Thursday, October 29, 2009

A yarn to weave

No, I am not going to weave a story, rather I will tell you about yarns that we can weave with on our handheld looms. Some of the yarns work so much better than others and I have tried many of the ones we carry in the shop. There are some such as the Kertzer/Shepherds 100% wool that weaves very easily and felts so well too. We have at least fifty different colors from which to choose. I have used it for scarves and purses and plan to do an afghan in the near future.
The purse you see pictured here is made from this wool. This had started out as the "sheep" but I had become discouraged with it and converted it into this purse. Much better use of the squares. Love the colors in it.

The "life style" yarn is a merino superwash wool made in Germany. It would be great for baby afghans and scarves but will not felt. The colors are so pretty and we have quite a few of them. You would probably want to double it for making a scarf. It has one hundred seventy yards so you could get about twenty-one four by four inch pieces from it or fifteen of the four by six inch pieces.
This just came in recently and I have not used it yet but have used other of our merino superwash and liked it.


Another one that I have used and enjoyed working with is the New England Shetland yarn. The skein has two-hundred seventeen yards and is found to felt well. The colors are fibrant and deep and would work well in purses I double it also to weave.

The Paint Box is similar yarn but is multi-colored and gives some varied colored pieces from the same ball. It has approximately one hundred yards and also felts well. If the yarn feels a little harsh to you, soak the finished item over night in white vinegar and water, I used one to four ratio, and it does a great job. I did some Noro yarn and it soften up a great deal. Actually, if you are felting these yarns do not soften the item because the felting will soften it.

I love to weave and create using the multi-colored yarn.
The scarf lying on the basket of Ranco is an example. The yarn is found in our sock yarn collection but is so soft and fun to use. The content is wool and polyamide and can be washed and in cool water there should be no felting. After all, it is for knitting socks. There are three hundred seventy-five yards, so even when doubled you can get twenty-three pieces of four by four.


The Mochi Plus has been calling my name ever since it arrived in our shop. I have resisted it, not because it may not work but because I have too many other "yarns in the fire." Ha ha! It is sooo soft and really lovely multi-colored balls. It is machine washable, wool with nylon, and has ninety-five yards. It is bulky enough to weave single. I look forward to using it. Let me know if you are weaving with it and how you like it.

We have received some more of the four by four looms and a couple of the two by two. These are for sale though I will keep mine here in the shop for you to come in and use here for a few little pieces. I am making copies of some of the textural patterns found in old pattern books. I can not sell these but will give them to you since we not receiving the books which I have tried so hard to carry and the owner of Buxton Brooks is not coming through. Unfortunately, these I have available for you are for the four by four looms but you could incorporate them into the larger pieces. If you need help, I am here for you.

Halloween tonight, can Thanksgiving be far behind? I hope that you and your childre, or grandchildren do not get sick on the candy. Or from the flu that is around this year. Keep well and at peace with friends and family.
Love to all, Elaine

1 comment:

  1. I have also tried so hard to find a copy of the Modular Textures book by Conforti. It is out of print and I could not even find it used or through ILL anywhere in the country. Help!!!!!!! Could I buy a copy from you?

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