Laurelhurst Fiber Art Studio & Urban Farm
Tablet Weaving * Ply-Splitting * Mindfulness * Permaculture
Books & DVDs
Below you will find information on books and DVDs that you can order from me. Please see my Links page for other excellent books by other authors on tablet weaving and ply-splitting, along with information on where to purchase them.
Tablet Weaving Books
Weave a Neckpiece DVD
Ply-Split Garlic Basket DVD
Ply-Splitting Books
Tablet Weaving Books
Please Weave a Message:
Instructions and Graphs for Tablet-Woven Calligraphy
by Linda Hendrickson
$28.00 including shipping
144 pages, comb-bound. Instructions for the double-faced weave, and graphs for letters based on six Roman alphabets: Uncial, the early Christian alphabet; Textura Quadrata, a 14th century Gothic hand; 15th century Humanist Bookhand; Italic, the fine Italian hand; Legend, a typeface with an Arabic feeling designed by Ernst Schneidler; and Gill Sans, a modern sans-serif typeface designed by Eric Gill. For each alphabet, several words are graphed and ready to use, including peace, hope, love, and weave.
Instead of weaving each alphabet from a to z, I have composed and woven pangrams, sentences that contain all the letters of the alphabet. The book also includes a tutorial for using Excel to create graphs.
Double-Faced Tablet Weaving: 50 Designs from Around the World
by Linda Hendrickson
$21.00 including shipping
120 pages, comb-bound. Complete instructions for making a continuous warp and for the double-faced weave, large graphs with a helpful tablet count field, front and back of all designs shown full-size, tips for avoiding and correcting mistakes and for graphing your own designs. Designs are from the crafts of many different cultures and times, and a reference for the source of inspiration is listed for each design. Most designs need 48 tablets, and some need 56 tablets. Examples of inspiration include a fanciful monkey from a Nazca shirt (Peru), interlaced designs from Bushongo cut pile raffia cloth (Zaire), Hmong reverse applique (Laos), Medieval embroidery (Finland), Bedouin tent hangings (Jordan), and Pueblo pottery (USA).
If you aren't hooked on double-faced by this book, you are probably unhookable!
-- Peter Collingwood, in the foreword to the book.
Tablet Weaving for Parents and Children
by Linda Hendrickson
$5.00 including shipping
16 pages, 5-1/2"x8-1/2", self-published in 1995. An easy and inexpensive way for anyone to get started with tablet weaving. Complete instructions for making a continuous warp, how to flip and rotate the tablets for geometric designs in warp twining, step-by-step directions for weaving a flat band and a seamless tube. Ideas for weaving a friendship bracelet, shoelaces, and bookmarks.
Two-Hole Andean Pebble Weave for ages 10 and up
by Linda Hendrickson
$8.00 including shipping
28 pages, 5-1/2"x8-1/2", self-published in 2004. This booklet is a follow-up to my article "Tablet Weaving with Children", Handwoven, November/December 2003, p. 43. Complete instructions for making a continuous warp for pebble weave, and for weaving charming traditional Andean designs with tablets. I created the graphs by analyzing bands in my collection from Peru, and also designed an alphabet for this booklet. Several words are graphed and ready to weave. All graphs are for 16 tablets. The normal corner holes are not used. Instead, use a hole puncher to make holes in the center of two adjacent edges (or you can order the tablets with extra holes). Each tablet carries one dark and one light thread. To weave, just turn the tablets individually or in groups to make the top of the shed match the row of the graph.
On-Loom Cardweaving: A Modern Extension of an Ancient Craft
by Herbi Gray
$10.00 including shipping
60 pages, self-published in 1982. This book inspired my "Spaced-Out Warp" workshops, and tablet-woven scarves. You can use a loom to tension the warp, as described in the book, or you can use tensioning blocks with a length of reed hanging on the warp. The reed is used to beat every pick so you can create soft, even airy fabrics. About half of the book is devoted to instructions for turning the tablets to produce a sampler which includes balanced plain weave, leno variations, log cabin, double weave, honeycomb, warp floats, twisted or displaced warp groups, and simultaneous use of more than one technique. Lots of black & white photos and illustrations, and many wonderful ideas for a creative person to explore. Note: The staples are a little rusty, but otherwise in excellent condition.
Tablet Weaving DVD
Weave a Neckpiece
with Linda Hendrickson
$24.00 including shipping
This 43-minute DVD is a visual companion to my book Tubular Cardwoven Neckpieces (book available from Unicorn Books and Crafts and other suppliers). It was produced by Nancy Harvey of Victorian Video Productions in 1996. We purchased the copyright and are making it available on DVD.
This DVD is an excellent introduction to basic tablet weaving (even if you don't want to weave a neckpiece). It contains step-by-step instructions for making a continuous warp, flipping and turning tablets to create geometric designs in warp twining, weaving a flat band and a tube, and creating jewelry by adding findings and beads.
"Weave a Neckpiece" is smoothly presented and easy to follow...This process is much easier to understand when you see it..." -- Madelyn van der Hoogt, Weaver's magazine.
Ply-Splitting DVD
Ply-Split Garlic Basket
with Linda Hendrickson
$24.00 including shipping
In this 47-minute DVD -- the first on the subject of ply-splitting -- I welcome you into my studio in Portland, Oregon, for a lesson in ply-split basket-making. First we have a look at two traditional goat-hair camel girths, and then I lead you step-by step through the process of making my ply-split garlic basket . You will learn how to use a gripfid and a commercially-made 3-ply paper cord called Danish cord, and how to create the ply-split structures SCOT (single-course oblique twining) and POT (plain oblique twining). When you finish, you will have a lovely basket for your garlic, or whatever else you might want to put inside!
My husband, John Brockway, whose career included over a dozen years as a director at the PBS station here in Portland, is the videographer and editor. He shot most of the DVD over my shoulder, and uses lots of close-ups so you can see the detail very clearly.
You can also order a kit with pre-cut cords and a 1/4" gripfid.
"I found the instructions very clear and easy to follow. You are a good teacher, and I especially liked seeing the historical samples which you showed. It is a wonderful DVD. It made me want to explore more ply splitting for baskets." -- Marilyn Moore, fiber artist and basketry teacher
Ply-Splitting Books
![[cover of Great SCOT!]](great-scot-cover.gif)
Great SCOT!
A Beginner's Guide to Ply-Split Braids
in Single Course Oblique Twining
by Linda Hendrickson
$8.00 including shipping
28 pages, 5-1/2"x8-1/2". SCOT is a technique in which one cord is pulled through many to create textured and colored ridges as well as angles and curves. This booklet begins with instructions for making the tightly-twisted 4-ply cords needed for ply-split braiding. Includes procedures for making cords with a drill and a single hook, and with 4-hook twisters, and has suggestions for many decorative cords. Step-by-step directions for making a variety of shaped braids and star ornaments.
Beyond Tradition: Contemporary Ply-Split Fiber Sculpture
$12.00 including shipping
40 pages, 5"x7", 25 black and white photos, published by Contemporary Crafts Museum and Gallery, 2004. This is the catalog for the first exhibition of contemporary ply-splitting held in America, October 2-November 14, 2004, in Portland, Oregon. The exhibition was organized by Lisa Conte and Linda Hendrickson, and features the work of 11 invited artists, and 14 juried artists. The catalog includes a page for each artist with their statement and a photo of their work. This is a lovely catalog, and an important document in the history of ply-splitting.
Ply-Split Camel Girths of West India
by Betsy Quick and Judith Stein
$23.00 including shipping
Limited copies available of this out-of-print title
64 pages, 8-1/2" x 11", many black and white photos, diagrams, and instructions, published in 1982. This is the first book documenting the traditional ply-split braiding of the Thar Desert of India, and will be of interest to textile historians, collectors, and fiber artists. The field research was conducted in the late 1970s, when the authors were graduate students at UCLA. They stayed in India for several months, and spent countless hours with the ply-split braiding master Ishwar Singh. As part of their research, they photographed the traditional steps of preparing goat hair, including spinning it into yarn, plying the yarn into cords, and ply-splitting the cords into girths. The authors blazed the trail later followed by Peter Collingwood, whose comprehensive book, The Techniques of Ply-Split Braiding, was published in 1998.
Split-Ply Twining
by Virginia Harvey
$10.00 including shipping
46 pages, 8"x10-1/2", black and white photos, diagrams, and instructions, published in 1976. This is the first book on ply-splitting, and is based on the study of three camel girths worked in SCOT (single-course oblique twining). Virtually nothing was known about traditional ply-split braiding at this time. The works shown and described in this book, though based on SCOT camel girths, reflect the aesthetics of the 1970s, and are mostly organic fiber sculptures and wall pieces made with commercial yarn or rope. One photo shows a partially-completed rug worked in sectional SCOT with 8-ply acrylic yarn. This is a fascinating historical document, with ideas worth exploring today. The staples are slightly rusty, but otherwise in excellent condition.