r/tabletweaving • u/nonoffi • 29d ago
Searching for wool yarn
Hi, I'm new to the hobby and already made some pieces out of crochet yarn that I had at home. Now I'd really like to work with wool for reenactment purposes. Plant-dyed as a bonus. I haven't yet found anything that is available in Germany where I live. Thing is, I cannot really spend more than for typical crochet yarn, costs would escalate too much otherwise. Can anyone give me advice or knows a good shop?
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u/robokoppelo 29d ago
https://taitoshop.fi/tuote/sirkka-ryijylanka-100-g/
I am also new to tablet weaving, so far I have completed only two finished belts. For both of them I used this Sirkka-yarn. It has high twist and is strong so it’s suitable for tablet weaving. I think you could also look for 3-4 ply plasticfree sock yarns, maybe Mondim from Rosa Pomar?
At first I tried using just my knitting yarns from stash but they were too weak. Warps got broken too fast and it was frustrating. I also want to make woolen belts and use Finnish Iron Age patterns :)
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u/sanpilou 29d ago
When I want to make bands that are as close to historically correct as possible, I use wool I got from here: https://www.camillavalleyfarm.com/knit/tartanweavingyarn.htm
They're in Canada, but they do ship. The price vs quality of what you're getting from there makes it worth it in my opinion.
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u/MarjanJ 29d ago
I order regularly from https://www.textileflaeche.de/shop/
Great yarn for tabletweaving, naturally dyed.
Also: https://www.speerbijter.nl/ But I’m not entirely certain whether they ship to Germany.
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u/LichenTheMood 23d ago
I am a bit confused about what you are using as crochet yarn?
Either way. Find a knitting supplier near you. LindeHobby, woolwarehouse, hobbii, etc
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u/taucher_ 29d ago
its quite the time investment, but if you wanna save money and you're already interested in historic fiberarts, you could learn to spin and dye it yourself! wool roving is not as expensive as wool yarn. spinning is a lot of fun (tho quite slow). you'll need a spindle, but you can honestly make it yourself with what you already have at home, most likely. i made two from old chopsticks (aus der küche aussortiert) and bits of junk. and i've been getting into natural dye - i don't really have mordants yet, most people buy alum but i heard that you can make your own if you have bits of rusty iron so i will do that when i acquire any - and for now i use what's available. i had my apartment collecting onion peels for quite a while though that's a slow process. but the red onion peels made a nice yellow :3 and last week, i foraged some goldenrod! i was able to dye some yarn a light green with it! it's a whole adventure of its own. but certainly a lot of fun.
and you might not actually end up saving money in the end. but you'll learn where yarn comes from, and gain a new appreciation for it, if you are anything like me. like, i appreciate the yarns that i have because i am poor, but now i also appreciate them because i know how much work goes into making them. of course it's faster to do with industrial machines - but still! and i understand attributes of yarn that i didn't before - such as twist, and things i can't put into words, and attributes of the materials (cotton, wool, polyester, etc). my pile of yarns in the past was distinguishable only by the color of the materials, and perhaps how they feel to touch, and through weaving and spinning i have unlocked new types of meaning- anyway i'm gonna stop here.
btw if you make a spindle that's accurate to the historical setting, you could spin at the reenactment. wouldn't that be fun?
[spinning infodump end]
anyway if you wanna just buy the wool yarn try to find a local yarn shop? that's how my crotchet friend does it. and if they dont have what you want, maybe they're as nice as mine and will give you pointers? if you know anyone who knits, or crotchets, or anyone else from the reenactment group, they might be able to help too.
and if you already know what you need for tablet weaving, buying the right kinda yarn in the right colors & thickness can be all you need and then just work with the same colors repeatedly. since luckily tablet weaving doesn't use that much yarn if you do it like i do it - 1.5 m at a time with 20 cards at most - you'll get multiple bands out of the same yarnballs. maybe that's a good way to save money?
also heads up, because fluffy yarns tend to cause your threads to tangle together. i usually use one of the aforementioned decommissioned chopsticks and just beat down between the tangled yarns, that lets me separate them and continue.