Red Språng Sash

     I made a red sash using a lace pattern for språng taken from a Coptic turban in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.  The warp was circular, and the meeting line was woven in two places then cut.  It took two balls of Knit Picks Shine Worsted yarn, which is a blend of cotton and Modal which is like rayon.
     The curl is strong and as you can see I held it in place with pins to show the pattern.
     When I did a språng program at the weavers guild recently, I said that while officers wore språng military sashes to indicate rank and pregnant Greek women wore språng sashes for religious reasons (at least according to Wikipedia), it is possible that they also wore them for back support.  Everyone said, oh, yes, of course.  I still think somebody needs to test this idea.  It is tempting to assume that språng acts like a tensor bandage, which Americans call an Ace bandage, putting compression on an area by stretching in width and length.  However, språng only stretches in width.  If you wore this sash, it would feel like an ordinary belt when you tied it.
     A friend put it on and remarked on this fact, as well as how soft the fabric was compared to a tablet-woven belt.  It drapes.  She knew that there was a Medieval drawstring made of språng and worn by Bishop Timothy, so she had been curious as to what it might have been like.
     I showed the sash around at a fiber festival.  Most people asked if it was knitted.  This reaction has only happened with this lace piece, not with the other pieces I've done in plain interlinking.
     I made the sash because I wanted a lace sample of språng for the program.  I told the weavers it was a good thing I love them, or I wouldn't have made the thing.  I like a pattern where you do the same thing all the way across a row, the opposite of lace.  Fortunately, with enough repetition I got used to following the pattern and making the holes.  I even think I could tackle the språng chicken pattern in Herborg Wahl's book Nytt liv i gamle sprangmonstre.  It's hilarious to look at and name.