Souvenir Yarn AKA How To Shop Without A Plan

Summer is coming, and for many of us that means travel and new yarn shops!!! New yarn shops are a weavers dream and their worst nightmare. So much new gorgeousness all in one place and we want it all. But we don’t know what we are going to do with it or how much to get. I’m here to help!!! What you will find today is a *very* rough guide to buying for basic projects. Warning: there will be math involved.

Before we can even begin to think about how much of a stash to buy, there are a couple things to look at. The first is wraps per inch (WPI). I talked about that a little in last week’s blog. Just a little review, wpi help us determine the reed we will need for a particular yarn. But we don’t all carry a wpi tool when we travel, and yarn shops really don’t appreciate it when customers start pulling skeins apart! So, an easy way to get an estimate is to use your finger and a tape measure. Very gently slip your finger under the strands for about an inch. Count the threads on your finger and divide by 2. This is your reed size, maybe: keep reading!

Next consider the fibre content. If it is silk, cotton, hemp, superwash or other fibres that don’t full as much, consider a smaller reed. If it’s super fuzzy like mohair, llama, brushed alpaca or a boucle yarn, consider a larger reed.

Next you have to make some decisions. How long? I have 4 basic lengths I make. This is just what I do, if you have basic sizes, use your numbers! The box to the right is my guide. This is what I warp…not the finished size after it comes off the loom and is wet finished.

Next comes the math. If you know the reed size and the length of your warp, it’s not hard to find out how many meters you will need.

Take the width you want in the reed and multiple that by the reed size, this will tell you how many ends you need.

Take the number of required ends and multiply that by the length of the desired warp.

For example, let’s say that you are weaving a scarf. You want a 100” (2.5m) warp, 12” in the reed, and will be using a 7.5 dent reed.

12 x 7.5 = 90. You will need 90 ends. (Width x Reed Size = Total Number of Ends)

90 x 2.5=225m. You will need a total of 225m. (Total Number of Ends x Warp Length = Total Meters Required)

That takes care of warp. What about weft? Again, things to think about! How wide is your project and how many picks per inch will you weave? Remember that the yarn doesn’t travel in a straight line across the warp, it is in waves as it goes over and under each warp end. So you will need to add a little extra. I usually just add an inch or two, I’m not very exact.

So, more math! Take the length of each weft pass and multiple it by your desired picks per inch. This gives you how much you need per inch of weaving. Then, multiply that by the number of inches you plan to weave. This is not going to be the same as your warp length. For example, when I warp 100” I usually weave 84-88”, the rest is loom waste and take up. (Because just as the weft travels up and down, so does the warp once the weft is introduced!)

So, let’s say that your width in the reed is 12” (.3m) and your picks per inch is 7.5 and you will weave about 84”. First, add 1” to the width for 13” (.33m) . This takes care of the over/under of the weft. (Width of Warp + 1-2” = Length of Each Weft Pick)

.33 x 7.5=2.47m. Each inch of weaving will need about 2.5m. (I’ve rounded to 2.5 just for ease.) (Length of Each Weft Pick x Reed Size = Amount of Weft Needed For Each Inch of Weaving)

2.5 x 84=210. You will need 210m of weft to weave your project. (Weft Needed Per Inch x Desired Woven Length On the Loom)

Now, let’s pretend you are shopping your own stash and you discover a gorgeous hand-dyed skein and you want to know what you can do with it. You can work backwards. Take the amount on the skein (it’s standard weight sock yarn, superwash, 420m/100g. The wpi is about 10-11, which seems like the 10 dent reed will be fine…but remember it’s superwash, so, I’m going to go up to the 12 or 12.5 instead. I want to make a shorter scarf, an 84” (1.7m) warp for a 70-ish” woven length on the loom + fringe. I can take the length of the skein, divided by the length of the warp. This will give me the total number of ends I can have from the skein. Take the total number of possible ends, and divide it by the reed size. This will tell me how wide I can make the warp.

420m/1.7=247. I can have 247 ends. (Total Length/Length of Warp)

247/12=20. I can warp 20” in the reed on a 12 dent reed (Total number of Ends/Reed Size)

If you are trying to use the single skein for both warp and weft, you will be able to use slightly more than half of the skein for warp and the rest for weft. But this is a little risky, it’s good to have a back-up plan in case you run a little short. A complimentary colour to add some stripes is a good idea!

And just a little word of advice from someone who has answered many phone calls from weavers looking to finish their project (and from one who has run short and added surprise stripes), always (ALWAYS) buy the extra skein! And maybe bring an extra suitcase!