Introduction - weaving a British wool scarf using a rigid heddle weaving loom kit.
A chance meeting at a yarn event with another exhibitor, Wool Decanted has resulted in a friendship and collaboration making rigid heddle weaving kits including a pattern and their gorgeous hand dyed British wool. This blog details the process undertaken in creating two very special rigid heddle loom scarf weaving kits using the TabbyandTweed rigid heddle loom and the handdyed Wool Decanted British Wool.
Who are Wool Decanted?
Wool Decanted is run by Linda and Lisa and like us they have a passion for using British Wool. They take pride in sourcing all their wool from the softest British fleeces. The fibres have been blended and spun by British mills producing yarns that are deliciously soft to touch yet strong and lustrous. The yarn is handdyed and the colour inspiration for their yarn has been the awesome natural landscape of their island Woolery home on the river Thames.
Why British wool?
There is a growing interest in the use of British Wool and so there should be, British wool is natural, sustainable and has fewer air miles than other imported wool. Wool Decanted source their own fleeces and their yarns are traceable right back to the individually selected farms and sheep where the fleeces were grown. They pay fair prices for all their fleeces, and through the manufacture of the yarn they support the retention and growth of British wool processing.
How did the collaboration between TabbyandTweed and Wool Decanted come about?
We first met last September as exhibitors at Unravel Festival at Farnham. We had an event space opposite Linda and Lisa and as we were both new businesses there was a lot to chat about. All four of us love yarn, using yarn for either knitting or weaving so the common ground was vast. We were immediately drawn to their gorgeous yarn and loved their link with the wine industry. Wool was purchased and woven and we were delighted with the results. We met Linda and Lisa again at Yarndale and Wonderwool Wales and plans for a collaboration developed with the design of a couple of scarf patterns which could be woven with Wool Decanted Cellar blends yarns using one of our new rigid heddle looms.
What is the TabbyandTweed rigid heddle loom?
Having chatted to new weavers and those wanting to start weaving we recognised that many beginner weavers like to have a project to get them started. We sell our rigid heddle loom kits with all the accessories and instructions to weave but they also include a pattern and yarn to get their first project started, either a scarf or cowl. The idea here was that a beginning weaver can learn to weave without the additional worry of choosing a pattern and yarn themselves. This also ensures that their very first delve into weaving sees them successful in creating something functional and beautiful. The hope is that the new weaver will in the process of undertaking the project learn about the weaving of simple patterns and yarn choice giving them the confidence to then weave independently.
The loom is a small, compact loom which is perfect for a beginning weaver being sold assembled and ready for warping. The loom is ideal for weaving scarves using doubleknit yarn with a reed at a sett of 8epi. At Unravel Yarn Festival this year one of the options will be for the kit to be sold with a couple of special Wool Decanted scarf patterns with the yarn included in the kit.
Wool Decanted Scarves
We worked with Linda and Lisa to come up with two quite different scarves using their cellar blend yarns. We wanted the designs to each use equal amounts of three different colours of yarns so that each scarf could be created from 3 x 50g skeins. When weaving, the warp and weft colours mix together. If you aren’t careful, two beautiful colours individually can be woven to produce a very mediocre or even unpleasant colour so we choose our colour combinations carefully. One scarf is based on navy, blue and cream creating a scarf which will coordinate with any number of different outfits. The other scarf is somewhat brighter woven with Pistachio, Olive and Passion Pink creating an accessory which will be a real colour pop to a wardrobe! We are excited to be taking the new design to yarn events this Autumn and to hopefully get some feedback from visitors.
You can purchase a rigid heddle loom with a British wool scarf weaving kit from our TabbyandTweed website shop for delivery in the UK or our TabbyandTweed Etsy shop for delivery elsewhere.
Comments