History of weaving Sweden & Scandinavia

•The history of weaving looks different in different parts of the world. Therefore, I will tell you a little about the history of Sweden and Scandinavia's weaving.

•In Scandinavia we find in principle all recruitments from about 1700-1300 BC, but there are even older finds from Sweden, such as: Gerumsmanteln. The Gerum mantle is woven with wool yarn and is said to come from between 400-200 BC, in other words, already since the pre-Roman Iron Age. This leads us to believe that the history of weaving in Scandinavia began already then or probably before . 

What patterns were woven?

Different fabrics can weave different kinds of patterns and motifs, but the most common in Scandinavia in the past were among others; patterns such as stripes and zigzags, but also moose, animals and during the Viking Age about Nordic mythology. But it all depended on when and where you were.  

The most common materials in Scandinavia were;

•wool, linen, but also silk and by the 19th century came cotton as well. 

•Wool was mainly for everyday use in that it was easy to get hold of and did not need to be washed as often

 •Flax is a very natural material with long fibers. The fact that the material has long fibers makes it hardwearing and durable, if you handle it correctly. It was also fairly easy to access which explains why it was common.  

How did they weave then? 

 •Since warp-weight weaves seem to have been the most common -and oldest-, I'm just going to go into how you weave with one.

 •First you must prepare the fabric; tie the warp (the vertical threads) on the loom, attach the weights to the bottom of each thread and separate the threads so that each other thread is a little in front and the other trust behind. Warp weights have a stick at the bottom and middle of the height to be able to separate the threads. The fabric boom itself can also be spun; you make a spin to roll up the fabric so you can continue weaving without problems. Then just pull the weft (horizontal thread, the one you are weaving with) every other in front and every other behind, back and forth.

Types of looms  

The upright loom 

The upright or man-made loom, suitable for all types of carpets. It was used more by the refugees of Asia Minor and by them it spread throughout Greece and Cyprus. On the upright loom they wove mainly carpets as in the countries of the East.

Fythkiotiko Weaving - the most well-known in Cyprus

Fythkiotiko is the most well-known type of Cyprus weaving.

"Fythkiotika" were mainly made in the village of Fyti in the province of Paphos which is where they also received their name. 

Materials used 

 • carding combs (Lanaria): two pieces with metal protrusions. They are used for the first process of the wool and specifically for the first scratching of the wool or flax.

• Wooden spindle: Wooden shaft with metal flywheel. It has a wrapped thread, while one end, ends in a metal hook.

• Drop spindle: it's a straight spike usually made from wood used for spinning,twisting fibers such us wool, cotton in to yarn.

• Flywheel (sfondyli): Round stone accessory with a hole placed in the drop spindle to facilitate the normal rotation of the yarn

Things made from the Cypriot loom

To make a thing from the loom we have a/ to press a lever the scallops move one up and the other down giving the possibility between the threads b/ to pass the thick woolen threads that would become blankets or bedding.

From the loom we can make blankets, towels, tablecloths and blankets.

The sitting loom

 The sitting loom is the most common and widespread type of loom in Cyprus. We can distinguish two types, the loom whose legs are permanently nailed to the floorboards so that it does not move (this type is called lying down or sitting) and the loom whose legs are movable, such as on a table and which has the convenience to be placed in any part of the house and to be moved. This, of course, is the best and easiest loom.

The loom of the pit

 The loom of the pit is the same as the one sitting, but more skillful in its construction. They were always placed outside the house, in the countryside. It is the simplest because it requires less art and materials than others. It is so called from the necessary pit in which the loom was erected.

They are characterized by colorful, geometric embossed decorations or plumes (ploumia) as they are called, formed on a natural cotton fabric. Ploumia are made during embroidery in intense colors such as blue, red, green, orange and yellow. Nowadays a very small number of women in Fyti deals with the continuation of textile tradition.

A1. Weaving in Ancient Greece

Together with spinning, weaving was one of the most important tasks for the vast majority of women in Ancient Greece. This female activity a was a major part of the labor that the typical woman was expected to perform. It was tightly tied into the expectations and the depictions of femininity in Ancient Greece.

The depictions of spinners and weavers, as well as archeological excavations of weaving tools discovered, proves the important role that textile and weaving production played in lives and social roles of women.

Few women were leading their lives where spinning or weaving was compulsory and mostly not an expected task. Some exceptions were in ancient Sparta; weaving - as well as household duties -were done by slaves of the nearby areas of Messenia.

However, Sparta is not the only place where slaves was doing the labour of spinning and weaving. Female slaves would have been expected to do a certain amount of spinning each day as part of their labour, as well as a large amount of the day-to-day textile production for wealthy Greeks, while wealthier women were willing to concentrate themselves more to textile arts than everyday production.

Representations of women, weaving, and spinning, in myths and oral storytelling are particularly interesting because of the potential link between myth and female storytelling. 

In addition, presentations in pots and ceramics, were likely to have been painted by men, and literature had been by male authors. It seems that these male artists were affected mostly by female-driven ideals than other depictions of women as weavers elsewhere in Ancient Greece.

B. How a loom works - Types of looms in Greece

Loom in Geek is called argalios (αργαλειός). The weaving procedure is based in a croos section of wraps and wefts. The loom actually is a tool or machine that holds the warp threads so the weft fibers can be woven.

Warp: the set of lengthwise fibers that are held in tension on a loom.

Weft: the set of fibers that go through the warp (in a zig-zag way)

In Greek: Warp = srtimoni / Warps = srtimonia    -    Weft = ifadi/ Wefts = ifadia

Warps or srtimonia is the thread that stretches along the loom and remains stable. The weft or ifadi will pass between them. Ifadi is the fiber that will weave. In order for the thread to pass more easily, it is wrapped in the shuttle or saita.

The standing loom or vertical loom. 

The sitting loom or horizontal loom. 

The weaving worker was sitting in the loom body. 

The outdoor loom or loom in a hole.

The weaving worker was not sitting in the loom body. She was sitting in ground and inside a digging hole together with the loom body.This loom was not... portable;it remained permanently outside so as not to be an obstacle in the housework. His disadvantage was its exposure in bad weather.Such looms were used by nomads and farmers.

 The weaving worker was standing, not sitting.It was mainly for carpets and tapestries. It was used by the Greeks living in Turkish coasts. When they came in main Greece as immigrants, they speed it to the other Greeks.