Weaving Yarn Counts

There are many mysteries of weaving out there and for those of us who started out as knitters, buying weaving yarn is one of the great mysteries that give us headaches. When you look at weaving yarn you see lots of 2/20's cotton (and more examples here) so hopefully this post should help with figuring out counts. 

First of all weaving yarn is sold in pounds (lbs) per unit length and is called the fixed weight yarn count system. Here just like knitting, the finer the yarn the more yarn you get in 1 pound. The more yarn you get in 1 pound the higher the count number. This count number gives the number of unit lengths in a pound. 

Yarn	Count
Cotton	840 yards / pound
Spun Silk	840 yards / pound
Worsted spun wool (avg)	560 yards / pound
Linen	300 yards / pound

For example if you get 10 skeins (or hanks etc) of cotton, this is shortened to 10's cotton. This count changes with different fibres and spinning systems. When you see 2/20's cotton this means that 2 strands of the 10's cotton (of equal weight) have been plied together. The yarn is now twice as thick so the amount you get per pound is halved.

So a 2/20 cotton has 8400 yards/pound i.e. 20 x 840 = 16800 / 2 = 8400 yards / pound

                                                                   (units) x (count) / (ply) = yards / pound. 

a 2/40 linen has 6000 yards/pound i.e. 40 x 300 = 12000/2 = 6000 yards per pound. If this is sold in an 8 oz cone then you get just under half a pound so you get approx 3000 yards. (1 ounce is 0.0625 of a pound).

In general weaving yarns on the cone do work out cheaper then knitting yarn of the same weight because you are buying in higher quantities. I will add to the yarn counts above as I come across them in my daily ramblings. For now I hope this helps a little.

Here are some useful abbreviations:

ne - the English cotton numbering system, based on the number of 840 yd strands per lb
nel - lea, the English linen numbering system, based on the number of 300 yd strands per lb
nm - the metric system, based on the number of metres per gram
wc - worsted count, the most common wool numbering system, based on the number of 560 yd strands per lb
den - the denier system, based on the weight of 9000 metres
tex - weight in grams per 1000m length
wpc - wraps per centimetre
wpi - wraps per inch

N

30th Birthday - Beautiful Waterford

Waterford City and the Viking Triangle - May 2012

I know there are a few of you who wanted to know where I was whisked off too on my birthday well it was Waterford City during some of the most beautiful weather we have had this year.  After work on the 22nd and a happy birthday hug from SkippyKnits it was a trip to the the train station where J collected me and put me out of my misery (only after we where on the train mind you). Settling in for a 3 hour journey I got to work with my Finto stash, which L pictured for me on Saturday. 

We stayed at the Tower Hotel which over looks Reginald's Tower (pictured above) and is smack bam in the town center. We got to do so much that I really do not want to bore you with all the details so here are a few pictures that help round up my Birthday.

Waterford Crystal Clock

Being a craft person I really wanted to see the glass blowing at Waterford Crystal. This was great and the tour only took 30 minutes.The master crafts men in each of the sections (blows, cutters and etchers) where really friendly and answered lots and lots of questions.  The tour ends in their exquisite showroom and I was blown away by their attention to detail while showing off their work.

Both of us love historical buildings and historical crafts and swords. Waterford was no disappointment. I got to take part in some viking basket weaving, see some amazing cloth weaving and I got to tour Bishop's palace and Reginald's Tower in small tour groups of 5 and under. Best of all my birthday lunch involved local cheeses and was followed by some very fancy swords :D

One of the best birthday surprises was my birthday dinner where we got to take a private candlelit booth at Bodega restaurant. By far this was the best food we had while in Waterford City, most of all I was bouncing up and down because the booth was surrounded by wine which had sheep on the labels.

Waterfor Castle Hotel

The following day was a scorcher so we took a wonderful river cruise on the Suir. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the castle hotel and picnic with the deer because I got distracted by something shiny (as normal) and  I was so wiped out from everything that I convinced J to finish our time here with some iced cider in the sun over looking the river.

River Cruise on the Suir

All in all it was a wonderful birthday from the craft night out with you wonderful people to the late night in Yamamori and the market bar, from weaving lessons to my trip you guys are wonderful and I really appreciate all the kind wishes and happy birthdays. I don't feel so bad turning 30 now :)

Textile Thursday - Woven Project Bag

Just before her bath-time

This week I have been working on a new project bag. This was a little tough as I have never warped my loom with cotton before and especially not knitting cotton. With this in mind I did not want to spend a fortune on her so I grabbed some Ianthe (which I got on sale) and Sublime Egyptian cotton which is under 5 euro and a grab bag from Hickey's for 3 euro and I got to work. 

I used Ianthe only in my warp and used a 7.5dpi reed. This is a sturdy fabric and holds together really well. I worked in some danish medallions at the top of the bag for 2 inches using the egyptian cotton. The sublime cotton is mercerised and really shiny so this catches the light really well. I then striped in the sublime cotton every 4th picks for 2 picks and I used Ianthe for the rest of the weft. I also found some blue scrap fabric in my grab bag which I used to line the bag. (My sewing skills are terrible and I will be joining the sewing group on Friday the 25th of May) At the moment I am really not that happy with my handles or the top of my bag so I will be changing these as soon as I can find some nice bamboo ones. 

stripy lining 

The only other project I have to post about at the moment is my Noro cowl. Do you remember a few weeks ago I posted about my weaving terror? Well look at her now:

Noro Cowl

I used my new sewing machine and over locked the frayed ends where the hole had been. I then seamed the two new ends and turned them so I have an infinity cowl, my very first woven infinity cowl. I am going to wear her with pride today :) 

Textile Thursday - Alpaca Blanket Day

Blanket

Yip I'm getting a little bit liberal when I call this a throw, this is really a large toddler blanket and measures 35 by 48 inches. This really didn't take any time to weave at all but oh man the hem stitching! After soaking in her luxury bath this blanket bloomed and turned into a really soft piece. This is my first ever blanket so I'm very proud of her.

Now I tried my best to get some good photos of her but the dungeon of darkness we live in (she is a beautiful duplex but really dark) and these are the best two:

Hanging on the couch

This one I  tried to capture the texture of the blanket so please forgive the blurring:

Folded

Now I did try with these photos, the grey in the blanket is just crazy when it comes to light. The light just bounces right off it and because this place is so dark sometimes thats impossible not to use a flash. Now I hear you, I could have gone outside to what use to be a lovely area, now it's full of diggers and builders on all four sides and EVERYTHING has that thin film of dust on it because of that dang wind :( So I can safely say I am not taking her out there for a photo. 

I'll take her on a picnic soon just so we can take some lovely pictures of her.

See you next week
N

Textile Thursday *ahem* and Weaving Questions Answered

Ok so this Thursday kind of snuck up on me, I have been sick for most of the week so most of my work is still exactly where it was a week ago. My weaving scarf still isn't fixed and my knitting has not progressed an inch! So I will leave you with a short post and a wonderful picture of my loom FULLY warped!! 

Warp still attached to dowel

and on the loom

Isn't she gorgeous????? This yarn is an alpaca boucle yarn in blue, navy and grey. When this grows up it will be a toddler blanket of 32" x 42" and snuggly to boot. I am however a bit fearful that it will be too much like a towel but we will see. The yarn has been sitting in my stash for about a year now and its time to shine has come. (I was going to use a Logan's Run phrase here but I figured my sense of humour is an acquired one and I don't know you guys well enough yet!)

I guess I should use this post to answer some of the questions I have been getting about looms.

Is it really expensive?

To buy the loom like anything else it can be budgeted to what you can afford. You don't have to go for a 32 inch or 42 inch loom. Mine was around 190 euro but its the second biggest Rigid Heddle you can buy. The smaller looms are cheaper.

Weaving itself is as expensive as you make it. My Brown Sheep scarf was under 10 euro with the beads. the Noro scarf was 17.95 and done in an afternoon and my Opal scarf was just under ten. Yes my Christmas this year is sorted :)

Is it really difficult? 

No not really, I completely agree with most people that if you can knit you can weave. The thought process is similar, instead of using maths to size a garment to fit you, you size a rectangle or a square to what you want. Mostly its time, patience and logic is all you need. If your looking for a particular type of math or calculation for a project, I will do my best to point you in the right direction, remember Excel is your friend.

There are some great blog posts out there on weaving math and calculating warp and weft so I really don't want to take away from them. Haley Studio has an online calculator here and of course Weavolution has one here. Feministy has some Excel spreadsheets here just to name a few :)

I have a loom but I just can't put it together....

There are many manuals on the internet. Most importantly you need to find the manufactures mark, name or brand of your loom. All Ashford looms come with step by step instructions and then some YouTube videos just in case you *loose* the instructions, so I really can't recommend these guys enough though there are other types of looms out there. In this case search engines are your friend and you can always throw a post up on the forums of Weavolution, these guys are great. 

 Here in Ireland its hard to get your hands on a supplier so this is generally the limiting factor. Kromski (harp), Schacht and Cricket are all different brands of looms and obviously different prices. If your interested there are many comparison sites out there from people who have woven on a few looms for example spinninglizzy has some great pictures on the Kromski and Schacht looms. 

Can I weave with any yarn?

Well this depends on your loom, in particular your heddle (or reed) the dpi indicated on your reed with tell you the thickness of yarn (wpi) that you can use.  The knitters loom in particular comes with wide dents so that knitting yarn can be used, though some worsted weight and chunky yarns are going to give you an almost bulletproof fabric. So yes you can use your stash if you want. I know Master weavers will say that RH looms or lap looms are toys and in comparison to their art they are but your loom is either your profession or your hobby and how you use it is up to you. Craft is all about trial and error and don't let anyone tell you any differently, as long as your having fun and enjoying your project then keep on loomin'.

Are there Weaving patterns?

Yes they are called drafts and you can download some free ones from interweave from http://www.weavingtoday.com/. Ravelry has not opened up on drafts yet (crosses fingers and wishes really hard they will soon) but there is a section on peoples project pages where you can see what drafts they used. Again I'll point you in the direction of  Weavolution for some more drafts. 

Reading weaving charts is another matter entirely so I suggest taking a class if your really interested.

:) And that is it for today folks...

Please leave a comment if you have any more questions, I'll be more than happy to point you in a direction if I don't know the answer. 

Textile Thursday - The Weaving Terror

What my scarf should look like, all 70 inches of her

Ok so that moment has arrived, you know the one. You start to get that sick feeling in your stomach, a tingling in your spine that keeps on growing. Yip, you f***ed up badly and now there is no going back.

So its Monday night, I was taking my new lovely handwoven scarf out of the sink and I snagged it on the chain for the stopper. Do not ask me how on earth I did it but I did. I went through the motions of any craft person who looses a piece......... anger, sadness, grief and then finally and bitterly, acceptance. I messed up and now I have to fix it.

 A couple of deep breathes later, I scoured the internet for ways to fix a woven textile to no avail. I came up with the idea of searching for alternative finishes to my scarf but where the rip occurred will not allow me to work some magic. I let the now broken scarf, dry. I knew this would allow the weft yarn to fluff up and create more stability around the area. I had this idea that I could create a new hem and then sew the new fabric together to form a circular scarf. Well they are on trend at the moment but it somehow did not make the loss of the rest of my fabric, that I had worked hard on, any better.

What she does look like, all 35 inches of her :(

Tuesday, after the piece dried, I rolled the new loose ends in on themselves and cross stitched them for support. I know they won't unravel as some textiles are finished this way. Two very tedious hours later I had two finished hems which needed to be sewn together. The only thing niggling at me is that the scarf is now too short to be a scarf. It has to be a circular scarf or a child's scarf and there is no way that this twenty euro a ball silk garden scarf, was going to a child that is certain. Also if I sew these ends together they will be lumpy and the knitter inside of me is screaming (honestly throwing a tantrum) because seaming should not take away from your finished object. There has to be some way of attaching these two pieces together without forming a quadruple layer of fabric. 

Right back to mulling it over and an idea sprung in the back of my mind that I instantly dismissed. Wednesday morning came and the idea was still there and after my second cup of coffee I said "Ah, why not it can't get any worse" Yes, yes I did. I said that to myself. I think I must be the only person who thinks that things have hit rock bottom and in fact you realise that there is a whole bottomless pit beneath the "bottom" you think you have smacked your head off............

Yes I'm going to make you wait till next week to find out more ;)
N

Loom Day!

Today, Sunday the 15th of April was Loom Day and for me I have been waiting for a long time for today. For my 30th birthday (which is in May) J asked me if there was anything that I would like. I was thinking hummm spinning wheel and J said no we don't have the space so jokingly I said loom and he said "huh, erh ok I guess" Those where the famous last words.

We looked online to see what was available and I love Ashford products and I was looking at the knitters loom that folds but it only goes to 20 inches and I was thinking 'Well if I get a loom I'm probably going to want to weave not just scarves but cushion covers and more textile home things out of my stash' so in the end I decided on the Ridgid Heddle 32 inch loom. Mostly because we were thinking that it would fit under the bed (and just in case your wondering it does!!)

Loom from the box

I very nicely asked Lisa in This is Knit if I could order the loom and two weeks later I was bringing home my loom. It was meant to be, prefect timing as I was at my lowest with everything going on. As soon as I got home I shoved the furniture in the living room aside and ripped open the box. The above picture are the contents of the box and 45 minutes later I had this beauty:

32 inch loom fully assembled

I have absolutely no problem recommending an Ashford loom. It came with very detailed assembly instructions, weaving patterns for 4 types of loom and for some handspun yarns, a buyers catalogue for wheels and looms and most importantly a card with the name and photo of the person who packed and made my loom! Another lovely touch is on their website Ashford have a series of tutorials on how to use their products so you are not left with a wheel or loom that you got as a present and can't use.

Saturday evening I set up a warp with Silk Garden Sock which you can see in the picture below isn't it beautiful!

Silk Garden Sock

It was so addictive J had to have a go (I know it was my present but J was fascinated with how it worked)

J Weaving

Sunday I sat in my PJ's watching T.V. and just wove. I used silk garden as both the warp and weft yarn. Now at this point I would like to say that I mis-calculated *ahem* the amount of weft yarn I would need. I had assumed that I had 400 meters of yarn but silk garden is 300 meters. So I ran out of yarn with about 50 meters to go ( I had taken into account the waste from the fringe process), so I dived into my stash and found some pure hand spun wool that I inherited from a friend's mum. It was perfect!

Scarf pre - washing

I finished weaving after about 3 hours, I wasn't weaving constantly. I stopped for lunch and tea breaks but I was pulling a scarf off my new loom pretty soon after I started!. I let it soak in warm water with a little bit of conditioner and out came this beauty below. I am thrilled with my loom and my new scarf! The silk garden was a perfect choice the texture is amazing and the colour changes are subtle and light. I can't wait to try another colourway.

Scarf post - washing