Weaving
After making my sample square I warped up my Kromski Harp Forte with the commercial Herdwick yarn, initially starting with just enough length for one rug to see how it went. I found I had plenty of yarn, so ended up making several rugs and have some yarn left over to experiment with in the future. To make hemstitching easier, I wove a few rows at each end using the commercial yarn, which also secured the handspun a little better and should prevent it from coming loose. I began by plain weaving the Herdwick with a single strand of yarn, however after my first rug decided that I wanted to have a slightly thicker weft as some sections were much thinner than others, so I held the yarn double for subsequent rugs – you can see the slight difference below.
I experimented with making a warp long enough for two rugs to reduce the amount of threading needed, which worked well, however I did need to remove the first rug after I’d finished it, as the cloth around the front beam was a little too thick and making the shed tighter (but I was able to hemstitch first to keep the tension, which sped things up a bit).
I’ve made a video showing the whole process below (the first two sections are the same as have been shown in my fibre prep and spinning posts for this project, so feel free to skip ahead if you wish).
Overall I’m very happy with how these turned out, they are very soft and have the added bonus of resembling a dry stone wall, which is very apt considering the Herdwick’s origin in the Lake District.
Happy Crafting!
Previous Herdwick posts and the Breed Society website can be found below:
- A Little About: Herdwick
- Fibre Prep: Herdwick
- Spinning: Herdwick
- Breed Society Website – https://www.herdwick-sheep.com/
Loose Ends 