Mammen Band Test

Tonight's weave is known as the "Mammen Band," found in the Mammen parish of Bjerringhoj, Denmark in 1868. In the 20th century, over a hundred years after its discovery, the construction of the weave was speculated upon and several different theories about it persisted, but the most credible of them based upon inspection of the weave is the realization that this unique band is done with a completely different technique than most others. This is called the "missed hole" technique, utilizing only 3 of the 4 holes of a square weaving tablet.

The find is dated to the late 10th century and is an example of extravagant Danish textiles. Other textiles in this burial were found with gold and silver brocades, indicating they belonged to a very high status individual.

Recently I partnered with another reenactor to produce a large batch of plant-dyed thread. The collaboration was to work towards the goal of weaving her a belt of the Mammen design with the products of our efforts.

This weave represents a significant step up in challenge as a tablet weaver; rather than the usual repeating patterns, this is done with meticulous 72-step instructions wherein the cards often turn independently of one another, and any wrong move will effect the whole weave. Whereas normal weaving is cathartic and relaxing, this is more like a puzzle-- a woven Rubik's Cube, if you will.

Thus, I decided first to do a test run, which is what is seen here. So far, so good!

Here's to always getting better, and learning a little more every day!