Translating brocaded bands from Stavanger catherdal (2)
The previous post focused on the zoomorphic part of the gold brocaded band recently discovered in the basement of Stavanger cathedral. Today I want to take a look on the wonderful basket weave pattern (left side of the image below).
As I mentioned in previous post, brocaded basket weave is not unique, on the contrary, it reemerges in various all around the Old continent. There is the notorious ''Birka B22'' band that usuallly pops up in the mind of a Viking age reenactor. A lesser known example of similar basket weave is textile KM 2491:31 from Räisälä Hovinsari (Finland).
Image above: M. Karisto, M. Pasanen. 2021. Tablet woven treasures, p. 171. Salakirjat, ISBN 978-952-7204-37-5
Drafting the basket weave
Again, I suck at brocading. The second-best choice of technique is in my opinion complex threaded-in.
It is not always easy to determine the total width of the pattern. One has to closely examine how many complete repeats of the pattern fit in the band's width. The proportion of blank space has to be taken into consideration as well.
I started to draw lines on a sheet of draft paper. My first guess was 22 tablets but it somehow did not work. The band was way too narrow to look right. The second try was on 30 tablets (15 squares on my draft paper). That finally looked good.
