Yarn

What makes a good tapestry yarn?

What makes a good tapestry yarn?

For many years when I first started weaving tapestry I used the yarn that my teacher used. After all, it was a great yarn, dyed well, and I was able to get most of the effects I wanted in my work using it.

When I started teaching tapestry, I began experimenting with other tapestry yarns and then with some yarns that are not specifically designed for tapestry weaving. It became a bit of an obsession and over the years of teaching tapestry weaving, I’ve collected and used something like 30 different yarns. Some were difficult and not suited to tapestry and I’ll never use them again for weaving. Others were yarns I loved because they suited the effects I wanted to achieve in my work.

I have a small set of favorites that I use myself, but there are many yarns made in the world that can be used for tapestry weaving. The question is, how do you know which ones those are?

If you’ve taken any of my online classes, you probably have some version of my Yarn Sources handout. As my list of yarns got longer and longer, I realized I might have a problem. I like to collect things and yarn is one of those things. In the name of research I have more tapestry yarns than I can possibly ever use. But the upside of that is that my students get to benefit from my hoarding collecting nature.

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And you think YOU have a yarn stash problem? A visit to Istex where they make Lopi yarn.

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And you think YOU have a yarn stash problem? A visit to Istex where they make Lopi yarn.

Istex is the business that processes most of the fleece in Iceland.* I am quite sure I have never seen so much wool in one place.

There is only one scouring facility in Iceland and it is in Blönduós where I did my artist residency. Istex is the largest wool processing organization in Scandinavia and exists in Iceland in a couple different locations. In Blönduós they do the scouring and at the end of that process, the fleece is baled in 300 kg lots for shipment either to Europe to make carpet in the case of the lowest grade winter wool, or to the next Istex facility to be spun into yarn.

Huge bags of wool arrive from all over Iceland awaiting processing. I have no idea how much wool was here waiting, but countless bays like these full to the ceiling plus shipping containers outside.

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Weaving a black sand beach and a visit to the Gilhagi mini mill

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Weaving a black sand beach and a visit to the Gilhagi mini mill

I am still at my Icelandic Textile Center residency in Blonduos. I’ve had a lot of fun researching and working with Icelandic fleece. Please see THIS earlier post for more details about Icelandic fleece and my project.

Spinning Icelandic fleece

After the sod house tapestry and the woven sample I showed in that post, I kept spinning and finished another small tapestry. The more I spun, the more I could recognize what I needed in the yarn and I’ve gotten closer to singles that I like. When starting out, I was putting very little twist in the single because that is what you’re “supposed” to do when spinning singles that are to stay singles. But for tapestry, I didn’t like it. It was far too bumpy and uneven and more twist allows me to smooth it out to make a more even single.

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Messing around with looms and yarn, Part 2

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Messing around with looms and yarn, Part 2

Who else is a loom geek? I really enjoy trying out different pieces of equipment and though I’d love to try every large tapestry loom, mostly I’m testing small looms that I have the space for (or not!). Last week I talked about this new-to-me loom I’m playing with from weaversbazaar in the UK. I’ve had a wonderful time picking the shed and trying out the WB heavy 5/2 wool. You can read about that HERE. I wanted to share a bit more about the clamps that are holding the loom and try them with a couple other looms I like.*

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Messing around with looms and yarn: playing with wool and wood

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Messing around with looms and yarn: playing with wool and wood

I’m constantly experimenting with tools and yarn and techniques in tapestry weaving. It gives me a lot of joy and though the outcomes of these experiments is sometimes unpleasing, the process is always educational and more ideas surprise me with their success than not. Lately I’ve been working on a loom that weaversbazaar in the UK sells. It is a simple tensioned frame made by Andrew Dickinson.*

The beauty of a tensioned frame loom.

Tension is the friend of a tapestry weaver. At least it is for me. I do know some tapestry weavers who love a floppy warp and who weave very large things on wooden non-tensioned frames that have nails on the edges. I admire their ability to manage the weave with non-tensioned equipment at such a large size! But for me, a loom with some tensioning ability is the best.

Yarn and color: using yarn color cards made with actual yarn

Yarn and color: using yarn color cards made with actual yarn

If I had an Olympic-level talent, I think we could all agree it would it is for collecting yarn that might be useful for tapestry weaving. I justify this to both myself and the IRS as an exceptionally important teaching tool. If I have some idea of at least some of the commercially available yarns out there that work well for tapestry, I can pass that information on to my students which makes them more successful in their learning.

One thing I love to have in front of me when evaluating a potential material is color cards made with actual yarn. Many companies use printed color cards and it is impossible to really know what color that yarn is until you order some of the it. In tapestry weaving, the color of the yarn matters a great deal and so yarn cards are a fantastic tool if they’re available.

I had the idea for this post when Gist Yarn sent me these beauties with their new Array tapestry yarn. These may be the most beautiful yarn cards I’ve ever seen. Turns out they do these for all of their signature yarns.

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What tools and materials do I need to learn tapestry weaving?

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What tools and materials do I need to learn tapestry weaving?

Learning a new art or craft can mean that you need to purchase some supplies. The hard thing is knowing what you actually need when there are so many options. Below is a list of equipment and yarns which I’ve seen be very successfully used by beginning tapestry weavers. Some people will use the same materials for their whole weaving career!