Marylin [sic] Holtzer, Tablet Weaver: Interview with a TWIST Founder
originally appeared in Tablet Weavers’ International Studies & Techniques journal TWIST, Vol.9-1, pp. 8-9 (2012) and is reprinted here with permission.
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The bolded headings below summarize questions posed by then-editor of TWIST, John Mullarkey.
My Tablet Weaving Journey
I was introduced to tablet weaving in the early 1970s during a workshop on two totally unrelated subjects: rugs and loom-controlled garments. As if that were not enough for a new weaver to digest in three days, on the second day, almost as an afterthought, the workshop leader pulled out a deck of playing cards and had us trim them into squares, punch holes in the four corners, and warp them with cheap yarn according to a simple, threaded-in pattern. Soon we were turning the tablets and, almost miraculously, that awful warp turned into a wonderfully patterned band. I was immediately hooked and have been tablet weaving ever since.
My Weaving Journey
I was originally drawn to traditional loom weaving after seeing photos of some early American coverlets in a book and being captivated by their repetitive patterns, and systematic and orderly progressions. Soon, armed with Nell Znamierowski’s Step-by-Step Weaving, I set out to learn to weave on my newly acquired 60”, four-shaft loom, which I did not even know how to warp. My first warp was straight twill and my second, an overshot pattern from the book. After I gained a deeper understanding of the weaving process by studying Mary Black’s The New Key to Weaving, I began to explore a wide variety of threadings and treadlings, sometimes in non-standard combinations. Although, I have never woven a traditional coverlet, I have explored many types of weaving, particularly those that yield repetitive and not-quite-repetitive, symmetric and not-quite-symmetric patterns and designs. The end results of these explorations have included wearables, accessories, rugs, and tapestries.
My Favorite Weaving Style
I like all of them, especially those that are challenging, new to me, or that I can explore in innovative ways. Shortly after I was introduced to tablet weaving, I obtained a copy of Marjorie and William Snow’s Step-by-Step Tablet Weaving, and immediately set about to reproduce the two-color band of overlapping diamonds woven using the Diagonal Double-turn technique they describe. That technique fascinated me and I soon started thinking about how similar patterns in three colors could be created using six-hole tablets. After I had worked out the details, I wove several examples and wrote an article describing the resulting technique that I called “Diagonal Triple-turn” (1) I have also explored several other weaver-controlled tablet weaving (2) and loom weaving techniques, some of which I have extended and adapted to make my own. Nevertheless, I do have to admit being drawn to what Peter Collingwood once dubbed “those fussy little patterns”, produced by threaded-in patterns. Recently, my focus has largely been on tapestry and tablet weaving.
Fate of all those Bands
At first, my tablet woven bands suffered a fate similar to that of many long, thin bands made by others who are hooked on tablet weaving, inkle weaving, braiding, kumihimo, etc., and ended up as traditional sashes, if used at all, or were tucked away in a drawer. There came a point when even a tablet-weaving junkie had to figure out how to use all those bands in more creative and exciting ways. That point came shortly after I happened upon four cones of rayon yarn in soft, subtle colors at an outlet store and snarfed them up at bargain prices. The first band that I wove using them was elegant, and more delicately hued and patterned than those I had previously woven using cotton or wool. It deserved a better destiny, so I wove several more bands in different threaded-in patterns and join them to make a full-length evening skirt. During the course of weaving the bands, I located another source for rayon yarn and was able to expand the color palette beyond the original four colors.
The skirt, which I call Curvature of Chords, is constructed from over 150 linear feet of tablet-woven bands in 10 patterns. (3) The bands are joined side-by-side to form a quarter-circle sector, the perimeter of which comprises two parallel arcs, one at the waistline and one at the hem; and two perpendicular radii. When the radii are brought together to form the skirt, the bands (chords of the circle) intersect in a parallel-perpendicular junction in the front and curve diagonally across the back, creating a sense of movement. My only regret is that when I created Curvature of Chords, I had not yet discovered my present sources for Japanese silk. It would have been even more elegant in silk, and although silk is more readily available now, I am not likely to embark on such an ambitious project again.
How I became involved in the formation of TWIST:
In 1994, I came across a small item in the Spring issue of Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot titled “Dutch Tabletweavers Look for Colleagues” and because I, too, was looking for colleagues to share my interest in tablet weaving, I immediately dashed off a letter to the contact person, Fons Baggelaar. Others responded as well and a loosely organized group of dedicated tablet weavers began sharing information about themselves and their craft through a “newsletter” that was little more than a stack of loose pages. Members shared information on a variety of topics from the technical to the historical to the personal. In the first issue, Fons described the missed-hole technique, a topic recently revisited in TWIST; Inge Dam wrote about tablet weaving during the Iron Age; another shared an article about tablet weaving by Jews in Yemen; some shared their learning experiences while creating unusual tablet-woven items, including large pieces such as wall hangings and rugs; and others submitted questions, answers, quotes, and suggestions for a name for the group. It was not until Spring 1996, that TWINE was published in a uniform format with all pages stapled together.
After some discussion about what to name the group, and subsequent rejection of suggestions such as “Twisted Sisters (and Brothers)”, the group voted to adopt “Tablet Weavers’ International News Exchange” or TWINE, as the official designation. In 1996, the name was changed to “Tablet Weavers’ International Studies & Techniques” or TWIST after it was discovered another fiber group also used the acronym TWINE.
Thoughts for the Future
The future of the group depends on sharing of ideas of dedicated tablet weavers nationally and internationally through special sessions at conferences and the TWIST newsletter, and locally through study groups. For a long time I was the only serious tablet weaver in the Weavers’ Guild of St. Louis, and I found it very important to have contact with other tablet weavers even if it was only through the newsletter. In recent years local interest in tablet weaving has increased and it is one of the main areas of study in our “Long & Skinny Study Group”.
The TWIST organization should promote the formation of local study groups, and encourage the participants to share what they learn with other TWIST members through articles for the newsletter. Even if an article revisits a topic that has been covered in other publications or in earlier issues of TWIST, it may catch a reader’s eye and provide her or him the impetus to explore an unfamiliar technique or look anew at a forgotten one. While looking through old issues of TWINE and TWIST for information for this interview, I came across several interesting topics that I plan to revisit. It would be great if the entire archives could be made available online.
As for the future of tablet weaving, well, that depends on all you tablet weavers out there.
References:
1. Holtzer, Marilyn, “Diagonal Triple-turn Cardweaving”, Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot, Vol. XI, No. 2, 100-102, (1980).
2. Holtzer, Marilyn, “Double- and Double-Faced Cloth on Six-Hole Cards”, interweave, Vol. V, No. 2, 66-67, (1980).
3. Holtzer, Marilyn Emerson, “Beginning with Bands: Tablet Woven Garments and Accessories”, The Weaver’s Journal, Vol. IX, No. 3, 28-33, (1985).