Monday, September 14, 2009

SAMPLE SKEINS WOUND AND WEIGHED

Posted by Peg in South Carolina
I finally did something sensible.  In the past when I have made mini-skeins (I’m talking about skeins 9-10 yards long here), I simply used my warping board.  For some inane reason, this made sense to me.
This time I used my regular skein winder.  Faster.  Easier on the body.  Silly me.
Weighing silk on scale
I made 25 skeins, weighed them all at one time.  They weighed 26 grams.  I decided that figuring 1 gram for a skein was close enough.  And that is how I have re-written my instructions.
The scale I use is a triple balance scale.  Most dyers use electronic scales.  But a really accurate electronic scale costs a great deal of money, much more than the kitchen scales sold in stores.  Those are fine for weighing food, but not nearly accurate enough for dyeing. The triple balance scale, on the other hand, is relatively inexpensive and extremely accurate.  Having forgotten high school chemistry, I did have to re-learn how to use it, and it is more fiddly to use than the electronic scales.  But it is extremely accurate.

Sample Skeins Wound and Weighed” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on September 14, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.