II : The journey

What will I contribute to the Hordweard?

TLDR : I hope to weave a decorative band using hand tools and materials from the Viking Age - much like my persona, Dagny Sveinsdottir would have done as a domestic need and a luxury craft. This will process will require research, practice, crafting and experimentation. I have detailed my plan of attack below.

What's the plan?

I'm very excited to begin my journey upon this path, but I must make preparations for safe travels. Before I start researching or collecting materials, I feel like I need to answer a few questions to light my way.

Who is Dagny Sveinsdottir?

Dagny Sveinsdottir is a Viking Age woman who lived from 834 - 898 AD.

She is the wife of Bjorn Saemundarson, a trader and merchant. When they are not viking, Bjorn and Dagny maintain a small farm outside of Tønsberg, in Vestfold, Norway.

2. What is the historical context of this project? Where and when?

My main focus will be on extant Viking Age textiles from Southern Norway dated to the 9th Century. This includes, but is not limited to, the Oseberg textiles recovered from a grave site outside of Tønsberg.

3. What type of wool will I need to spin for tablet weaving? Can I source it locally or will I need to import it?

Spælsau is widely recognised as the "original" sheep of Norway and may be the best guess to reproduce yarn for this project. However, I don't know enough about raw wool to make this decision yet. I will need to continue my research in this area.

4. What kind of tools will I need to gather or create in order to process this wool? How will I process it? How will I spin it? Will I dye it?

At this stage of the project, I believe that I will need:

Raw fleece - preferably a variety close to accurate for my time period and location.
Hand combs to align the fibres
Drop spindle - possibly a couple of different whorls to experiment with yarn weights.
Niddy noddy or nostepinne to wind yarn into skeins
Plant dyes to add some colour to my ribbons.
Tablet weaving cards - I'd like to make a set specifically for this project based on extant examples.
Shuttle, snips and a belt for backstrap weaving

5. What will I weave?

I'd like to think that I would be able to produce something quite sophisticated but I am concerned about the type of yarn I will be able to create. Trying to tablet weave with horrible singles under tension is an absolute nightmare that I would like to avoid. The yarn needs to be strong, fluff free and evenly spun. It may require twining to use for my purposes.