Two skeins of lusciously beautiful 100% Egyptian cotton yarn are en route to me as I type this. I wait; not so patiently… The skeins, balls really, do not have a lot of yardage in them, so I know I am going to want to sample the yarn before I attempt a band with it.

The last time I sampled a warp, I tied each warp end on individually, but I wanted a more efficient method to accomodate sampling a warp with more ends. So, in preparation for the goodies soon to arrive, I dug in my stash and found a skein of inexpensive acylic yarn that I bought because I liked the colors, but had no plans for, and tweeked my method a bit.

This time, I tied the warp on in groups instead of individually.

And, I warped over the top back peg. This kept the heddled and unheddled warp yarns laid neatly in place even though they were tied in groups.
    

A surprising result of tying the warp on in groups is that the groups wanted to twist. But, they easily straighten out with a few toothpicks inserted at the beginning of weaving (or what every you have on hand).

The sample band, including fringe is only 16 inches long. Even my mini inkle loom can not make a band that short.

The length and width were just right to understanding this yarn. From sampling I learned:

– This yarn is “toothy”, meaning it sticks to itself and needs to be coaxed apart at each pick. The skein is really soft, so I wasn’t expecting this.
-This yarn is self-striping. The label did not indicate this. I was hoping for a more verigated dye pattern.
-This yarn is not a good choice for weft. The pulling, tugging, and passing through the shed weakened it and caused the yarn to break. I switched to a cotton weft, which was thinner and smoother than the warp, and it worked much better.

I would call these tweeks a sampling success. Based on this sample band, I know this yarn is not good as a weft or as a stand alone warp yarn. Possibly, I will use it for an accent or  a pick-up yarn in a band. Hmmm…

warp, weave, be happy!

~Jennifer