Hello from a complete newbie weaver! 

I am exploring weaving 2-4" wide bands to be used for making horse tack, particularly breast collars. For the non-horsey people, something like this: http://www.horsecollaborative.com/mohair/ If you scroll down the page you'll see the breast collar on the horse. However, I want to make these with proper woven bands rather than the cords that are typically used. I have a little rigid heddle lap loom which has been kicking around in our family for at least 50 years without ever being used (I think mom bought it as a project for us as kids...) and to try it out I used some knitting yarn I had lying around to weave a simple scarf. Other than the heddle being a bit too fine for the weight of the yarn, it worked perfectly and I think it will do exactly what I need it to do. My problem is the following:

Horse stuff is made typically of mohair, as the heat, sweat and friction from the material rubbing against the horse would cause anything made of sheep's wool to felt. BUT I don't seem to be able to find a suitable mohair yarn to purchase. I can find mohair already turned into cord for cinch weaving. I can find very fluffy mohair yarns for knitting that I am pretty sure will be hell to weave with since I will need mohair warp as well as weft. (I am expecting the first projects to be warp faced.) I can find mohair blends with all sorts of other stuff. What I can't find is a fairly tightly spun, relatively smooth mohair yarn of a weight suitable for typical band weaving. I can find literature references to Navajo mohair warp yarns, but no one seems to have it. Any leads??? I could also use pointers for what weight of yarn would be best and what size reeds to buy for it. 

Thanks

Maria on Vancouver Island, Canada

Comments

Sat, 02/20/2016 - 00:28

sandra.eberhar…

Wool rug warp, made of a long staple, smooth wool carpet warp may work.  This type of yarn often does not felt.   Why is it undesirable to have it felt?

Sat, 02/20/2016 - 00:33

Sara von Tresckow

You might need to spin it yourself. Navajo warps are generally handspun and I don't know of commercial like you mention.

A good mohair roving will produce a firm, smooth yarn without a lot of fuzz when spun well. You can control thickness and twist to get what you need.

Sat, 02/20/2016 - 16:03

Maria Castro

Simply because I prefer the look of it unfelted! :-)

 

Sat, 02/20/2016 - 16:06

Maria Castro

Thanks. That's useful - if less than encouraging - information. Sigh. I don't see myself becoming a spinner in the forseeable future. I may have to find a spinner to collaborate with...

Sat, 02/20/2016 - 22:12

sandra.eberhar…

You might try contacting small mills that do custom carding and spinning.  There are several mills that I can think of that do custom spinning in fairly small lots.  http://www.stonehedgefibermill.com/ is an example of one such mill here in Michigan.  The mill may know of a goat breeder, or you may have to buy adult mohair fleece to send to the mill.  If it were me, I would give wool rug warp a try first.  I've had several long staple fleeces that I tried very hard to felt with no success at all.  

Sun, 02/21/2016 - 10:21

kerstinfroberg

There was a mill in the UK specialized in "exotic" rug warp (both mohair and camel, IIRC), but I can't recall their name.

Not very helpful, I know, but what I mean is: there *are* mills out there spinning even uncommon fibres.

Mon, 02/22/2016 - 20:19

farmertakesawife

I've made mohair felt hats for years.  So, mohair will also felt on a horse. Unless you find a fiber that is more than 25% nylon blended with the mohair.

You may want to just make your project larger and prefelt it before it gets on the horse.  Weave a 10" section by 4" and then felt it.  You'll then know how big to make the project.  (I have never been able to use mohair as a warp. on my Inkle.  However, I have used both looped mohair and regular mohair for the weft. 

 

 

Wed, 02/24/2016 - 15:10

mneligh

I used to use mohair "Navajo" warp all the time.  The last batch I had was from NZ, ironically.  Now I can't find any out there, and it's been years since I looked.  My answer is "spin your own", which is why I don't buy a lot of yarn any more, but mohair warp is not for a newbie spinner's first project. (Also, my weaving has gotten much finer, in general, so this yarn too coarse.)

So, you can have some spun for you or use a different fiber.  For many fiber arts projects I'd say most longwool breeds and some llama will work, but maybe not for tack.  I haven't studied the properties of mohair vs wool in enough detail to tell.  They certainly would have the requisite tensile strength, but might not be yielding enough for the skin.  Then again, can you find yarn made from these fibers?

Even on my dressage saddle I've always insisted on corded mohair girths.  In 50 years I've never had a saddle gall.  I say it's the corded mohair girths.  Although I ride western much less frequently, when doing so I much prefer braided mohair reins.  They're easy on the hands.  I've seen felting on the reins and on saddle pads/blankets, but never on the girths.  Then again, they're corded and I do wash them.

If you card weave the girths/cinches and breastcollars, you can make items that are corded where it matters (elbow area) with woven areas elsewhere.  

As a handspinner, I have to ask whether mills preserve the long staple found in alpaca, mohair, and the longwool breeds.  If they cut the fiber, will the resulting yarn have the tensile strength?  If there is a local spinning guild near you, you might get limited quantities of the fiber and work with a local spinner to get enough to test.  After all, you're weaving narrow bands, not bedspreads, so it might be affordable.

Mon, 04/10/2017 - 04:45

Maria Castro

A bit after the fact - but thanks to the several more people who replied after I last checked. I thought I would get a notification if new comments were posted, but somehow that didn't happen... :-)