question about a mixed warp

Submitted by TinaHilton on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 20:32

I'm planning my first handspun/handwoven project -- a scarf.  And it's for an assignment from my weaving guild, a result of playing the weaving game.  I want to use a warp that contains wool yarn (sheep breed unknown) and another yarn that's 70% shetland/20% alpaca/10% sillk.  Am I asking for trouble doing that?  I thought that since wool is the primary fiber that there shouldn't be too much differential shrinkage. 

What do you think?

Comments

Submitted by Spinningdinah (not verified) on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 22:03

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I'm a relatively new (1 1/2 years) weaver, but this I've tried.  Our Sheep-to-Shawl group used a mixed warp last year at the NYS Fair.  The shawl turned out lovely, but we did have differential shrinkage - enough that we were marked down for it.  I am now no longer a "tight packer" on wool, so it might not be as noticeable if you beat gently.

Submitted by TinaHilton (not verified) on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 03:10

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Thanks.  I like my wool handwovens to be light and fluffy (after my first wool scarf was stiff as a board LOL) so I plan a light beat.  I guess all I can do is try.  I weave more samples now than I did to find these problems ahead of time, but my handspun is not very plentiful -- at least  not in the different colors and fibers -- and don't have enough yarn to sample.

Group Audience
Handspun Handwoven