WELCOME ANGORA NEP

Angora Nep by AVRIL combines a luxurious blend of wool and angora with flecks of nylon nep to produce a charming tweedy lace-weight yarn suitable for tapestry weaving, weaving for yardage, and other popular fibre crafts.

Being a rather delicate yarn, a spinning oil is applied during milling. As a result, the true texture and appearance of the yarn remains hidden until a final wash fluffs and softens the fibres.

With the yarns unique construction and a palette of 13 light and dark hues, Angora Nep is perfect for building your own yarns and blending colours to create one of kind textures and palettes. Simply combine multiple stands to produce unique fabrics and stunning colour work – think elegant gradients and soft transitions!

THE YARN

FIBRE CONTENT: Wool 65%, Nylon 25%, Angora 10%
CONSTRUCTION: Two plies, light twist, water-soluble spinning oil applied during milling
WEIGHT: 50g (1.7oz)
LENGTH: 400m (437y)
ORIGIN: Made in Japan
CARE: Cold hand wash

WORKING THE YARN

Angora Nep is suitable for most fibre crafts, including tapestry weaving, weaving for yardage, knitting, crochet and felting. You’ll find a list of suggested gauges for various projects below.

If you intend to felt your piece or apply a more vigorous finishing technique we suggest working the piece 10% to 20% larger than the intended size. It’s highly recommended that a test swatch be made, applying your intended finishing technique to assess the variables of the fabric you’ve crafted.

FINISHING

To remove the spinning oil applied during milling, prepare a bath of tepid water and if desired add a few drops of mild detergent or wool wash. Immerse the finished piece and allow to soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Lift the piece from the water and allow to drain. Gently remove excess water by pressing the fabric between layers of a dry towel. Lay flat to dry.

The texture and appearance of your fabric can be manipulated by using warm/hot water and agitation. Be sure to test the effects of these variables on a sample you’ve swatched before applying them to your finished piece.

GAUGE SUGGESTIONS

TAPESTRY WEAVING (WEFT FACED WEAVES)
4 epi (16 ends / 10cm) – 8 strands
6 epi (24 ends / 10cm) – 6 strands
8 epi (32 ends / 10cm) – 4 Strands

WEAVING FOR YARDAGE (BALANCED WEAVES)
12 epi (50 ends / 10cm) – 1 strands
10 epi (40 ends / 10cm) – 2 strands
8 epi (32 ends / 10cm) – 3 strands

KNITTING
Needle size 2.75mm - 3.5mm (US 2-4) - 1 strand
Needle size 4mm - 5mm (US 6-8) - 2 strands

CROCHET
Hook size 3.5mm - 5mm  (US 4-8) – 1-2 strands

FELTING
Determine gauge by working a test swatch in your preferred craft and apply your preferred felting technique. 

IN STORE NOW

THIS WOOLSEY PALETTE HAS NOW BEEN RETIRED. PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW RANGE HERE.

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Colour Inspiration!

Today’s journal is a short one, but I've packed it full of colour inspiration!

I’ve brought together some of my favourite Woolsey shades and curated a gallery of 20 colour palettes you can reference when planning future projects.

There are cool and warm gradients, calming neutrals, and a selection of soft and bright mixed palettes.

As a bonus, I’ve taken some of these mixed palettes a step further and added a pop of unexpected colour. I think these fun ‘challenge palettes’ will test the more adventurous weavers out there.

Have fun!

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Woolsey Colour Palettes...

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About Woolsey

Woolsey is the first weaving yarn by Loom & Spindle! A weaving yarn that has a structure and composition that was carefully considered and selected specifically for tapestry weaving.

Woolsey is a single ply 100% wool yarn with moderate twist.

These elements come together to produce a smooth inelastic yarn ideal for tapestry style weaving where a dense and cohesive fabric is desired.

Where multi-ply yarns can shadow and dull the surface of the tapestry fabric, Woolsey’s defining single ply construction helps reduce these effects, encouraging a smooth bright fabric surface.

When woven at gauge, Woolsey produces a clear and well-defined weave ideal for working shapes and textural stitches.

With our recommended warp sett of 4-6 epi (16-24ends/10cm), Woolsey will always get predictable coverage taking the guesswork out of project design.

With its quick and easy coverage, Woolsey is ideal for tapestry inspired weaving projects destined for wall décor and home furnishings.

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LET’S GET STARTED…

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Last week we welcomed Woolsey, the first weaving yarn by Loom & Spindle.

But more notably, we welcomed COLOUR to the Loom & Spindle range - 8 glorious shades to be precise!

I’d thought we’d continue our exploration of Woolsey as a weaving yarn with a tapestry workshop in colour transitions.

It’s a technique I developed for working soft transitions between two solid weft colours.

It requires the weaver to visually divide up the area of colour transition and assign a ratio of weft colour to each section.

By determining the metric - how many times per row the weft rises over the warp, we can establish a percentage for each colour that’s to be woven and create the visual effect.

Once the intention of the technique is understood, the technique itself is quite freeform and can be woven without rigid structure.

So, grab a pair of your favourite Woolsey colours and let’s start weaving!

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TAPESTRY WORKSHOP: Weaving Colour Transitions

View fullsize

INTENTION

Soften the transition between two solid weft colours by alternating weft threads over the horizontal plane.

SKILLS to practice and develop

• Plain weave

• Double half-hitches to secure weft

• Weft changes using the half-hitch method

• Maintaining weave sequence while alternating wefts

*To learn more about these skills you might like to check out our book - LINE SHAPE TEXTURE.

THE PLAN

• Make a tapestry sampler that will measure 10 cm x 10cm (or 4" x 4").

• The set-up will comprise a frame-loom warped with cotton thread at 16 ends over 10cm (4 ends per inch).

• Establish a ground weave using spare thread to evenly space the warp and provide a firm base to begin the sample.

• The weft will be secured with a row of double half –hitches at either end.

• Use half-hitches and weft-floats (behind the work) to manage wefts as the colour transition is worked.
  

MATERIALS

• Warp: Warp Thread, 100% Cotton

• Weft: Colour 1, Woolsey Yellow; Colour 2, Woolsey Natural
  

METHOD
 

STEP 1

Sketch out and dimension the weaving area, or area of colour transition. I've used our Weaver's Graph Paper (which is available as a free download here) to sketch out the sample.

In this instance, the weaving area is 10cm x 10cm and we’re creating a transition over the horizontal plane. 

Divide the piece into five equal horizontal sections (see diagram below).

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STEP 2
 

Plan out and assign a percentage for each section that will create a uniform transition between colours over the weaving area.

For this workshop, I've chosen a five-section transition to keep the weaving comfortable and percentages to be worked somewhat intuitive.  

Referencing the diagram below, sections 1 and 5 establish the transition colours and will be woven at 100% ‘saturation’.

The actual transition of colour occurs between sections 2, 3 and 4, the percentages for each section are detailed in the diagram below.

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STEP 3
 

Using colour 1 (Yellow), begin the sample by establishing a row of double half-hitches. Ensure each hitch is knotted firmly to secure weft to warp.

Using plain weave, weave in Section 1.

I’ve attached a loop of thread to the warp to mark the end of the section.

STEP 4
 

Hold-on to your bobbin, get ready to embrace your numbers…

In STEP 2 we established a colour percentage for each section. We now need to work out how many times the weft will pass over the warp and use this number to translate the percentages to actual weft coverage.

We know that the piece has 16 warp threads, so for each row woven in plain weave the weft will pass over the warp 8 times.

With this information we can convert each colour percentage to the corresponding weft coverage for each row.

This is the formula we use: 

Using our formula here are the weft coverage stats for each section: 

STEP 5

Armed with our weft coverage stats we can now break away from the scientific method and begin weaving the colour transition with a bit more feeling.

Beginning with Section 2 and utilising the half-hitch method for colour changes, weave-in (maintaining the established weave sequence) the first row by randomly placing two dots of Colour 2 (White).

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Then, complete the first row by filling in the remaining sequence with six dots of Colour 1 (Yellow).

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Our first row now reflects the colour percentage we specified for Section 2, 75% of dots are Yellow and 25% are White.

Repeat this step, row-by-row, maintaining the colour percentage and complete Section 2.

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STEP 6

Continue working the piece row-by-row, changing the percentages of weft colour as you progress through each section.

Again, use a loop of thread or stich marker to mark each section as you progress. 

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STEP 7

Once Section 5 has been woven, finish the sample with a row of double half-hitches to secure the fabric.

Cut the piece from the loom and finish as desired.

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A FEW TIPS

• I recommend that you work row-by-row and keep both wefts working in the same direction. This will make it easier to monitor the weave sequence, it can be quite easy to get lost once the second weft colour is introduced.

• Use the progression of colour in previous rows to influence how you ‘randomly’ place colour in the next row.

• As we’re using a small amount of Colour 2 in this first progression, it can be handy to use short cut-lengths of weft that wrap (half-hitch) around just one or two warps.

• Don’t feel bound by the colour percentages, they are a guide. Monitor the fabric and place the colour where it feels right for you. You’ll notice in my sample weft colours clump together, I felt this added to the randomness of the transition and contributed a certain character to the piece.

INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

The length of the colour transition and the frequency at which the weft colour percentages change is highly adaptable.

Ideas for further experimentation might include – working over a much broader area, working in more percentages to progress the colour change more gradually, or perhaps even making the percentages non-linear.

This method is not limited to the horizontal plane either. You could work this technique over almost any angle and with a bit of planning even apply it to more complex rectangular and radial colour transitions.

Oh, so many possibilities!

More experiments await…

FOR MORE INFO ON THE TECHNIQUES USED IN THIS TUTORIAL, CHECK OUT OUR BOOK LINE SHAPE TEXTURE.

LINE SHAPE TEXTURE

$11.99

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THIS WOOLSEY PALETTE HAS NOW BEEN RETIRED. PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW RANGE HERE.

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Welcome WOOLSEY

The first weaving yarn by Loom & Spindle! A weaving yarn that has a structure and composition that was carefully considered and selected specifically for tapestry weaving.

THE YARN

Woolsey is a single ply 100% wool yarn with moderate twist.

These elements come together to produce a smooth inelastic yarn ideal for tapestry style weaving where a dense and cohesive fabric is desired.

Where multi-ply yarns can shadow and dull the surface of the tapestry fabric, Woolsey’s defining single ply construction helps reduce these effects, encouraging a smooth bright fabric surface.

When woven at gauge, Woolsey produces a clear and well-defined weave ideal for working shapes and textural stitches.

With our recommended warp sett of 4-6 epi (16-24ends/10cm), Woolsey will always get predictable coverage taking the guesswork out of project design.

With its quick and easy coverage, Woolsey is ideal for tapestry inspired weaving projects destined for wall décor and home furnishings.

THE NAME

The name ‘Woolsey’ was derived from the traditionally woven fabric, linsey-woolsey.

Linsey-woolsey is a coarse and hardwearing fabric woven from a cotton or linen warp and wool weft.

Though this fabric was woven for yardage, the parallel between the foundation elements of this fabric and tapestry was not lost on me and consequently inspired the name for our new range. 

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THIS WOOLSEY PALETTE HAS NOW BEEN RETIRED. PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW RANGE HERE.

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LET’S GET STARTED…

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE…

For a while now I’ve been working on a special project for Loom & Spindle, a weaving yarn that's structure and composition has been carefully considered and selected specifically for tapestry weaving.

Exciting, I know! I’ll have all the details for you in coming weeks. 

But for now, I’d like to focus on one element of the project, weaving samples (or samplers, or swatches or whatever you’d like to call these tiny woven fabrics).

Sampling has been an important part of the project as it’s given me the opportunity to work with this yarn on a small scale and test the arrangement of elements that form the tapestry fabric – things like warp sett, weft weight, and colour harmony or disharmony.

Weaving a test fabric can be the defining moment in a new tapestry project. This little experiment between fibre and form will help you decide whether or not your configuration will work cohesively and convey the feeling you intended.

In preparing for the upcoming yarn launch I thought it would be useful to weave a sample of each new yarn colour to explore and share the fabric each produced. My thoughts were that this will help us both choose colour palettes and determine the suitability of the yarn for any future projects you or I might have in mind.

Here’s my method for weaving a tapestry sampler…

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PROJECT: Tapestry SAMPLER

INTENTION

Make a small woven tapestry sample using Woolsey: A Weaving Yarn, to study the colour and texture of the woven fabric produced.

SKILLS

• Plain weave.

• Double half-hitches to secure warp and weft.

• Weft changes using the half-hitch method.

*To learn more about these skills you might like to check out our book - LINE SHAPE TEXTURE.

PLANNING

• My samples will measure 10cm x 10cm (or 4" x 4"), I find this sample size quick to weave and the warp sett is easily determined.

• My set-up will comprise a frame-loom warped with cotton thread at 16 ends over 10cm (4 ends per inch).

• I will use a ground weave of warp thread to evenly space the warp and provide a firm base to begin the sample.

• The warp and weft will be secured with a row of double half –hitches at either end.
  

MATERIALS

• Warp: Warp thread, 100% Cotton.

• Weft: Woolsey: A Weaving Yarn
  

METHOD

STEP 1
Space the warp evenly over the 10cm (4") warp width.
While carefully maintaining the warp spacing, begin the weft yarn by establishing a row of double half-hitches.
Ensure each hitch is knotted firmly to secure the weft to warp.

STEP 2
Using plain weave, weave in the body of the fabric until the piece measures 10cm (4") in length. If needed, begin any new weft threads using the half-hitch method.

STEP 3
Finish with a row of double half-hitches to secure the fabric.

STEP 4
Cut from the loom and finish as desired.

APPLICATION

• The method is fairly straight forward with no special notes to consider.

• No modifications were made when weaving the samples.

• To ensure straight edges and symmetry I did take extra care when working close to the selvages.
  

FINISHING

• No finishing techniques were applied but I might use this sample in the future to test the effects of steam blocking on this yarn.

 

INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

• This method enables me to set up and weave a tapestry sample in about 30 minutes, allowing me to very quickly sample a new yarn or fibre.

• It’s such a versatile method that it would also be useful for working a series of small tapestry projects.

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THANK YOU FOR READING!

Our new weaving yarn has arrived, find Woolsey here.

FOR MORE INFO ON THE SKILLS USED IN THIS TUTORIAL, CHECK OUT OUR BOOK LINE SHAPE TEXTURE.

FREE SAMPLE AVAILABLE VIA OUR BOOK PAGE!

LINE SHAPE TEXTURE

$11.99

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LET’S KEEP LEARNING…

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