SMASH THE SHELL

I learned how to do this technique at my very first Pennsic, and I promptly went home and bought the bulkiest yarn I could find to make myself a belt using it. I’m pretty sure this is an entirely non-period technique, but it’s cool and this belt served me well for over 10 years.

I know a lot more about yarn and textiles now, of course… I would never again make a belt out of loosely-twisted yarn. It fuzzes like nothing else I’ve ever seen. And I have several looms on which I can make heddle- or tablet-woven belts that use period techniques and patterns instead. But this was fun, caught my attention as a newbie, and I continued to get compliments on it throughout it’s life of wear. It is a fun and eyecatching pattern that looks period-ish even if it is not actually documentable.