Determining Sett

Day 157: When you're planning a weaving project with an unfamiliar thread/yarn, you need to determine the proper sett if you want to achive a balanced weave. For a tartan to be authentic, it must adhere to the proportions described in the Scottish Register of Tartans. It should be a 50/50 weave, which is to say that it should have the same number of warp threads and weft passes in an inch. Given the variation between yarns, how do you figure out the correct sett? A good starting point is by ascertaining the number of wraps per inch (WPI). Wind the thread around a ruler with each wrap taken as close to the previous one without compacting them. Cover an inch on the ruler and count the number of wraps. Divide the WPI in half if you plan to weave tabby, or by 2/3 for twill. And I cannot emphasize this strongly enough: this is only a guideline! You may have to adjust, as I did for my 16/2 Scottish wool. It wrapped the ruler at 40 per inch. This suggested at 30 warp ends per inch (EPI) would be a good sett. However, because this wool was very expensive and I only have enough to weave a shawl in my McLeod tartan, I decided to make a sample to confirm the sett. At 30 EPI, I made 40 weft passes to the inch ("picks per inch" or PPI), obviously not a 50/50 weave! Yes, I could still weave perfect squares, but my goal was to weave my official tartan, not just a plaid in McLeod colours. Therefore, I had to make some adjustments. By changing the sett to 36 EPI (tighter), the weft picks didn't pack as firmly. I'd found the sweet spot, although it will still take some careful attention to beating to keep consistent throughout the piece. I think my mother would be proud. (Footnote: the McLeod of Lewis tartan is mostly yellow and black with a fine red line, so I wove this sample using red because I knew I'd have more than enough. The yellow in the photo is not wool. It's a piece of nylon cord I used as a separator.)

A Timely Gift

Day 114: Imported from Scotland via Canada, a much-anticipated Christmas gift was delivered to me a few days ago by a weaving friend, timely in that it barely escaped falling under the ludicrous Trump Tariff on Canadian goods. This fine 16/2 wool will be woven into a light summer shawl of my tartan, McLeod of Lewis, also sometimes laughingly referred to as the "loud McLeod." I will be weaving it to spec, as it were, because true tartans must conform to how they are registered with the Scottish Registry of Tartans. In this case, that means a repeat of 16 black, 2 yellow, 16 black, 2 yellow, 16 black, 24 yellow, 2 red, 24 yellow on a twill threading. Because I plan to weave it on my floor loom at 30 inches wide (to shrink down to roughly 27 inches), it will require 900+ string heddles for a sett of 30 ends per inch. Max currently has about 500, so there's a lot of knot-tying in my future. I may have to adjust the sett somewhat in order to obtain a 50/50 weave (i.e., one with as many weft passes as there are warp threads in an inch). The wool is not the thinnest fiber I have ever woven by any means, but it will take extra care to be sure I don't break threads. However, first I have to finish weaving "Friend Evelyn." I have 8 feet done, and about 15 to go.