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Monday, March 17, 2014

Thrums

Every time I dye yarn for a project, I dye some extra yardage "just in case." You know, just in case my calculations were wrong, or just in case I want to have some choices when it comes to the weft... for example, how many scarves in a run are woven with blue, or purple, or green weft.

That means I end up with small amounts of warp or weft yarns left over, and need ways to use them up. If it's hand-dyed silk, I'm unlikely to just toss it in the trash!













I might have 10 yards here, 50 yards there, up to 100 yards perhaps. Most of this is silk, some is Tencel. The photo only shows part of the stash of thrums. What I'm thinking about is this: Make a few mixed-color, 1-inch-wide warps, long enough for a 3- or 4-scarf run. I might dip-dye the mini-warps (as Randy Darwall does with entire warps), and then intersperse them in a main warp of  dark blue.

With a variegated colorful stripe in the cloth, it wouldn't need to be a fancy weave, a simple twill would work perfectly, perhaps with broken twill in the colorful stripe.

In case you wonder, yes, those thrums are wound onto toilet rolls. After all, they're a resource we'll never run out of! I cut the inner paper rolls lengthwise and tape them to fit over the ball-winder post. That keeps the thread tidy and manageable when it comes time to wind off the rolls onto a warp.


4 comments:

neki desu said...

great ideas here.

margery meyers haber said...

I use those TP rolls, too...a free supply, after all. And your mixed warp sounds lovely.

Cally said...

What a gorgeous selection of colours. I think a dark blue ground will set them off beautifully.

Rhonda from Baddeck said...

I just discovered your blog, and I'm reading "from new to old." I love the striped warp colors. And your idea about winding small amounts onto TP rolls is great! An easy and tidy way to keep small amounts of yarn organized. (Love the colours!)