Posted by Peg in South Carolina
Here is one of my pirns sitting in a Bluster Bay shuttle. Look closely at the yarn on the pirn. Can you see the problem? Towards the front there is a visible knot. And the thread that is coming from the pirn—the thread that is going to be woven into the warp—is caught around it.
Every time the yarn goes around that pirn as I pull the thread out, it catches on that knot. And stops in its tracks. So I have to stop and pull it off the knot. As soon as the part of the yarn with the knot comes off, the problem is gone.
On the other pirn there are multiple knots….
Not a fun way to weave, but the warp is narrow and the weaving is time consuming anyway. But were I weaving something like a straight twill with only one shuttle, this issue would prove maddening. Indeed, when winding the pirns I would stop when I came to a knot and either throw out what I had wound and stop again if there were not very much. Or, if there was quite a bit on, I would start a new pirn.
Related Post:
Pirns and Bobbins Wound
Pirn Winding
“Pirn Problems” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on June 12, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina
5 comments:
Peg,
Are the knots in the yarn or do they develope as the yarn winds off the pirn?
Could you snip it so it won't catch and then just bury the ends in the weaving? This is what knitters do-we don't like knots in the skeins either!
bspinner, the knots are in the yarn. I put them there. These were skeins that gave me much grief as I was winding them onto cones and frequently had to cut and tie.
Delighted Hands, thank you for coming and posting! I love your moniker! Yes, weavers bury the ends in weaving as well. But snipping at this point would mean loss of a bit of precious yardage because the knot goes back a ways. This happens because of the way pirns must be wound (unlike bobbins). If I were weaving 45" wide instead of 9" wide, this might be a viable suggestion and I will try to remember it. Thank you.
Well, I'm pretty ignorant about pirns and end-feed shuttles, but I do find this interesting because these are one my "someday" list. Your posts will be a good resource to come back to.
Leigh, if you are weaving with fine yarns (and I would consider 2/20 pearl cotton, perhaps even 2/10 as fine) the large end feed shuttles are wonderful because they hold a lot of yarn and they help you keep your selvedges even.
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