I’ve made a double face tablet weaving pattern for a rose, with five petals, five leaves and a pierced centre. It takes a total of 48 cards: 42 pattern cards and 6 border cards. Take a look and see what you think!
The rose is one of the oldest flowers depicted in heraldry. In its simplest form, it is a five petaled flower. In *really* early heraldic devices, there was no distinction between a rose and a cinquefoil. Having already made a pattern for a cinquefoil, I looked at later depictions of roses in heraldy and manuscripts. I lost count of the ways a rose has been drawn – with leaves, with extra details, with multiple layers of petals.
Even keeping thing “simple” I found that I could not reduce the number of pattern cards below 42, without losing too much detail. The concave outer edges of the petals and the leaves were key features that I wanted to keep.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure about the result when I wove it, so I set it aside for several months. When I came back to it, I looked at it with new eyes and was rather pleased with how it looked. Now I’m determined to design other versions – right after I’ve finished the current project that’s on the cards 🙂
When you try the pattern:
- Ideally, I’d suggest adding space to either side of the rose with more pattern cards, but you don’t have to.
- I recommend a minimum of 3 border cards on each edge of the band.
- When worked in #80 crochet cotton the band turns out at between 23mm to 25mm wide.
- Use a weft thread that is thinner than the warp, and beat the weft in very firmly. This helps minimise distortion of the rose.
Stringcrafter 