Fingerloop Braid Experiment

Introduction

Fingerloop braiding was one of my very first art forms in the SCA. I learned the technique from Mistress Annora verch Llwyd Bryneirian during an Arts and Sciences meeting in 2004 in the Canton of Bard's Keep, Barony of Western Seas, Caid. Since then, I have obtained the Compleat Anachronist issue on Fingerloop braiding (issue #108) and attended various classes to learn specific patterns.

However, I wanted to continue to learn and grow in this art form. To do this, I decided I need to better understand how each strand in any given pattern moves. I decided to begin with my favorite pattern from the Compleat Anachronist, “A grene dorge of vj bowes.” When followed exactly, this pattern produces a flat cord with one color running down each side and two additional colors alternating down the center.

My first two examples simply eliminate one of the three colors from the pattern, leaving a single color down the middle bordered by a second color on each side. From there, I have rearranged which colors are placed on which fingers to start the weave, which has yielded some interesting—and beautiful—results.

These cords are all made from cotton crochet thread. In period, silk thread was heavily favored for fingerloop lacings. It is suspected that they were also made of linen to be used as ties for linen undergarments, but no known extant samples have been discovered. I have opted for cotton because it is readily available in a variety of colors and fairly inexpensive to acquire. I chose blue and white because these are the Baronial colors for the Barony of Lochmere, and I intend these cords to be a gift of largesse to Their Excellencies after this display.

Cord variations from a single pattern.

How It Was Done

The original instructions for this pattern are set in a manuscript now housed at the British Library, referred to as Harley Maunscript 2320. This manuscript is believed to be from circa 1450. The original text in English as transcribed by E.G. Stanley reads:

A grene dorge of v[j] bowes: Set 4 bowes of o colouur on B, C ry[3]t and B, C

lyft, and o bowe of anoþer colouur on D ry[3]t, and o bowe of anoþer colouur

on A lyft. Þen take wt A ri[3]t þorow B, C ry[3]t þe bowe of C lyft reuerced. þen

lowe þy bowe of B lift vnto C. Þen schal B lyft take þorow C lyft þe bowe C

ry[3]t reuerced. Þen lowe þy ry[3]t bowes. Þen schal A lyft change wt D ry[3]t,

&cra.

The redaction of the instructions by Lois Zwales as presented in the Compleat Anachronist issue reads as follows:

A green dorge of 6 bowes: Set 4 bowes of one color on B, C right and B, C left,

and one bowe of another color on D right, and one bowe of another color on A

left. Then take with A right through B, C right the bowe of C left reversed. Then

low thy bowe of B left onto C. Then shall B left take through C left the bowe C

right reversed. Then low thy right bowes. Then shall A left change with D right,

etc.

This diagram of the pattern, which I have modified from the one on www.fingerloop.org, shows the original pattern. To read the moves, consider that A is your pointer finger, B your middle finger, C your ring finger, and D your pinky. R is right, and L is left. Therefore, AR is your pointer finger on your right hand, and so forth. This version of the diagram is shown with no colors specified; it shows only the movements each bowe and finger makes.

Now, to create the cord with blue running down the center bordered by white, I set the bowes up as follows:

AL and DR: Blue
BCL and BCR: White

Visually, that looks like this:

To create the cord with a white center bordered by blue, I reversed the color setup.

We can see that the bowes on AL and DR are the only two that make up the center stripe of the cord. The other four, then, create the borders. But how, exactly, do they weave together to make those borders?

I began setting the colors up in random starting arrangements, to see what might emerge.

Variation One

This cord is set up as follows:

ABCL Blue

BCDR White

After move three, the colors have not returned to their “home positions” as they did in the previous cord. Also, because AL and DR are not the same color, we do not find a solid stripe running down the center of the cord.

Variation Two

This cord is set up as follows:

ABL and DR: White
CL and BCR: Blue

Once again the colors are not back at home at the end of the first round of moves, but AL and DR are the same color and so we do see the central stripe emerge along the length of the cord.

Variation Three

This cord is set up as follows:

ABL and CDR: White

CL and BR: Blue

Variation Four

This cord is set up as follows:

AL: Blue

BCL and BCDR: White

For this pattern, the lone blue bowe stays in position until Move Three, when it goes to DL. In the following round, it moves back to AL. This creates the alternating white and blue stripe down the middle of the cord, which when bordered by white as well comes out looking like a row of tiny blue hearts. I think, of all the experimental cords from this pattern, this is my favorite variation.

Conclusion and Where to Go Next

By altering not the pattern of the weave itself but rather simply the starting positions of the colors, we can create a variety of beautiful cords. Was this done in Period? Maybe. I'd venture to say probably, because it's practical—one would only have to learn a single set of movements to be able to create several different cords.

To truly understand where each bowe goes at each step of the weave, I think I need to do one more experiment—one in which each bowe is a different color. While I'm sure the final cord of such a setup will not be visually pleasing in the least, it will allow me to see exactly where the bowe from BL is in the second, third, fourth, and future rounds through the three moves.

After that experiment, I will begin the process all over again with another pattern!

Works Cited

Primary Source:

Manuscript Harley 2320, circa 1450. In the British Library, with scans on the web at http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=harley_ms_2320_f052r.

Secondary Sources:

Swales, Lois, and Zoe Kuhn Williams. "Fingerloop Braids." Compleat Anachronist, no. 108 (July 2000).

Swales, Lois, and Zoe Kuhn Williams. "Fingerloop Braids." Fingerloop Braids. Accessed February 04, 2016. http://www.fingerloop.org/.

verch Llwyd Bryneirian, Annora. "Beginner Fingerloop Braiding." Lecture, A&S Day, Canton of Bard's Keep, 2004.

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Entered in:
Kingdom A&S Festival, Atlantia--Lochmere Baronial Display