Since I planned to weave with my loose spun Herdwick which wouldn’t be strong enough as a warp (not to mention being too thick to fit through any of my reeds), I decided I would use a commercial yarn as the warp and would make a breed study square before my project as a sample to test how the yarns behaved. I picked up some grey commercially spun yarn cones from EAYF 2023, which judging on their coarseness and colour are probably Herdwick or a Herdwick blend, so thought they would make a perfect warp, particularly since my handspun Herdwick was a lighter cream colour.
I made a simple warp on my pin loom, passing my warp yarn around 2 pegs each time and missing one either end so the warp would be wider and the handspun more dominant in the weave (you can just about see in the photo below). I then repeated the process with the weft yarn threaded through a large weaving needle, which was pleasant enough to begin with, but became challenging as I neared the other end of the pin loom where my needle was too thick to pass through, so I had to do my best with a tapestry needle that had a very small eye!
Although I loved the look of the sample (it reminds me of drystone walls, which is quite appropriate considering Herdwicks originate from the Lake District), I was worried that it wouldn’t hold it’s structure after coming off the loom, however after washing, the weave tightened up (as shown in the top photo) and I was happy to move onto my rigid heddle loom for the final project…
Happy Weaving!
Loose Ends 
These are great information, thank you so much for sharing. Love reading about your experiences.
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