What a Difference A Yarn Makes

See this thick and thin yarn and then notice the slightly fuzzy parts of the cloth being woven.  The fuzzy is the thick and the clear view of the pattern is the thin.  It makes for an intriguing cloth that is both thick and absorbent with the patten being very clearly defined in other spots.  It makes you want to touch it and look closer.  I really enjoy these differences from the other towels.

The first towel I wove on this same warp, IE, the north and south threads, was with a knitting yarn that is very thick.  It was a great starter yarn for this warp to see what the pattern possibilities were and do so very quickly, much the same as you would knit faster with a thicker yarn.  I really liked the outcome of that combination but it was too thick for a good towel because it took to long to dry so it is on a wall, hanging in my kitchen instead.

So the next yarn I tried was a yarn that was the exact same as the warp and it was probably the best yarn for the balanced cloth, but it too was thicker than I'd really like.  I was able to see some of the threading errors better with this yarn and it is a beautiful towel for show.  I gifted them, I made two this way, to my mother for Mother's Day, and as predicted, she isn't using them.  They are just for show, because they are very special to her.  Thanks, Mom, I'm really glad you like them.  I made them strong enough to last a long time though, so you really should use them.  Let me know how they wear.

The next towel I made with this same warp was with a yarn that was unusual for use as a weft, the east west threads on a cloth.  It was rug warp cotton.  This yarn is generally used, as the name indicates, for making rugs.  It is known for being sturdy and yet thin enough to let a weft faced cloth hide it from view.  That means it almost doesn't show because it is so much thinner than the weft yarn or rags used for the weft.  All you see is the weft and it is therefore called a weft faced cloth.  I, however, thought it might make a nice yarn for the weft this time.  I wanted a sturdy yarn, but I also want a yarn that would be untreated or unmesmerized  so that it would be better at picking up water than a totally mercerized cloth would be. Sorry Mom, didn't think of this when I made your towels.  They are still thirsty, just not as thirsty as this would be.

And the towel at the top is the final towel for this warp.  It also is mercerized cotton.  It is a real departure because most patterns that are visually significant are meant to be seen and not confused.  However, my thought here was that the variety with a large contrast in colors between the warp and the weft would create the right environment for the pattern to be messed with a bit.  It is a bright copper and a pale peachy pink. A side note here is that this yarn I spun from two commercial yarns that were both thick and thin but separately much too fine for my purposes, so I spun them together and am using them that way.  The high contrast makes it more easy to see the pattern when it's both fluffy and straight.  That is why I decided to give it a try and see how it turned out.  It's still on the loom but so far I am liking it.  I would love to hear from you here.  Leave a comment for others to read and react to.  I'd also love to know if you sample when you weave, if you're a weaver.  Of course if you're not, but you do other crafts, I'd love to know if you sample in other forms of art too.  And if so, how!

So here's to the differences in life, be they yarn related or not.

Liana of
Liana's LoomEssence

liana.artfire.com