[SallyintNorth]

So, I bought a lovely hand-built-from-recycled-woods, rather large , peg loom

Itching to have a go, I spun some high twist Massam singles, plied them with plenty of plying twist and showed them to the 'sage' of our little local group as my potential warp.  She was highly complimentary of the spinning and dyeing  but said she doubted they'd be strong enough    I'd hoped that long staple/high twist would've imparted the strength but she thought not enough. 

Linen, she thought, would be the best to use.  About double knitting weight, she thought.

Well I've slept on it now and am wondering whether to have a go with my Massam anyway...     Maybe if I made a cabled yarn with it?  (2 overplied 2-plies plied together.) 

I thought there would be bound to be folks on here have tried various things and would have experiences to share...  please?

[BALLOCH]

The warp thread needs to be strong enough not to break with the weight of the woven item ,rug  the larger the rug the heavier it will be and after finishing you don't want it to break or the finished item will fall apart.I use a type of string and any string should do but as a test pull it between your two hands has hard as you can and it musnt break if it does its not strong enough.You could do this with your spun yarn and if you cant physically break it then it should be strong enough.Hope this helps.

[Dans]

I use cotton string from the DIY store, like parcel string. Has worked well for making fleece rugs.

Dans

[Fleecewife]

 

As Balloch and Dans.   I knew someone who would come and take all the string I took from the tops of feed sacks - you know, the stitching which can be opened easily from one end but not the other and is intensely annoying when you're in a hurry    I don't think it would be strong enough for a hefty rug, but for lighter weight items it clearly works. 

[SallyintNorth]

Very helpful, thanks folks.

Gosh, I have loads of feed sack string!  (And baler twine... now that is a fun idea Wish I hadn't let BH throw out a whole reel of thin blue twine now  )

I was going to make something first using odd bits of skeins of handspun, not too large, so wouldn't be particularly heavy.  I'll do the pull test (actually I'm such a wimp these days I'll get BH to do it!) on my Massam and otherwise use string

As to what this "thing made using odd bits of skeins of handspun, not too large" will be - not sure!  Maybe a cushion cover?  A lap rug?  A seat cover for the leather seat in the car?  Any other ideas?  (Maybe a wallhanging 'my first pegloom item' for a while, but then something useful!)

[Lesley Silvester]

I bought my peg loom last year at Wonderwool and haven't had a chance to use it yet. I've been saving the orange net bags that pony carrots come in and I want to cut them into strips and weave a back door mat. Another thing I bought at Wonderwool was several cones of warping cotton, which is very strong and ideal for rugs.

[SallyintNorth]

"Cones of warping cotton"....     See, I never even heard of such a thing!  Shall explore...

[Fleecewife]

"Cones of warping cotton"....     See, I never even heard of such a thing!  Shall explore...

Texere (I think that's the name) do a good deal, other knitting and weaving yarns too though I think everything's white (great for dyers)

[Bionic]

I bought a cone of warping cotton at Wonderwool last year too.  My biggest problem was deciding on the colour as they had loads of different colours.  In the end I went for very neutral sort of ivory. This year I am going to buy a couple more cones though and will get some brighter colours. 

[SallyintNorth]

"Cones of warping cotton"....     See, I never even heard of such a thing!  Shall explore...

Texere (I think that's the name) do a good deal, other knitting and weaving yarns too though I think everything's white (great for dyers)

Oh no, now I've got another favourite supplier...    They have coloured and natural warping cotton and linen, so I've asked their advice as to which would be best for my project(s).   I really ought to call in at my local weaving / yarn store and see what she has first, before ordering online, mind    And there's a knitting group in the café there tomorrow afternoon, and bad weather forecast...      - always assuming the sheep play ball, of course 

[Lesley Silvester]

That's your Thursday afternoons sorted then, Sally.