Quest for Written Treasure

Today I undertook a quest in the pursuit of better and more knowledgeable tablet weaving. Little did I know when I set out just how involved that quest would be. First I persuaded my husband to drive me not only to our local library to return some books and select more fluffy fiction, but also to the next city over (in the Bay Area one blends into the next rather continuously--this was only about half an hour away) to go to the San Jose University Library. Handily, San Jose has made their eight story university library a part of their public library system so that non-students like me can still check things out.

I had, you see, discovered that most often quoted text on tablet weaving, Peter Collingwood's Techniques of Tablet Weaving is at present prohibitively expensive to someone on a very meager budget like myself. I most often saw it online for around $145 though through diligent searching I saw as low as $56--tempting but still quite the expenditure for a book I'd never even thumbed through myself. But I also discovered that a copy was present in the San Jose Uni library, checked in. I even assertained that it was on the 8th (top) floor in the folio section and got its call number. Armed with that, and directions, and even instructions for where to park in downtown San Jose, I set out on my quest.

I went up to the 8th floor, found the TT section right where I recalled it from the map...and saw no sign of Techniques of Tablet Weaving. There were some other interesting books, and I picked up a different card weaving book and one on twining, and then I headed down to the 2nd floor which was the closest source of help in the form of a real live person. The folio TTs, she explained, were across the way from the regular TTs. It was, in fact, a coincidence they were on the same floor since all the folios are on the top floor.

Chagrined at my carelessness, I headed back up the 8th floor and right over to the folio section, located the folio TTs...found a different and less useful book by Collingwood right where I would have expected Techniques of Tablet Weaving. Of the latter, there was no sign.

I hunted nearby shelves. I carefully read the title of every book in the TT section in case I was skimming right over it. No. It wasn't there.

Down I went again to the put upon librarian on the 2nd floor, dragging my put upon husband behind me. "Ah," she said, when she took a closer look at the record. She explained that things in the library sometimes happened all too slow. The book had been recently returned--recently meaning August 23, a mere nineteen days ago. It was probably still on the reshelving shelves. Yes, those too were on the 8th floor. So, back to the 8th floor we went. This time my husband declined scanning shelves with me and instead prudently settled into a corner to read a randomly selected book. This proved wise as Collingwood's book was neither with the folio TTs nor with the regular TTs in the shelving area. I finally began skimming my way through all the Ts and at last, near to giving up, in the very last section, nestled by a TU and a TV, was this mighty tome of tablet weaving knowledge.

With my loot, I promptly checked out and escaped the library, thanking my long suffering husband for his forbearance.

I started out reading the book from the beginning, there being a very interesting chronology of tablet weaving finds pre-1000AD that Collingwood was aware of. There are probably more now that could be added to that list, but it is still the only list of its nature I have come across barring the excellent detailed lists by Nancy Spies regarding brocaded tablet weaving...but only brocaded.

After that I started skipping around, getting a feel for what all is covered, and following one reference to another within the book. One mystery has gained a little clarity: he gives a couple examples that I've found so far (they're separated by specific weaving technique) of double faced patterns that are brocaded. The outlines of the figures are clearly double faced weave, appearing on both sides of the band, but on the "front" side the background is brocaded leaving the double face woven figures to outline the brocading.

A number of other things are beginning to come together in my poor brain, but their still too ephemeral to put into words (without simply quoting Collingwood at length) so I'll wait till its more solid.

I've found references and passages to a number of specific finds I've heard referenced or seen discussed elsewhere, such as the Egyptian diagonals, the tablet weaving on the Orkney hood, the snartemo bands, etc. I see there's also some specifics about techniques and designs I've wondered about like some spiral techniques that look similar to yet distinct from the rams horn patterns I've been doing, the missed hole technique, and so on.

Anyway, I look forward to studying this book in more detail. I know it's bound to be outdated on some of the historical stuff, but it looks like it is definitely a good launching point for more research. I must say, I think if I'd picked up this book when I was first beginning tablet weaving, my eyes would have glazed over and I would have put it right back down! It's only because I have some understanding of the basics that I can begin to wrap my head around all his scores of different diagrams.