Designing and weaving a bookmark

Last year a friend invited me to go with her to a talk about the book by Benjamin Myers - Cuddy.  We had both read the book. It is an imaginative story about St Cuthbert and his journey to a resting place at Durham Cathedral told through poems and short stories set in different eras.  The book review said that 'Cuddy is a bold and experimental retelling of the story of the hermit St. Cuthbert, unofficial patron saint of the North of England. Incorporating poetry, prose, play, diary and real historical accounts to create a novel like no other, Cuddy straddles historical eras - from the first Christian-slaying Viking invaders of the holy island of Lindisfarne in the 8th century to a contemporary England defined by class and austerity.'

 

St Cuthbert's Shrine in Durham Cathedral

St Cuthbert stained glass window

She was interested in trying weaving so I designed a bookmark for her which she could weave when she visited.

The cover of the book had a lovely impressionistic picture of waves under the feet of St Cuthbert. 

This is a close up of the waves. 

 I liked the impression of colour stripes so I designed a simple band in 16/2 cotton.  I used the threads doubled.

The Warp Chart.

The Weave Chart

Here is the weave chart.  There are 61 warp ends

Weaving the band on a Swedish band loom.  

She had never woven before but she picked up the technique very quickly.  

 The ends are bound using West Country Whipping. 

West Country Whipping

One end is plaited. 

The plait uses five groups of threads to form a relatively flat band for the bookmark.

Plaiting with five groups of threads 

Plaiting with five groups of threads is easy.  https://youtu.be/SZt3p87oI68

The completed bookmark.

Unfortunately she mislaid her bookmark so I wove another set. This time I used 16/2 cotton singly so the bookmark was slightly narrower than the original. I used a doubled thread for the weft in both cases. 

Using a doubled warp the bookmark is 2.5 cm  in width

Using a single 16/2 cotton as the warp the bookmark is   1.8 cm in width.

16/2 cotton used singly in warp

I have written other blogs about bookmarks.  In May 2020, the post Bookmarks explored simple designs using my book The Art of Simple Band Weaving published by Blurb.com.  https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/11486284-the-art-of-simple-band-weaving

The most recent was in May 2024  Bookmarks inspired by the Book of Kells.  

This particular project was for an article in Little Looms. It appeared in the Summer 2024 edition of the magazine.  Well worth subscribing to, if you enjoy weaving on simple equipment. 

You can subscribe to Little Looms and receive your copy digitally. https://littlelooms.com/subscription/  Instant satisfaction!

Susan J Foulkes January 2025

Happy New Year and happy weaving to all my readers.

West County Whipping or West Country Whipping?

 

The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford W. Ashley.

The ever reliable Ashley Book of Knots describes a number of ways of finishing cords.  The method I use is West Country Whipping. It is described on page 528.  According to Ashley, it was named in 1848. However, in subsequent books such as the British Admiralty Manual of Seamanship it was renamed West County Whipping. 

It is a sturdy way of ending a braid or band. Its structure is secured by the regular half knot so that if any strand breaks it will still hold and the whipping replaced. 

This is the whipped end of the Bookmark of Kells project in my blog for May 2024. This project appears in Little Looms Summer 2024.

It is very easy to do.  It consists of a series of half knots finished with a reef knot. This short video shows the process.

Start by tightening the end of the cord or band by pulling on the weft. 

Take a short length of yarn sufficient for making the binding.

1. Tie it with a half knot.
2. Turn the band or cord over and tie another half knot.

These two moves make the binding.  To finish, tie a reef knot. 

This binding is very secure. It can be used for bands, cords and tassels.

narrow bands

Tassels can be tied with this type of whipping.

binding a tassel.

Here is the link to the YouTube video. 

West Country Whipping for bookmark

https://youtu.be/kp5nrA7DLAI

Susan J Foulkes  August 2024

Bookmarks inspired by the Book of Kells

 

Little Looms Summer 2024

Little Looms is a wonderful magazine devoted to items that can be woven on small equipment.  The latest edition has one of my projects for an inkle bookmark inspired by the colours of the Book of Kells. 

In 2023, two Irish stamps were issued each showing an illustration from the book.

The Book of Kells is a 9th century  Irish medieval masterpiece in Trinity College, Dublin. The book has an astonishing array of illustrations. 

It is fascinating to examine the illustrations up close to see how the monks used a variety of patterns within the designs.  I used a lovely book by Bernard Meehan published by Thames and Hudson 1994. It has 110 colour illustrations and is well worth buying.

The Book of Kells by Bernard Meehan

It is astonishing that only eight pigments were used throughout, which were combined to form new colours or shades. 

Colour inspiration 

Colour inspiration .

Many of the characters are outlined with dots. 

For the Bookmark of Kells project in Little Looms, I wove many samples and the editor chose the two to use for the magazine. 

Some of my samples

I wove some of them on a rigid heddle. 

Others were woven on my floor inkle loom.

Plaiting a flat 5-end braid.

To finish the bookmarks, I divided the warp ends into five more or less equal groups.  I plaited them into a flat braid. Here are the instructions in pictures.

Starting position

First move

Second move. 

These two moves are repeated until the length of the plait is reached.

Adjust the tension on the groups of threads.

YouTube Video  

I have also uploaded a short video showing the process. Here is the link.  Plaiting with five groups of threads:

https://youtu.be/SZt3p87oI68

Do check out the magazine for some lovely projects. 

You can subscribe to Little Looms and receive your copy digitally. https://littlelooms.com/subscription/  Instant satisfaction!

Some of my other samples

Some of my many samples. 

Look at the front and reverse of these two bookmarks.  The top bookmark has been woven with a yellow weft.  The bottom bookmark has been woven with an orange weft. 

 The yellow weft gives an interesting dotted pattern on both sides.

The orange weft gives the dotted edge to the bookmark.

Now I have lots of bookmarks to give away to friends!

Susan J Foulkes  May 2024

https://youtu.be/SZt3p87oI68?si=OWY2ew4p2pUbO5Bk