06/14/2026
At the Woven Wisdom workshop in May, we learned an ancient textile making method called sprang, from Nicole DeRushie, author of Bog Fashion.
Sprang uses only parallel warp threads stretched out on a frame and manipulated by exchanging adjacent threads to create twists that are mirrored at the opposite end of the warp.
I made a frame by bending a fallen cedar branch into an oval shape, and used lovely wool yarn that Nicole had hand spun for our warps.
Running anchor lines across the frame near the top and bottom gave me parallel lines to wrap my warp around. I wrapped both anchor lines until I had twelve threads in front, and twelve in back.
On row one, working from right to left, I swapped the first two back threads with the first single front thread. For the rest of that row, I swapped only one back thread with one front thread, until two front threads remained, which went to the back as a pair. Then I snugged the twists to the top and bottom of the warp, and slipped a “safety line” between the sets of threads, so I could reset my twists during the next row if I made a mistake.
On row two, I took the rightmost single back thread, and swapped it with the first single front thread, and continued thus across the row. This was to offset the order of threads, so each one wasn’t twisting around the same partner.
I repeated this alternating pattern until I got close to middle, which I secured by tying the lifeline around the front and back. Then I then used the ends of the lifeline to stitch up the sides, and threaded some extra yarn through the top loops to make a drawstring.
Maybe one day I will try making a simplified version of the Danish Bronze Age hair net discovered in a grave in 1871. (Peter Collingwood, 1974, p. 38, & plate 31). For now, I will just enjoy using my little sprang bag!
