom of the bag. I’ve spranged one side of the bag, and will now sprang up the other side. I left the red yarn in marking the place where I turned around. It marks the place of the bottom of the bag. I work in this direction, the piece grows in length. I continue to sprang until the red yarn is at the halfway point: I tied the warp strings in groups of four, catching the draw-string cord. The sides are sewn up, if you’re careful, it can be an invisible seam. The pros and cons of a sprang frame.
The frame hold the threads firmly in order. It also catches the ‘false weave’ the reverse of the work. The cloth grows at a rate twice as fast. The frame can be difficult to put in your backpack for you to take and work on it anywhere. The no-frame technique requires only a stick and a fixed point attachment site. It can be rolled up and mashed in a backpack, taken out anywhere to keep your hands busy. The novice is nervous that the threads will get out of order. With a little bit of practice, you learn to keep your eye on the previous row. An elder said, “Listen to the threads, they will tell you where they want to go. (The student said, “The threads speak a foreign language.”) Another trade-off is that the free ends do not collect the reverse work. You un-do the ‘false weave’ as a tangle near the cut ends. It’s a bit slower, but if the idea is to have a project that fills up your ‘lost time’ you are wanting a project that is not completed too quickly, right? How long does it take? That depends on how fat the yarn, how long the strands, how big a bag you’re wanting. I’ve completed a small bag in under an hour’s time. I’ve been developing a simple sprang tutorial. I tested it out on the Manitoba Weavers and Fiber Artists last night.
Trying to break down the technique to its most simple form, I gave them twelve strings and an illustrated how-to printout. They did succeed at creating their samples within 20 minutes time, however I also realize that my directions require clarification, simplification. Thanks so much to the weavers. I’ve been doing some sprang lately. A pair of wooden handles gave me the idea. The fingerweaving class is progressing very well. Five women have progressed to the flame pattern. Today we were joined by members of the group that meet monthly at the St Boniface Museum.
I’ve been spranging quite a bit lately. First of all there are more than a dozen wool sprang sergeant sashes on order. For another I’ve been experimenting with patterns, doubles on row A, doubles on row B, as in the piece on the left below. I’ve been playing with S and Z twist, in the piece on the right. As well I’ve been playing with finishing techniques. See below.
Last November, in a moment of weakness, I promised a piece to the local Habitat for Humanity for a fundraiser. The deal is that artists can have $20 worth of stuff from the ‘ReStore’. The artist is to use this material to create an ‘artpiece’ and then donate it to the local Habitat for Humanity fundraising art auction. I knew that Jan and Feb would be crazy busy … and they have been. And yet I’ve been really wanting to try working with wire. I succeeded in finding a reel of fine, supple green coated wire at the Habitat Re-Store. This week I’ve set down to try to do some sprang. I did a quick little first piece to determine how long, how wide. I then launched into a piece I thought I’d mount as art. I was not pleased with the results. So now I’m onto my third attempt. I went back to the Re-Store and purchased some ‘bling’ as I still had $11 remaining of that initial $20 credit. I also added some copper wire. Here it is in progress And here’s the finished piece I wanted to make some statement that the textile technique known as ‘sprang’ is akin to what we all know as ‘chain link fence’. I stretched the sprang between two knitting needles. These endposts were affixed to the background (a cabinet door from the ReStore) with screw-in eyelets.
The art auction will be held at the Habitat for Humanity ‘ReStore’ or Archibald Street in Winnipeg starting on Thursday. Bids must be in by Saturday afternoon. That bit of sprang that I started for the Viking Weekend in July 2008 has been sitting there, calling to me. So I finally finished it. Having learned from this experience, I’d do the next one a bit differently. The tablet woven band was wider where I left the weft for the sprang, and tightened up when I began weaving them separately for the ties. Next time I’d have two wefts going while I’m leaving off lengths for the sprang. I’d have one weft of a very fine thread (to hold the tablet weaving tight, and a second one to be shooting from one band to the other, making the warp for the sprang.
Joining the two tabletwoven bands at the back of the neck was another challenge. I am thinking that that fine weft would also help me to make this join. My most recent excitement comes from SUCCESS in a ‘sprang’ experiment. I have been intrigued by images in Peter Collingwood’s book The Techniques of Sprang. Diamond and zigzag patterns in sashes pictured there are pretty straight forward. I’ve developed a method for mapping out the patterns on graph paper, then translating the graphs to written patterns, such as 6 singles, 1 double, 4 singles, etc. The challenge to myself was to work out the pattern for the two-headed eagle from the 1700 Dutch piece at the back of the book. I am Thrilled to report that my experiment was a success! The material is a medium silk cord from Treenway’s. I dyed it with a ‘plum’ Landscapes dye. I will bring this piece along with me to Mississinewa 1812 in Marion, Indiana, this October. Stop by and have a look. Now I didn’t start out with this piece. I’ve been working on this mapping and pattern-writing technique for sprang, creating ‘neck scarfs’. Folks might want to know, the sprang always wants to curl at first (the red and yellow one at the top of the picture). I find that if I wash it, and pat it flat, and leave it to dry, then it ‘forgets’ the need to curl. Guess it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, and there are a few other things to report. I attended the Manitoba Living History Society’s Fall Gathering, September 5 to 7. I had prepared some indigo dye and took advantage of the space and time to dye some two dozen skeins, mostly white, but some were yellow. As predicted, they came out a variety of blues and greens. A magic transformation as they emerge from the pot, changing from yellow to green to bright blue, it was lovely to see. and then it immediately starts turning blue By the end of the weekend I had a lovely set of blues On Sept 12, a new park was dedicated to the honor of a locally prominent Métis, Elzéar Goulet. What an honor to see my sashes all around. Of the 6 sashes visible in this photo, I had a hand in the creation of 4 of them. As well, I’ve been busy on my loom. A desperate call from a friend, the need for a sash for another inductee into an esteemed position, requiring another sash: Working on a woven silk ‘officer’s sash’.
I’ll be in Marion, Indiana, Oct 10 to 12 for Mississinewa 1812. November 7 to 9, I’ll be in Thunder Bay, Ontario, for the NAVC Fall Gathering. Meanwhile, there will be another ‘Beginning Fingerweaving’ class at the Musée de St Boniface Museum, starting Sunday afternoons. Contact the Musée for further information. [email protected] Once again I’ve been invited to give fingerweaving demonstrations at two pavilions in the Winnipeg festival, Folklorama. Printed in the local newspaper, the Winnipeg Free Press, reporting on the Pavilion Canadien-français: “CULTURAL HIGH POINT: Sashmaker Carol James and her student show how a ceinture fléchée is made with intricate finger-weaving.” On display at Folklorama you can see the 8 sash samples, made over the past Winter, sponsored by Manitoba Heritage, the St. Boniface General Hospital, and Manitoba Artists in Healthcare. Next week I’ll be at the Métis Pavilion.
Aug 18-22 I’ll be giving a workshop at Ft Edmonton in Edmonton, Alberta. The BBC is preparing a series on the history of Canada, its history, indigenous cultures and history. Ray Mears is a bushcraft specialist and woodsman. The BBC will be filming an interview with me in early September, Ray Mears learning about fingerweaving. Meantime, I’m working on some sprang neckscarfs. |
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