I am new to weaving and am not able to predict yet how much yarn to load up on my shuttle for rigid heddle weaving. I finished a project that left my shuttles with this much yarn.
I think the best I can do is just wind it back on to the spool?
But I thought I’d check here and see if there are other ideas. Thanks!
I make small skeins and save them up for fun/crazy projects with lots of color variation (bag, scarf, tapestry). Or make a ball with them using the 'weavers knott'
Do you usually just make things to use it up before your next project… or do you store them in the ball
coasters with a seine twine warp
First, wind the shuttle 40 times, then count how many picks or inches you get out of that. Then, knowing the length of your piece you calculate how many more 40’s you need to finish the piece. You get the gist of it. Don’t overload the shuttle, it’s harder to pass thru the shed.
Thank you for this. This is the most clear, direct answer. This makes so much sense. This is reminding me of gauge swatching in knitting :D
Certainly. Another tip, if using 2 alternating colors, don’t start with the same wraps on each shuttle, doing so can mean you’re tying on both colors at the same point on the selvedge. Instead wrap one stick with more, or less, then wrap both sticks with the same number of wraps thereafter to stagger the tie-ons.
If there's this much I usually make small skeins too and use it for small projects like bookmarks, or (if there's less than this) for securing the cross and strands in my warp before taking it off the board and warping on :)
Any idea on how I can estimate how much to load the shuttle better? :)
Math. You need width of weaving, length of stick shuttle yarn, inches remaining in project and picks per inch. Convert to wraps on the stick and count as you wind. Or just wind it back on the spool as suggested. 😁
CDavies above and other people here gave great answers already! This is also where sampling comes in really usefully - I do a sampler for every single somewhat big project I make, so I know exactly how much yarn I've used to weave a certain length (measure how much you are winding on your shuttle, then see how much length you've been able to weave with it. You can easily calculate from there how much you need per inch or cm. If there's still some left on the shuttle after the sampler simply measure how much is left and subtract that from the original length to know how much went into your sampler :)).
As an aside, for leftover yarn that's not a lot and that I use for narrow small projects like bookmarks, I make my own super quick small shuttles from cardboard (maybe 10cm long and 3cm wide, literally cut into the shape of a wooden shuttle) and just leave the leftover yarn on there to throw into a quick project whenever needed!
EDITED to correct two typos
If you still have the original cone/tube just wind it back onto there! Sometimes I’ll keep them loaded for sampling on my next project
Yeah that’s what I’ve been doing. I may find a paper towel roll tho and use that instead so if I need a longer thread from the spool for the next project this won’t get in the way
I roll them back onto the original tube/spool of yarn they came on. Usually I don’t use up the whole spool, so there is usually some left on there to add back to. Then I can use it in another project. The hard part I feel is just estimating how much to load onto a shuttle as you approach the end of the last section needing a particular color/yarn. Or the end of the project in general. That always befuddles me.
I would wind it back on an empty spool — that way you know how much you have. I keep the cardboard spools my yarn comes wound on for just this reason.
I always just wind them into balls.
Depending on the usual things like how precious they are, how much is left, and what they are suited for, they may end up used for a variety of things. Waste yarn for lashing on and stuff, small projects, scrappy projects, etc.