Here is the preliminary list of papers, presentations, and workshops for the Textile Forum 2026 about knots!
Micky Schoelzke, France: Tying and dyeing with Indigo
Indigo dyeing has a long common story with knotting and tying techniques, from Japanese shibori to Asian ikat weaving or African Adire. The presentation of these techniques as well as the description of the specifics of indigo dyeing will be followed by a practical workshop where participants can try their hands at tying and dyeing with indigo on cotton cloth. We will also have a go at Ikat weaving after tying and dyeing threads with indigo during the Forum.
Anne Kwaspen, Belgium: A Colombian Textile - How was it made?
A large Colombian pre-Hispanic net was made to cover the deceased. It was made using a technique that combines knot-netting and braiding. The textile will be introduced in a short presentation; a following workshop is planned to try and figure out how it may have been made.
Orsolya Zay, Hungary: Knotted Embroidery in the Hungarian Úrihímzés Tradition: The Knotted Flowers of Early Modern Hungary
Úrihímzés (embroidery of the nobles) is a distinctive embroidery tradition that flourished in the Kingdom of Hungary during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its characteristic visual language developed at the intersection of different cultural influences: elements of late Renaissance European embroidery and Ottoman decorative traditions were adapted and transformed into patterns characteristic of early modern Hungarian textile culture. Numerous original examples have survived, partly because richly embroidered textiles were also produced for ecclesiastical use, often in aristocratic environments and in workshops associated with noblewomen. In addition to preserved textiles, archaeological finds provide further evidence for the materials, techniques and use of embroidered objects in early modern Hungary. Elements of the motifs and techniques of úrihímzés also survived and were transformed within later regional traditions of Hungarian folk embroidery.
The first part of this paper will provide an introduction to úrihímzés, a textile tradition that remains little known outside Hungary despite its rich surviving material. It will briefly discuss its historical and cultural context, characteristic motifs, materials and techniques, as well as the different types of sources through which it can be studied.
The second part will focus on a particularly unusual and much less researched regional form associated with northern Hungary: the so-called knotted embroidery. In this technique, small knots are used to build up elements of the embroidered pattern, creating a distinctive textured surface. Although this type belongs to the broader tradition of úrihímzés, it represents a remarkable regional solution within it and has received comparatively little scholarly attention.
By presenting surviving examples and the knowledge currently available about their construction, this paper aims to introduce úrihímzés to an international audience and to place this little-known knotted technique within the wider context of early modern Hungarian textile culture.
Monika Hoede, Germany: Passementerie trimmings/frog fasteners/Brandenbourgs worked freehand without support
Originally Ribbon weaver, from the end of the 17th century onwards button maker and today Trimming maker/ Passementator formed passementerie trimmings only using the hands, without using a cushion or similar aid to hold the work in place. A short introduction into the history of this craft will be followed by a practical introduction to the most important knots and variations.
Andrea Hiebel, Germany: Hands-on Birka passementerie - knotting, braiding, looping?
This will be a short practical outlook on the passementerie finds from Birka and how they may have been made.
Mari Voipio, Finland: Different ways of knotting string heddles for heddle-woven bands and weaving with them.
Warp-faced heddle-woven bands appear in archeological material every now and then, but we don't usually know how they were woven. The various methods of measuring and knotting the string heddles and weaving with them used in this workshop are pulled from modern and ethnological material from various Northern European cultures, and can be used to weave prehistoric and medieval warp-faced heddle-woven bands. Historically, string heddles seem to have been used by themselves, with a shed rod or a shed stick, with or without a heddle rod, or in addition to a basic rigid heddle. Sometimes in a frame, often on backstrap warp. In certain combinations, a modern inkle loom with tensioned heddles can be combined with additional slack string heddles, so some of the knotting practice/experiments can be done on an inkle loom if the participants desire to do that.
Anne Kwaspen, Belgium: Different types of knots used in Egyptian archaeological textiles.
This presentation provides an overview of the knots encountered when analysing textiles from the Roman to Early Islamic period in Egypt. These types of knots include weaving knots, finishing knots, and netting. In the corresponding workshop, we will look at the most common type of finishing border for woollen cloths, which is a twisted border ending in a knot. While not entirely exclusive, the presence of this knot is an indication that the depicted clothing in Roman-period statues is made of wool. The border looks much simpler than it is to make.
Susanne Michels, Germany: Knotted Fringes on Historical Textiles.
Fringes, while not very common in medieval textiles, can be mostly found in connection with liturgical objects. Many of these fringes are woven, but some are also made in a knotting technique. These will be the focus of the presentation, followed by a practical part to try out the different possible methods for making a knotted fringe.
Katrin Kania, Germany: Introduction to Filet Netting
Knotted nets were used as fishnets, but there is a variant using fine threads to make hairnets - with a slightly different knot and using a special filet needle. The nets can be used as they are or used as the basis for embroidery to decorate them further.
In the workshop, you will be introduced to the basic knot used for making hairnets, adding or subtracting meshes, and varying their size - everything necessary to make a hairnet in the style of the Late Middle Ages.