This is a continuation of these preceding posts:
String Skirt 1 – Thinking about various accessories, the books to read
String Skirt 2 – The metal bits
String Skirt 3 – The size of the thing
Okay, loops first. I am thinking that the strings really must be continuous. The whole skirt structure is just so similar to how warps seemed to be set on looms for a very long time (wasn't there an incomplete warp in Sutton Hoo? about two thousand years later?) that I want to try that idea first.
Here's the loops on Egtved.
(note the date: different from 14thc BC in other places. Disregarding for now.)
The orange arrow is pointing to a spot that seems helpful. The loop looks like it's wrapped with thread. It's fatter than the plied string it finishes. I'm wondering if the core of the loop is the fold of the string.
The orange amoeba is highlighting the "twined" strand. This may be the most intriguing bit of the skirt for me. Let's compare to the Borum Eshoj tassel, which is finished in a similar way.
This photo is what made me start thinking – "those are wrapped loops". See how the texture of the strings are so different from the surface of the loops? (The strings look really odd – not like standard ply. I wonder what's going on there. And the whole thing seems to have a transition at the end of the weaving – which isn't twill tablet weaving, it's tabby, per the text and a diagram – those chevrons are made with twist variations, apparently. Wonder if the mix of Z- and S-twist are responsible for the weirdness of the strand appearance.)
This photo made me think…"what would be a good way to catch up the end of the dangling, weirdly plied threads?" Wrap them around into a loop, and bind the loop with more thread. Then you could hop the thread from loop to loop, which would create the chaining effect seen both here and in Egtved.
Okay. So my working hypothesis, which I will now try out, is that the strings are continuous plied weft, pulled loose on the fringe side, and allowed to ply folding around a rod, to yield a consistent length and diameter of loop. Once the length of skirt is woven, I will come back with unplied yarn, and wrap the loops, chaining them together. Then I will add the metal bits at the top, and chain the strings together between the rows of metal bits.
Update: IT'S WORKING!! Pics very soon, after I unpick the bit that is working, since I forgot to weave the plain tie first. Oops.