blue yarn all used up (except a bit on a tube)
next colour
With about 6700+ yards per pound, this yarn* gives a lot of playtime for what it costs.
Peg asked if I use it doubled or single. I use it single at 32 epi (more or less, depending on weft and weave structure) because I find it makes a good tea towel. I use 2/8 cotton at 20 to 24, again depending on weft and weave structure, but find that makes more of a 'kitchen utility' type of towel, great for wiping hands, not so good for a tea towel as it becomes quite thick and difficult to get into the insides of small items like glasses/cups.
At a conference a while ago, the people at the table I was sitting at kept ooh-ing and ah-ing at the garments made by one of their guild members, who typically wove with fine silks. It was like no one in the history of civilization had ever woven with such fine, fine yarn (it wasn't all that fine).
In response to repeated observations about how expensive silk was, I commented that you get a lot of play time with finer yarns.
So it is with this cotton. It takes me about 55 minutes to weave a towel with this weight of cotton. It costs the same as the heavier yarns - about $8.50 per tube wholesale. I get a different quality of cloth from a thicker yarn which would take less time to weave.
Neither one is 'better' or 'worse' than the other. They serve different purposes. The thing is, weavers need to choose yarn, density, weave structure, suitable for the purpose they wish their textile to serve.
Right now my mission is to use up as much of my yarn as possible. I'm still getting satisfaction from seeing the shelves empty of yarn. I have worked out the technical aspects of making tea towels with this yarn so I'm left with playing with colour and design. The fun bit. And the working meditation of sitting down to weave for 45-55 minutes without thinking too much about what I'm doing - just a human, being.
For now, during this time of self-isolating during a pandemic, that is enough.
*Brassard 2/16 cotton, not the US 16/2 cotton, although I would use Brassard for warp and 16/2 for weft. When I did that on the end of the last warp I found the 16/2 cast off a lot more dust than the Brassard 2/16. I'm going to have to dust off the loom more regularly as I use up the American yarn, which is open end spun, more loosely twisted, and obviously, dustier.
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2 comments:
Interesting. I buy my 8/2 from Brassard, and honestly always assumed 16/2 and 2/16 were just a different way of saying the same thing. Sort of like spelling color and colour. There’s always more to learn.
I have been explaining this on line for years. After working with 2/8 cotton from Brassard, then going to the US to see American 8/2 I became curious about why the difference, eventually doing some digging for A Good Yarn: Cotton.
American 8/2 cotton is spun from the shortest fibre length used, open end spun which makes a loftier and weaker yarn than other 2/8 yarn (frequently *now* labelled 8/2) is ring spun from longer fibres making a denser, smoother, stronger yarn. The American 8/2 is more absorbent because it has less density and more air trapped in it, but sheds more lint. The 2/8 from Brassard (still labelled 2/8 on their French language pages of their website) works better for warp because it is stronger than 8/2.
The ONLY thing the numbers mean is that the yarn has been spun to a certain number of yards per pound. The numbers do not address the spinning method or the twists per inch.
I have posted photos of the two different qualities of yarn here and elsewhere.
I cannot seem to attach a photo to the comments but will try to find it and do another blog post about this as so many people just don't seem to understand right away. :(
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