After the fiasco of the ‘two weavers’ solution to manage twist buildup after the tablets, (see post Iron Age Bands 7) I settled on a very easy way to prevent twist buildup and to eliminate the need for chaning the direction of the tablets. I use the well known principle that twist travels to the thinnest spot. The method does not need anything besides two extra sticks and some extra lengths of yarn.

I tied the threads that run through one tablet, to an extra piece of yarn. For a two meters long warp I used extra pieced of yarn of 75 centimeters long. As more threads run through one tablet, the extra thread is thinner than the yarns that run through the tablet.

I did this with each tablet, and tied the single threads, nicely in order, to the first extra stick. That stick functions as a ‘spacer’ stick. As ‘spacer’ I took a stick that is knobby, so the knobs keeps the threads spaced quite easily. This use of a ‘spacer stick’ also makes it easy to adjust the tension of every individual tablet.

Make sure the ends at the knots are trimmed short, otherwise the ends will tangle into each other while weaving.

With this set up, the twist build-up behind the tablets moves to the thinnest spot, that is the extra yarn at the end.

The second extra stick, you can use to keep the yarns behind the tablets from tangling, by sticking the stick between the threads that run through the tablets. In that way, you easily can keep f.e. an armslength behind the tablets free of twist build up.

When the band is long, the thin length of yarn at the end will untwist a lot. I tied the thin yarn to the ‘spacer’ stick with a slip knot, so I can untie the slipknot and re-twist the thin thread and weave on.

As twist build up behind the tablets does not happen, it is possible to weave on right until the end of the threaded yarn.

This is a post about weaving Finnish Iron Age bands with spindle spun weaving yarn. I weave the bands listed in the book ‘Tablet Woven Treasures, Archaeological Bands from the Finnish Iron Age’ by Karisto & Pasanen (2021), one by one in the order of the book.