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Hand Spun Tapestry Weft part 2

9/1/2015

 
Picture
Fresh Peppermint Tea; 36" x 24" Hand Woven Tapestry; Hand spun wool warp and weft; Natural Dyes; ©Sarah C. Swett 2002
Picture

For  25 years
my tapestry weft
has been 
 a singles yarn, 
approximately 30
 wraps per inch
and 1800 ish 
yards per pound.







Long staple fibers give structural integrity
to the softly spun yarn;
low twist allows lustrous scales to shine.
Picture



I weave with
two strands of this yarn
 (together but not plied),
  on a wool warp of
800 - 1000 
yards per pound
at a sett 
of 8 e.p.i., 






Picture
"Escape Literature" 60" x 48" Hand woven Tapestry; Hand Spun wool Warp and Weft; Natural Dye; ©Sarah C. Swett 2002
These  yarns 
give my finished tapestries a particular body and drape 
Picture
"So Then She Said..." (detail) ©Sarah C. Swett 2003
They also impart a somewhat hairy surface,
which adds an impressionistic touch.
Picture
Sometimes, however, a hairy surface
 interferes with clarity of  shape
and a singles spun from medium staple fibers
with less surface activity 
seems to work better.
Picture
Rough Copy # 8: Hallmark (detail in Progress); white=1 strand hand spun Suffolk, 1 strand Brown Sheep fingering; grey = 1 strand RomneyX, 1 strand bouncy mystery fleece
 
And recently I've been exploring plied yarn --
yarn with spring and internal energy
 never intended for tapestry,
 like the leftovers from this project.

I've also been weaving tapestry
with yarn I didn't even nspin. 


Picture
Cormo X; spindle Spun; 3 ply; walnut, indigo, letharia vulpina (wolf lichen)
Picture
Brown Sheep Company Fingering; indigo; walnut
The differences are huge,
 at least to me, 
Picture
"The Car Of My Dreams" (detail in Progress); 2 1/4" x 3 1/2"; Car= 3 ply spindle spun wool, walnut; Ground and Sky= 3 ply Brown Sheep fingering, indigo; Warp= Spindle Spun Romney 2 ply
Not only do bouncy plied yarns require careful handling
(important to keep them super relaxed in the shed),
but the surface is weirdly smooth,
 particularly with the commercially spun yarn. 
Picture
"Balancing Act" 16" x 3.25" (detail in progress); 3 and 4 ply spindle spun Cormo and Cormo/ Rambouillet X; natural dyes
Picture"Balancing Act" (detail in progress)

The light reflection
is also different.

and the shapes  
decidedly crisp!






With these yarns I've been doing less color blending in the shed,
and mostly weaving with one strand at a time,
which in turn has led to a  preference for a closer sett  (9 - 10 epi)
and smaller tapestries.

It's all so interseting--
alive with possibility.

Microthrillls abound.


Picture
So, What Now? ©Sarah C. Swett 2015

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    ​Sarah C Swett 
    tells stories
    with
    ​ and about

     hand spun yarn. 


    Picture
    Click for info on
    my four selvedge
    warping class
    with
    ​ Rebecca Mezoff  
    fringeless


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