Will a Mixed Warp Work Well Together?

I recently read about a method to test whether different yarns would work well together in a project. I have quite a few cones of wool yarns of varying weights, thicknesses, types, and blends, and thought it would be a good idea to see what happens to them after washing.

I cut off a little more than a yard of each yarn,  and sorted them into four bundles by size. After folding each bundle in half to the length of the shortest piece, I cut the bundle in half. A knot at the cut end gave me a measuring point. I laid them all out on my striped tablecloth and cut them all the same length, again to the length of the shortest piece.

Leaving four of the bundles as my control groups, I washed the other four as I would if I was wet finishing a project.

After straightening out the washed bundles next to the control bundles, I was able to see the difference in shrinkage. I will now be able to make a more educated guess on which yarns will combine successfully.

Click on the photo for an enlarged view and more detail.

A striped wool blanket has been on my mind. I will avoid the yarns that shrunk the most, since I don't want a seersucker stripe!

I will keep my test and control bundles in my wool cupboard for future reference.

New Canaan Check Sample After Wet-Finishing

Here are the two halves of the sample.  On the left, obviously, is the unwashed half, and on the right, the washed and pressed wet- finished half.  Quite a bit of shrinkage.  I soaked it in hot water with Dawn dish soap to release any spinning oils, or natural oils.  I agitated it just a little after it soaked a bit, then rinsed in warm water, rolled it in a towel and hung it to air dry.

Just a comparison of the pressed sample and the unfinished half.  It passed the properly finished test--I couldn't poke my fingernail between the weave.

I actually like the backside, too.  It looks more plaid than the front.

From this view, it looks sort of three dimensional, almost like waves.  I like it!  Now, to get the rest of the 7 yards woven.  I'm going, I'm going!

Sampling Wool - Angora Yarn

As part of my stash reduction, I picked out a yarn that I thought would make a nice little handbag.  I purchased two cones of wool mixed with angora yarn at an estate sale a while ago.

I got out my notes from a Magic in the Water workshop that I went to a while ago.  We made several samples with different wools, so I was able to compare my yarn with some of the yarns we used in the class.  Mine was similar to one that was sett at 10 epi, so that was my starting point. 

I checked out the shrinkage and decided that 10" in the reed would work.  I liked it already, since that was only 100 ends!  I wanted to make about six bags, plus have some to play around with, so I measured out about ten yards.  On the warping reel, it went quickly.

It was important to see how much the fabric would full, so I wove off 24" and cut it off the loom.  Staying up way too late last night, I did the wet finishing.  I agitated it by hand in hot soapy (Dawn) water for about 4-5 minutes.  I changed the water a couple times so the water would stay hot.

The sleazy cloth that came off the loom measured 9" W by 21" L without tension.  When the fulling was complete, I measured the sample again.  This time it was 8 1/2" by 18 1/2" L.  I could tell that it was going to be soft, even though it was still wet.  I heat set it by pressing between a couple towels.  After the pressing and air drying, the final measurement was 7 3/4" W by 18" L, for a loss of 3" in the width and 6" in length.  Definitely a cloth to dry clean or gently hand wash in cool water.

When I got up this morning, it was dry, and so soft. Notice the fine angora hairs on the edge.  The whole cloth has a halo.   It was no longer a sleazy texture. 

I plan on trying some other weaves and some experiments with dyeing using Kool Aid and Wilton food colors.  Here is a link to a description of the process:  Dyeing animal fiber with Kool Aid and Wilton food coloring

If it is not too hard, I will have a good project for grandchildren.