Deep Dive

 

If you don't understand your materials, you won't know how to use them appropriately.

There is a persistent piece of information that gets shared around in the weaving community - a 'myth' I have tried to explain is not helpful.

The assumption is that yarn counts give you everything you need to know about your yarn.

The photo above is the same 'count' of cotton - the brick red is the same 'count' as the blue/green - in this case 2/16 (brick red) and 16/2 blue/green.

What is not immediately apparent when you look at these yarns with just your eyesight, is that they are NOT the same.

The brick red yarn is thinner, smoother, and has a different number of twists per single and ply than the other, which is thicker, fuzzier and a different ratio of twists per single and plyed yarn than the other.

What is less obvious is how the fibres have been prepared for, and spun.  Why does that matter?  It matters because the yarns will not behave the same in the loom, or in the cloth.

How do we know?  We don't, unless we have some background in spinning, and understand the nature of the fibres themselves, and therefore have the information to understand what those changes are.

Now, it is not necessary to understand that, except that if you don't, you will be confronted with 'bad' yarn, when in reality, the weaver is not able to make appropriate choices.

It is why I took the time to make up a publication called A Good Yarn, in which I tried to explain some of this 'hidden' information to weavers.  And why I make a point of explaining this when I write articles.

A 'cheap' digital microscope can provide valuable information to weavers to learn more about their yarns.  The little microscope I bought magnifies to 20 times, I think.  To go higher meant a significant increase in purchase price, but I sometimes wish I had bought the next one up.  OTOH, this one gives me a peek that I cannot see unaided, so I'm glad I purchased it.

My goal right from the beginning, was to understand my materials, in much the same way as other craft practitioners need to understand *their* materials - potters need to understand the clay they work with, woodworkers need to understand the wood they work with, metal smiths, their metals, etc.  

That doesn't mean a weaver is constrained from using something, just they will understand the limits of the materials and how to handle them.  A 'tender' yarn can be strengthened by using warp sizing, and so on.  

The more we know, the better choices we can make.  

And yes, sometimes the yarn is 'bad' - it may have been stored improperly for too long, for example.  Or it may have critter damage - wool moths for example, will eat through wool yarns.  In that case, it really isn't worth a weaver's time and energy to try to 'fix' it.  Perhaps it needs to be assigned a different use than for a warp.  

When acquiring yarn from an older weaver, sometimes the labels are gone and so is any memory of what the yarns are made from.  In that case burn tests can be applied, as well as a close look with a magnifying glass.  The information is readily available - the weaver just needs to know that it is and go looking for it.

Lots of fibre science books will have fibre characteristics listed and detail the results of using a burn test.  Mine, for example, has a review of this information.  If you want more detailed information, my favourite book is A Guide to Textiles for Interior Designers by Jackman and Dixon.  The first edition is still available at a fairly good price.  More recent editions are more expensive and have more information on 'modern' textiles.

Also?  Don't consult AI.  It is proven to be riddled with misinformation and not reliable.  Check with an actual book.  Most libraries have books in their collection, or invest a book that you know you can trust.  There are plenty available - I own at least 3, if not more.  What can I say, I tend to collect good information to have at my fingertips.  

But if nothing else, I'd like weavers to realize that the 'count' does not give *all* of the information about a specific yarn.  All it says is how many yards/pound (or metric measures.)  After that the weaver must take a deeper dive - and weave some samples!