We've spent the last 3 months talking about all kinds of things that could be warp. Here's a quick review!
And if you've missed anything, I've pulled everything into a convenient playlist for reference! Yarn is pretty…and it’s expensive. Unless you’re always weaving the same exact yarns over and over again, you probably will end up with lots of odds and ends.
This can get carried to the extreme when you inherit someone else’s odds and ends, like I did when I bought my first loom almost ten years ago! In this video, I talk about some of the pitfalls of mixed warps - differential shrinkage, and yarns that stretch different amounts are the two biggest issues I've encountered. But mixed warps are a great way to use up those odds and ends, plus you end up with a unique fabric that no one else has! Usually, when we’re talking about what makes a good warp yarn, texture doesn’t come into play, or if it does, we’re told to avoid it. Why is this?
Well, there are actually several reasons. The first is the most obvious: textured yarns are more likely to catch on parts of your loom - the heddles and the reed, especially. When this happens, they tend to snag and stretch until they break. Another truth behind the “no textured yarn” myth is that when a textured or slubby yarn is created, the slub is often underspun, creating a weak point in the yarn. Lots of weak points across the yarn create lots of opportunities for it to fall apart. Some textured yarns, like mohair, tend to be “sticky.” The fuzzy texture, combined with the properties of the fiber itself, can make the yarns stick together, making getting a clean shed difficult. With other novelty yarns, like chenille or ribbon yarns, tension issues may come into play, causing the yarn to “worm” its way out of the fabric, and while it isn’t necessarily prone to breakage, it might be difficult to get your desired results. So, with all that said, should you avoid textured and novelty yarns in your warps? That’s really up to you, but you can get some really interesting textures that not many other people will have if you’re brave enough to try it! As always, you still need to make sure that your yarn is strong enough for warp. You’ll also want to choose a structure that shows off your textured yarn, rather than obscures it. I find that going simple is often a great idea, and usually stick to plain weaves when I’m working with textured warps. Alternating textured warp ends with smooth warp ends is also a great technique - it really doesn't take that much to add stunning texture to a warp! One additional consideration for your yarn construction is that if you’re dealing with a very textured or slubby yarn, you want to make sure that there’s at least one ply of a strong, smooth yarn - this will help give it strength. Two plies of strong, smooth yarn, combined with a slubby ply is even better! You'll want to make sure your yarn is thin enough at its thickest point to easily pass through your heddles AND your reed. Checking this before you start weaving will save you a lot of frustration later! If your yarn (or any of your slubs) is too thick for your heddles, you could make your own string heddles just for the project. Sounds like a stretch? Not really! Most heddles were all handmade in just this way until the 1840s, when metal heddles were invented. The process is a lot like tying a repair heddle. If your yarn is too thick for your reed, and you don’t want to buy another one, you can consider weaving without a reed. You’ll then beat your weft into place by hand. This technique is often used by Saori weavers and other weavers using art yarns as warp. A more open sett will often help when dealing with textured yarns. (Except chenille, which needs to be closely sett to prevent “worming”!) Patience and keen observation are a must when you’re working with textured and slubby yarns. If something seems off, take a minute to check and see if something is catching somewhere. Also keep an eye on your weaving - are there any warp ends being missed? If so, check their tension, add weight if necessary. You might end up with the odd broken warp end, but that’s not the end of the world! Repairing broken warp ends is part of the process and a good skill to master! Thinking about weaving with knitting yarn? Here's the TL;DR - there are no weaving police, so try it and see what works for you!
On a more serious note, there ARE some significant differences between yarn that's made for weaving and yarn that's made for knitting. It really comes down to the old woolen vs. worsted debate - most knitting yarns are woolen-spun to give them more loft, warmth, and elasticity, while most weaving yarns are worsted-spun to give them strength and drape. But that doesn't mean you can't weave with knitting yarns! In this video, I talk about some of the differences between knitting and weaving yarns, from construction, put-up, price, materials, behavior in a warp, and more.
As someone who has a lot of both knitting and weaving yarns, I tend to be pretty relaxed about what is an "acceptable" warp yarn. After all, we learn through experimentation! Linen is a material that has a reputation for being difficult to weave with. It’s not very elastic, and while strong, it’s prone to abrasion. There are tons of examples of linen yarns being used throughout history. And evidence from the archaeological record indicates that linen and other bast fibers are some of the first fibers that we wove with way back when weaving was first invented. If linen is so historically significant, why does it have such a difficult reputation among modern weavers? Most weavers’ frustrations with linen comes down to two things: its lack of elasticity, which leads to inconsistent tension, and how prone it is to breakage due to abrasion. Managing these factors are really key in weaving with linen successfully. There's one more factor that comes into play: the loom itself. Most modern American weavers use jack-style looms, but these looms put more strain on a linen warp than counterbalance and countermarche looms. Even if you have your loom working against you, it's still possible to weave with linen! Every linen warp I’ve ever made has been on a jack-style loom - but you might want to consider some of these extra tips and tricks: 1. Start with a Short WarpStarting with a shorter warp can be a great way to work with any new yarn. With linen, a short warp can build your confidence, but it can also minimize any inconsistencies in tension. Because inconsistencies in tension tend to build over time, a short warp prevents this problem. If you do run into major issues and have to scrap the project, a shorter warp will also mean that you’ve wasted less yarn (and money)! 2. Wind Your Warp EvenlyWinding an even warp is always important. When warp yarns have a little more give, you have a little more room for error, but because linen is so inelastic, how you warp matters. As you’re measuring out your warp, you want to do it with precise and even tension. Note that you don’t want to warp TIGHTLY, as this can damage your warping board. But you do want to place each thread precisely next to its neighbor. This ensures that each warp end is EXACTLY the same length. If you’re not placing the threads precisely, they’re going in diagonal lines instead of straight lines, and it’s harder to keep the distances precise. Some warp ends will be longer, and some shorter, and this will lead to headaches later on. How big of an issue is this? On my 14-yard warping board, if a warp end is going exactly straight from one peg to the next, the distance between the two pegs is exactly 36 inches. But if the warp end starts at the back of one peg and goes to the front of the next, in a diagonal, it's 36.5 inches. This kind of inconsistency will only build over a long warp - an extra half inch for every yard on a 14-yard warp would be 7 inches! 3. Size Your WarpThe next thing you can do is to size your warp. There are many different ways you can size your warp - on the loom, off the loom, before you wind your warp, or afterwards. The common denominator is that sizing is essentially a glue that later washes out, and it coats down any hairy ends that might make your yarn more prone to abrasion. It also acts as an extra layer of protection against abrasion. Sizing isn’t considered an essential step, but in cultures where linen weaving is still done regularly, sizing linen warps is a normal part of the weaving process. If you feel a little bit daunted by weaving with linen, I’d strongly recommend that you consider sizing your warp for just a little bit more peace of mind. 4. Warp Back to FrontWarping back to front is a great strategy for weaving with linen because it will help to minimize abrasion. The yarn only passes through the reed and heddles once, instead of twice, so you significantly reduce the risk of abrading the warp yarns to the point of breakage. 5. Manage HumidityLinen is more sensitive to humidity than other yarns. That makes sense because it’s literally the phloem that used to carry moisture from the roots to the rest of the plant. When linen is in a humid environment, it relaxes and is at its most elastic. It’s still not very much, but it’s a good thing to know! At an industrial level, linen is usually woven at 70-80% relative humidity to reduce breakage. Hand weavers have all sorts of tricks to add humidity to linen warps to “make them behave.” Peggy Osterkamp suggests that in addition to making sure she winds her warp on with an even tension, she mists her linen warps after tying on but before weaving the header. The moisture lets the linen relax, the header takes up some of the inconsistency, and then she finds the warp tends to have a pretty even tension. I would caution you against getting your warp TOO wet, especially if you’re using metal heddles and a metal reed, which are pretty common these days. Traditionally, reeds were made of wood and heddles were made of string, so moisture wasn’t such a big deal. Now that most weavers tend to use metal reeds, if you use too much moisture trying to tame a linen warp, you’ll risk a rusty reed, ESPECIALLY if you’re using an older carbon steel reed. 6. Advance Your Warp OftenAs you weave, you’re abrading your warp with your beater. By advancing your warp often, in small increments, you’ll space this out more evenly. 7. Weight Naughty WarpsIf you do end up with the occasional loose warp thread, you can add weight with an S-hook. 8. Use a TempleOn any warp, you’ll get the most abrasion at the selvedges, especially if you have some draw-in. Using a temple is a great way to control draw-in, giving you two benefits: a more consistent width for your fabric, and less abrasion at the selvedge. 9. Use an Even BeatUsing an even beat with linen is important. It tends to show an uneven beat more than other fibers, even after wet-finishing. Advancing your warp often will help with this. 10. Wind Bobbins with Even TensionBecause linen is such a stiff material when it’s new, it has a reputation for “jumping” off bobbins. This can lead to inconsistent amounts of yarn feeding off the bobbin, which makes weaving consistently difficult. The first method for working with this is just to wind your bobbins with an even tension. That’s a good standard practice overall, but it’s just that much more important when you’re working with linen. 11. Consider Wetting Your WeftSome people like to take this a step further, and actually wet their weft threads before weaving. The idea is that the wet fibers will bend more easily around the selvedges. If you’re going to do this, be sure to use plastic bobbins, like the ones Schacht makes, and don’t leave your bobbins soaking TOO long. Even though linen has antibacterial and antifungal properties, it IS a natural fiber that will decompose. You probably don’t want bobbins full of moldy or musty yarn! 12. Relax the Tension on Your WarpAs you’re weaving, you want to have an even tension, but not too much. The temptation is to crank your warp to the tightest tension possible to get a super clean shed, but when you do that with linen, it will be more prone to breaking because it lacks elasticity. Try letting your warp be just a *TINY* bit looser than you might want, and see how it does. 13. ...And Be Sure to Relax at the End of the Day!When you finish weaving for the day, be sure to release a little bit of tension. This is a best practice in general, but it’s particularly important with linen warps.
ESPECIALLY if you’ve been adding humidity to your warp in some way, as the warp dries out, it will shrink slightly. And linen is strong - so strong, that across a wide warp, it could bend or even break your warp beam if it becomes too tight! |
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