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May 2023 s&Z

This month we are playing with diagonals. They were inspired by pieces in the collection of the Kelsey Museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  To see photos of the original pieces, scroll down to the bottom of the page.

In Motif A the diagonals start at the top and open up, similar to the nested diamonds introduced in March. It is inspired by sample #3403 from the Kelsey Museum.

In Motif B the pattern shows a chevron and in the cloth we see intersecting diagonal lines. This pattern is inspired by a 4th century Coptic hairnet, sample #11070 at the Kelsey Museum.


Invitation 1: Compare the texture of the ridges before and after blocking. Note if and/or how the relief changes between on the frame, off the frame, and after soaking and drying the fabric. The changes will vary depending on the yarn used.

Invitation 2: Try Invitation 1 with a different type of yarn. Note how the textures vary between yarns.

​
Picture
Motif B
Design Challenges for those who  want to move toward designing your own patterns:
The width of S and Z bands in both motifs is three stitches. Once the Z section opens to 6 stitches wide, an S stitch is added in the middle.   When the S section opens to 6 stitches, a Z stitch is added. Try instead to make Motif A with bands two stitches wide.

For a further challenge, try Motif A with S and Z bands of different widths. For example, Z bands 4 stitches and S bands 2 stitches.
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.
Motif A
Motif B
Picture
diagonals_chart.pdf
File Size: 862 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

diagonals_instructions.pdf
File Size: 4991 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Picture
chevrons_chart.pdf
File Size: 839 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

chevrons_instructions.pdf
File Size: 6487 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Picture
#3403 from the Kelsey Museum
Picture
#11070 from the Kelsey Museum

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Carol acknowledges that we are on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional gathering place of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene people and the traditional homeland of the Métis people. Carol also acknowledges that sprang is part of many  indigenous traditions  and found in various forms all over the world. Let us re-discover this technique together.
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