I'd like to weave a tartan out of fine wool. When finished, it should have about 50 threads per inch. I've not woven with anything like this before, and am not sure what size wool I should use, what's a good source for such a fiber, nor what my on-loom sett should be.
I'm hoping some of the great Weavolution weavers will have some insights.
Thanks!
What have you woven before? What kind of loom do you have?
I haven't woven a tartan either and I'm interested as well.
Have a good day!
I've woven LOTS of scarves/shawls/throws/baby blankets. I've also woven a bunch of table linens.
I have two looms. My favorite is a small, handmade 4-harness counterbalance. I also own an 8-harness Macomber. I'll have to use the Macomber for the tartan, not because I need 8 harnesses, but because my max weaving width on the counterbalance is only 24" and I need my finished width to be a minimum of 27".
Tartans are traditionally woven from worsted wool about 2/48 or 2/50 size. There used to be a supplier in Canada, but I've forgotten their name. You will likely require a temple in order to get 48 to 50 picks per inch - or at least I did the one time I wove a 'true' tartan.
Cheers,
Laura
I'm very late to this thread, but I've recently started thinking about weaving a kilt length myself, and I've been poking around online looking for hints about handweaving tartan for kiltmaking and figured I'd add what I've read to this thread for posterity!The general consensus I've read is that it's pretty difficult to hand-weave tartan as fine as is sold by the commercial mills; with very fine wool thread packed so close together, warp threads tend to stick together and cause problems with getting the shed open; numerous broken warp threads, etc.
In one discussion at X Marks the Scot, tartan weaver & scholar Peter MacDonald recommends a 2/16 worsted wool yarn at 36 epi to achieve a 16oz tartan. (http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f243/weaving-advice-64918/#post960413)
I'll be darned if I can find a U.S. source for 2/16 worsted wool yarn in the U.S., but EPiC yarns makes one in 2/18... the only retail source for their yarn I've seen is the Yarn Barn (http://www.yarnbarn-ks.com/EPIC-Worsted-99/productinfo/WY-EPIC99-/) I need to see if they sell sample cards, it looks lovely.
I've exchanged emails with a local kiltmaker whose husband wove 4 yards of tartan using Jaggerspun Maineline 2/20 yarn at 36EPI, and said it made a fabric comparable to a 13oz commercial tartan, but with a softer finish. He also encountered some problems with broken warp threads, but that may be partly due to inexperience.
I am waiting on my yarn order from YarnBarn to start my tartan. You need to know or find out what the sett count is for the repeat of the tartan you want to weave. If you are trying to reproduce a named pattern, there are several places to find the color and number of thread (ends) for it. I basically figured my total ends across to make a 30 inch width. You really want to use worsted wool - it is combed and has a smoother surface. It will be cheaper than buying a piece woven in Scotland but I am having to get 14,000 yard total - so there is still considerable cost.
Also I found the warp & weft calculators do not work well in estimating tartan or plaid yarn quantity as it will not let you input separate colors.
I just break down the stripes and calculate each colour as a separate 'warp' to get yardage requirements. Once you know how many ends of each colour per repeat, it's fairly easy to work it out.
cheers,
Laura
Laura, was it Briggs and Little. They are the oldest mill in the country. I think their focus however is in knitting. Although they do sell wool blankets made from their wool, so they must have a loom.
There is a book by Harriet Douglas called "Scotch Tartan Setts" (1949). It was digitized in 2002 and put into the internet archives. You can go there and put th etitle into search and pull it up. Might find it useful. There are no pictures of the tartans. Another is "The scottish tartans, with historical sketches of the clans and families of Scotland" published by Edinburgh : W. & A.K. Johnston (1800) it has sample sketches.
A local lady weaves tartan kilts for the local highland games they have each year.
Published tartan pictures can also be found in the Robert Bain book " The Clans and Tartans of Scotland".
My most used source now is going to,,,
http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/index.aspx
every tartan ever designed and registered is there and you can register and get the colors and ends count emailed to you.
