If you are ready to learn the sprang technique of intertwining, then this post is for you.
This is the bare basics of how to perform intertwining. You should already be familiar with the basics of sprang interlinking. If you are not, or you need a brush up on your skills, check out this post.
Intertwining, as the name so obviously states, utilizes the weaving technique of twining where two threads twine around another set of threads. In weaving, the twining threads generally run in a straight horizontal line across the warp threads.
In the sprang technique, sets of threads twine around each other on a diagonal slant. I will go into more depth on intertwining in a future post when I describe how to change up your intertwining. For this post though, I will be sticking with the most basic way to intertwine.
Here is a short video on how to work intertwining. Written instructions with extra tips and photographs can be found below.
Setting up your warp
Warp up like you would for interlinking, however make sure that you have a number of threads divisible by four. Since the threads move across the warp on a diagonal, rather then down in vertically, there will be more take up in the length of your warp then in regular interlinking. I would recommend a warp that is at least 15% to 20% longer then your desired finished length and about 20% to 30% narrower then your desired finished width (that is a number I picked off the top of my head from my own experience, I have not tested it out yet).
Working intertwining sprang
Intertwining consists of two rows:
Row 1: bypass the first back thread and pick up second back thread. Bring it into your right hand in front of the first back thread but behind the front threads. Then push the second front thread over the first front thread and let it drop to behind your right hand. With the remaining two threads that you bypassed, work a normal pick and drop by picking up the back thread and dropping off the front thread. That is the basic maneuver to make intertwining. Continue working each set of four threads in this manner across the warp.
Row 2: begin the second row by picking the first back thread and dropping the first front thread. Then work the next and all subsequent sets of four just like on row 1. When you get to the end of the row you will have just one back and one front thread remaining. Pick and drop those threads as you did the first set.
The purpose of working the beginning threads differently is to allow the twining threads to move across the warp. When the second back and second front threads are worked before the first back and first front threads, this moves those threads from the left to the right side of the set of four. On the next row, when you work those threads, they are again moved from the left of the first front and first back threads to the right of them. This continues until that set of threads comes to the edge of the warp, at which point they pivot and become a back set of threads and work across the warp to the left.
See the highlighted threads in the finished piece below to follow the path of a set of threads.
Here is the progression of one set of front threads as they are moved across the warp. You can see how working the left hand threads from one set of four and the right hand threads from the next set of four results in the left hand threads moving across the warp.
Intertwining is finished off the in same manner as interlinking. It can be chained, woven, cut or tied. I like cutting and braiding it because if you section off your threads in the sets of four, then your edge will still stretch nicely and look nice.
Ready to try a intertwined project? Well intertwining makes really nice bags, but if you want a fun, summer project, check out my post for making an intertwined halter top!