April 2023 s&Z
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Vertical stripes are the star of this month’s offering. Unlike the diagonal transitions between S and Z, vertical stripes create a flat, smooth fabric. Peter Collingwood, in The Techniques of Sprang, suggests using a stripe of S at each edge to stabilize sprang fabric.
These motifs are inspired by a 4th century Coptic hairnet, sample #13749 from the Kelsey Museum. Both vertical stripes and stacked diamonds are common in Coptic pieces. Note: Each of these motif patterns uses a different number of threads. Motif A—Vertical Stripes Motif B—Stacked Nested Diamonds Motif C—Stacked Nested Diamonds with Verticals ... and then scroll down for two invitations below, ideas to explore further. |
S&Z diamonds, separated by vertical stripes.
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A note about instructions and charts:
The instructions include a photo of the completed motif, a photo of a historical sample, the written shorthand pattern, and a chart with Carol’s notation.
The charts include the chart with Carol’s notation and a shorthand chart which shows only the S and Z stitches. The shorthand chart is for those who are comfortable with the transitions from S to Z and do not need to know which stitches are on the back threads and which are on the front threads.
The instructions include a photo of the completed motif, a photo of a historical sample, the written shorthand pattern, and a chart with Carol’s notation.
The charts include the chart with Carol’s notation and a shorthand chart which shows only the S and Z stitches. The shorthand chart is for those who are comfortable with the transitions from S to Z and do not need to know which stitches are on the back threads and which are on the front threads.
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Motif A
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Motif B
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Motif C
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#13749 from the Kelsey Museum.
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Invitation 1: Use one of these motifs on a long warp to create a headband or strap.
Invitation 2: Use repeats in Motif A or C to make a wider piece for a hat, scarf, or fingerless mittens.
Design Challenges for those who want to move toward designing your own patterns:
Invitation 2: Use repeats in Motif A or C to make a wider piece for a hat, scarf, or fingerless mittens.
Design Challenges for those who want to move toward designing your own patterns:
- Make vertical stripes without a pattern. Decide how many S and how many Z stitches will be in each stripe. As you count stitches, the starting edge stitch is number one. So if you decide on columns of Z with 5 stitches and columns of S with 2 stitches you would work 5 Z, 2S, 5Z, 2S, and so forth across the row. At the end of the row, the plait row will have one less stitch than the overplait row.
- Add vertical stripes in S to the edge of another pattern. You will probably want to chart these out. The starting edge is easy as you can count stitches as above. But knowing when to switch to S at the end of the row is not as obvious without charting the pattern and counting stitches beforehand.