Sprang Revisited.

When I was posting about sprang recently... did I mention the density issue?

Really, really high density of some threads in a system seems to be a recurring topic for me. Brocades when tablet weaving is one of these things. The Lengberg sprang piece is another example.

Obviously, you will need to have the right size of threads (and the first piece I made had a little too thick threads, I think). But then, still, you have to achieve that really, really high density.

So just for my own personal fun, I made another trial piece setup, this time with slightly thinner threads. They are not as densely plied as the original, but I wanted to get going and not do some yarn hunting and plying first. First try with these was also a non-success, wit hthe rows running too wide. But now, I might be getting there: 

In the original, ten rows are about 1.3 cm. This is not just ten rows yet, but it's also under one centimetre wide. Which makes me hopeful, actually.

The trick was to work with very, very little tension on the threads for a start. After each row, I press in really, really hard with either a weaving sword or a c 1 cm diameter dowel. Both seem to work similarly well, with a little difference in how it feels when handling. 

I'm about 8 rows in on this piece from about 190, so it will definitely take a while longer to see if the results are consistent. But for now, I am quite amazed in how tight it is at the moment!