Sprang! has sprung to the top of my to-do list. Here is the beginning of my first sprang piece. The yarn is wool and silk, spun by me.

This ancient form requires little in the way of financial outlay: a few sticks or dowels, some string or cord, and leftover yarn. Sprang resembles weaving or knitting, but it is closest in process to braiding: yarns or cords are twisted to form a web or net. If you've ever done card weaving, sprang is like card weaving without any weft.

Sprang apparently developed before weaving, many years before the current era or birth of Christ. This remarkable web page shows a picture of what the author calls a hair net (I think it's a bonnet) found in a bog in Denmark and dated 1,400 BCE:

http://www.denblauwenswaen.nl/public/sites/english/techniques/sprang.htm



Soon I will show you my attempt at the next stage of sprang, twisting. Changes at the top of the piece should magically appear at the bottom, slanting the opposite way.

À bientôt!