Weaving a stash of hand spun yarn creating a unique scarf

Many people who like yarn crafts often come to weaving as they see it as a route to using up their yarn stash. For anyone who loves to knit, crochet or spin the result is often an extensive collection of small lengths or balls of beautiful yarns. These yarns don't need to be wasted and weaving is a good route for their use. This collection is usually made up of odd lengths or balls which can't easily be used to create a knitted garment of any significant size, other than perhaps a Dr Who style scarf. Weaving is a perfect way to use up this yarn to best effect. This blog outlines the use of yarn from a stash to create a handwoven scarf. Included are some tips and hints for weaving different yarns.

When delving into my own yarn stash I found that I had lots of small balls and lengths of hand spun yarn. Now anyone who spins their own yarn will know that the process of spinning yarn isn't speedy. To me, a yarn stash of hand spun yarn is one which deserves to be used. If you are interested specifically in reading about weaving with handspun yarn then you may find this blog interesting - click here.

Key things to consider when weaving with hand spun and different yarns

1. Choosing your reed

When yarn is different thicknesses it is a little more difficult to choose the heedle to use. My TabbyandTweed rigid heddle weaving loom has a 10epi, 8epi and 6epi heddle. I use these heddles for 4ply, doubleknit and Aran weight yarn respectively. When the yarn is not a uniform thickness the heddle which is appropriate for most of the yarn being used is needed. I chose to use an 8epi heddle as the hand spun yarn I was using was approximately doubleknit.

2. Mixing yarns in the warp

When weaving with different yarns the weaving can be quite irregular. This may be the look you want and if that is the case then this is fine. If yarns are made of different fibres one issue can be that when washing to finish the different yarns shrink differently. This can give an uneven weave and a scarf which varies in thickness along the length of the scarf. To counteract this issue I mix the yarns on both the warp and the weft. If you see below you can see that each different yarn is spread across the heddle/width of the scarf using a couple of warp threads for each different yarn with the warp threads for each yarn being spread out across the width of the warp.

3. Mixing the yarns in the weft

I used two shuttles at any one time each with a different yarn on them. I swapped each shuttle every two weft picks as can be shown below. This swapping over allowed me to loop the threads up the selvedge of the weave without the need to keep weaving in new threads.

4. Dealing with broken warp threads

Weaving with hand spun can result in broken warp threads. I would always use plied yarn for the warp as the plying process gives the yarn more strength. If the warp yarns break they can be repaired easily as shown below and as detailed in this blog here.

5. Weaving a colour pop

The colours of yarn and how they are mixed comes down to personal choice. This being said I like to introduce what I call 'colour pops'. This is a yarn or area of weave which has a different colour to the area around it. These colour pops are the areas of a weave which in my opinion add interest and to which the eye is drawn to in the finished garment. In the weave on the loom below you can see a brighter yellow/green stripe. If you are interested in reading about the use of colour in weaving then you may find this blog interesting - click here.

The finished scarf

The scarf was removed from the loom after which it was then washed and ironed. I think you will agree that what were a range of random small lengths of yarn have created a stunning handwoven scarf. What was waste yarn has been used to good effect.

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