Amy asked about my multi-stranded weft yarns - how I dealt with them, if I did anything special to make them behave.
Three yarn packages set up for winding. I always take off the end of a tube or cone. However, I always have the yarn feed off in the same direction. I use an electric bobbin winder which means I have both hands available to control the yarn. My left hand acts as a 'guide', my right hand fills the bobbin. By keeping the yarn feeding up and off the cones/tubes as centered as possible, the yarn feeds off evenly.
I have tried to use tubes laid on their sides and wound up frustrated with how unevenly they wound off, how the yarn would wrap around the axle holding the tubes, the jerking and uneven pulling of the yarn. Much better results to pull it off the end, imho.
Wound bobbin.
Weaving. No, the selvedges aren't perfect but they are as consistent as I can make them. Perfection is for the angels. I'm far from being one of those! Slight imperfections in terms of yarn length will generally get taken up along the length of the weft pick. If there are large loops at the selvedge, they quite often just get trimmed off. With more than one strand in the weft, cutting one of the yarns isn't going to affect the integrity of the cloth.
And yes, that is probably a herd of dust buffalo on the floor by the yarn. I have free range dust buffalo...
7 comments:
I just finished weaving a warp of lace-weight Polwarth yarn from NZ. Talk about dust buffalo! It'll take weeks to capture them all. And I DO like your method of dealing with weft loops; it's something I've been known to do, too.
Thanks, Laura!
You're always so willing to share, Laura - it's great!
One clarification question - when you say you ALWAYS have the yarn feed off in the same direction, you mean the direction of the twist, not necessarily how it comes off the cone/tube, right?
No, I don't pay any attention to the direction of twist. I always set up my tubes so that they wind off counter clockwise. Whether it adds or subtracts twist doesn't make any difference so long as it is consistent.
Cheers
Laura
Thanks for that clarification, Laura.
I thought I read a comment of yours somewhere (Weavolution?) about feeding one strand of yarn up through the center of the other tube/cone and being careful about twist. I must have mis-read or the topic wasn't really the same.
If I'm using just two ends I will use a doubling stand but the weft for this place mat design ranges from 3 (as in this particular incarnation) to 6, with at least one of the yarns textured. Easier to just use them as a 'ribbon'. But as I say, I don't pay any attention to the twist of the yarn just always take it off tubes stood on end, winding off counter clockwise. If you can't be perfect, be consistent. :)
cheers,
Laura
Thanks so much for the clear info and reasoning, Laura!
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