Threads

I came to weaving, like many others, from knitting.

As a knitter, I was a yarn snob.

Merino wool, hand dyed yarns were my go-to.

Madelinetosh and Wollmeise were my absolute favorites, and I collected and hoarded oodles and scads of them.

I still love them both.

I still have quite a bit of them in my stash.

When I began weaving, I used a good bit of wool yarn from the knitting stash, but there are only so many scarves, cowls, and wraps we need in South Texas.

While my preferred garments to wear have always been linen, cotton, and silk, I did not knit much with any of them, except Habu Silk.

Knitting was a tactile thing for me, and there is nothing nicer than soft, squishy yarn running through my hands.

Well, weaving is different.

First of all, I promised myself what I created on the loom would be more utilitarian than what I had been knitting.

I rarely wear wool.

When I do, it’s the husband’s felled wool dress coat to walk the dogs when it’s windy, wet, and cold to cover up the tee shirt and yoga pants I have been running around the house in.

I did not knit or boil the wool for that. I bought it.

Thus, I never wore any of the knitted sweaters I made.

In fact, I have given all but three away.

So, cotton became my weaving staple.

Tea towels quickly became the most requested item. 98% of what I make are probably tea towels or hand towels.

Of that, 90% are 100% cotton while the remaining are cottolin, a combination of cotton and linen.

Webs (yarn.com) provided my initial weaving stash of 8/2 cotton. But, I soon discovered R & M yarns with their discount mill end 8/2 cotton.

The 8/2 from Webs was $24/#, $18/#, if you were able to maximize their discount.

R & M had 8/2 cotton for $8/#, I think it is $9/# now.

Yes, it was not as smooth. No, the colors were not repeatable. Yes, I received at least one cone, that had hundreds of gnarly knots in it, but it was a great way to build a color stash.

For the last year and a half or so, I have become more of a thread snob, as my budget has allowed.

Bockens has the most wonderful quality thread I have found, but it is expensive. I splurge on their 8/2 in Indigo because the depth of and intensity of color is beyond compare; however, I have not yet been able to justify the price of converting the entire stash for tea towels.

Brassards has lovely, soft, and smooth 8/2 cotton. The quality and colors are consistent, and I have been buying more in both cotton and Cottolin.

UKI probably has the widest range of colors, but for the 8/2, it is not as smooth or nice as the Brassards.

Of course, I am now into the 10/2, both mercerized and unmercerized. UKI has wonderful 10/2 mercerized in over 50 colors! I love them.

For unmercerized 10/2, Georgia Yarn Company has wonderful dyed and undyed yarns.

As I look over my stash, I have realized I have almost used up what I acquired from R & M Yarns.

My initial thought was “Good! I can backfill my needs with Brassards.”

After buying color cards from Brassards and UKI, I discovered that was easier said than done.

R & M buys mill ends in every color imaginable.

Celery and celadon were two of my favorites from R & M because they blended in with so many of the gradient warps I created.

The standard colors from Webs, Brassards, and UKI are no where close to either the celery or celadon.

Of course, neither have they reappeared at R & M, either.

No, I am not going to dye specific colors to add to a warp, unless I dye the whole warp that color, but I have been forced to rethink my stance on the R & M cotton threads.

To obtain a wider range of colors, I am more willing to forgo the quality of threads, especially when using them in a supplemental fashion as a few dozen in a warp of almost 600 ends.

Bottom line, I am not much of a thread snob, after all.

Now, excuse me while I check to see if R & M has updated their site with new arrivals yet.