Thoughts on 9.1 – Tackling a Small Brushed Mohair Warp Project

[Ginette]

Let us know your thoughts on 9.1 – Tackling a Small Brushed Mohair Warp Project.

[tbrickerbrac]

Jane, instead of cutting the mohair and tying on in the front of the loom after warping front to back, couldn’t you just insert an apron rod through the ends and lash the apron rod onto the loom (just like it would be if you warped back to front) ?

[Jane]

Hi There,
That would be great if every single warp end came out the exact same length. I have never ever been so lucky 🙂

[Wendy Mel]

I was wondering how it would work if you used a wool ( eg Merino-non-Superwash for your warp) and mohair for your weft ? Or even the reverse?Thoughts?
Thank You,
Wendy

[Ginette]

Hi Wendy, I haven’t worked with superwash yarns personally but hopefully someone else can give you some of their thoughts. That said, are you able to do some sampling and see how the 2 yarns interact with each other?

[Sandra]

Just to add to what Ginette said. Maybe if you reviewed Project Planning 101 starting around the 33-minute mark, you would see Jane talking about her blankies. One is using Harrisville Shetland (wool) in the warp and weft, the other one she talks about is Harrisville Shetland for the warp and mohair for the weft. The Index that Ginette has created often helps find spots where Jane is talking about specific questions we might have.

[Wendy Mel]

I’m sorry I meant non-super wash. Thank you for your reply.

[Wendy Mel]

Thank you Sandra.

[msellenk]

Menopause brain made me laugh, definitely been there.

I am learning SO MUCH from you. Thank you Jane!

[Diane]

have you ever tried sectional warping with mohair

[Pamela Mickelwait]

I’m interested in trying sectional warping for mohair blankets as well

[Jane]

I just answered Diane 🙂
See below.

[Jane]

Hi Diane,
I have never used a sectional for mohair simply because of the tension box. I have a Leclerc tension box and the reed would have to be replaced in it. The tensioning over and under the dowels is just like using lease sticks and lease sticks and regular back to front warping is very hard on mohair and more specifically the warper. Who needs to lose mo’ hair! I mastered that tie on method 35 years ago and have never looked back.

[Pamela Mickelwait]

Thank you Jane. I’ll take your advice and stick to front to back warping for my beautiful mohair blankets.

[Brenda Andrewson]

I’ve had success using an AVL warping wheel. I don’t use the cross maker, but simply wind one inch of the warp the length I need and then transfer to the warp beam using some painters tape at the end to maintain my warp order. The mini-raddle on the wheel is 8 dents per inch so there is minimal fuzz loss.

[Robyn B]

Just looked up what an AVL warping wheel was and how it works. Have you tried other mills and if so why did you choose an AVL? Thanks

[ailazoom]

Hello from Minnesota. I am wondering if it is possible to do a mohair blanket in double weave increasing the possible width as I only have 36″ max. Or would I be asking for major trouble?

[Ginette]

Hi ailazoom, Jane gives an explanation on how to do this with a skeleton tie-up in the comments below episode 9.2 – Take a Leap…45″ mohair blanket.

[ericksonmarjorie]

Hello Jane,

In 1991 I attended my first ANWG Conference in Eugene, OR. I wasn’t a weaver yet but was so interested. My workshop was a dye workshop with Judith MacKenzie. It was simply the most fabulous introduction to the world of fiber that I could ever imagine. I think it was this Conference that I saw you as a vendor, sitting at a loom weaving a mohair blanket. It was so amazing to watch you and hear you say to shoppers, “Why not use mohair in the warp?” So, though I didn’t have a loom but went home with a sweet Mt Loom that I could afford and had room for, I was so inspired by your quip. You’ve been inspiring me ever since. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge so candidly stress-free. These episodes, and you, are fabulous!

[Margaret Tennis]

Is there a way to mimic the direct tie-up on a countermarche loom? I have a Spring.

[Sandra]

Jane has reminded me about an item on the JST Helpline on skeleton tie-ups on a countermarche loom. Let us know if this helps.

Skeleton tie-up on a countermarche loom

[Margaret Tennis]

Thank you! Exactly what I needed.

[Michele]

Hi all.
This is my 3rd year as a member of the on-line guild and my membership renewed in Jan.
I can’t access any of the 3 seasons but eachtime I try the progress % changes like I have.
I have tried loggging out, then back in, cleared browser history and deleted cache and cookies. All of the episode pictures are out of focus and I don’t get any of the video controls (ie. start/stop & audio control).
What’s happening? Can you help?
Michele

[Sandra]

Sorry to hear that, Michele! Have you tried a different browser? If that doesn’t work, check the different solutions in the FAQ section at the top of the Guild Forum page. If you still aren’t having luck – let us know and we’ll see if we can come up with a solution.

[Robyn B]

What a wonderful guild! I have learned to much and am so inspired. Thanks Jane and the crew. Here’s my question:
I have a new-to-me-loom with miles of 8/2 cotton already warped on a sectional beam. Any reason why I can’t use the tie-on method shown for the mohair project to do the any of the projects until I’m ready to get back to towels? Thanks.

[bzbbell]

Hello. I bought a mohair blanket kit, planning to make it as a graduation present for my niece, but having looked at this video again, I am thinking it might be prudent to make a scarf or something small like that first, as Jane suggests. I really like the two colours she uses in the warp for the scarf she makes. Which colours are they? And is it black she’s using for the weft? What if I were to use either the green or the purple of the warp for the weft?

Thanks.

[Sandra]

I’m not on Salt Spring near Jane, so I’m looking at my JST Brushed Mohair sample card and it looks like she’s used Rainforest (an olive green) and Purple for her warp and it looks like black for her weft. You can use anything you want for your weft and what a perfect time to sample a bit and see which of the colours YOU like best! Just put on a bit longer warp, and play. You’ll be able to tell better if when you finish and brush your sample. Have fun!

[Anonymous]

I joined the guild specifically to learn how to use brushed mohair and I’m so glad I did. I’ve been galloping through the lessons learning such a mazing things. I made a little brushed mohair scarf as per Jane’s instructions with much success. Jane has made me proud of my accomplishment.
Now I am wondering how to use mohair bouclé. Can it be brushed like brushed mohair? What sett would be appropriate? I have used it as weft with mercerized cotton as warp but I think my sett was incorrect. I would like to use it as weft especially since it is variegated. I don’t think I have enough for warp and weft and the mercerized cotton is a perfect match for the colours. Any thoughts?
Thanks so much Jane for being such a great inspirational teacher.
Sylvia

[Sheryl Smith]

Wondering if anyone has tried mohair using a 10 dent reed and setting it at 5 every other reed. I don’t have a 6 dent reed for my 36 inch Leclerc nilus loom. Not sure I will be making enough in mohair to justify buying another reed

[Anonymous]

Hello again,
I’ve been on a mohair scarf kick with all the mohair yarn I as given and loving it. Since I sell these, I am wondering about the after care – how to launder if the need arises. Can you advise?
All the yarns I was given seem to be of the vintage variety. Among the treasures is Irish Dawn, 65% acrylic and 35% wool. The wool is brushed around an acrylic core which I have tied onto my dummy warp like mohair sett at 6 epi. It doesn’t want to full but I can get a low loft halo by brushing with a spiky cat brush. The result is soft and woolly. Have you ever heard of this kind of yarn? And do you think I’m getting the best of it?
Sylvia

[pennyhoe1]

Hi
can anyone tell me where to find Jane actually making the mohair warp – I have had a quick look back through the making a warp episode but can’t see it.
Thanks
Penny

[Ginette]

Hi Penny, I don’t think Jane demonstrates making a mohair warp in the videos.There is a video of her counting threads on the warping board where she uses the mohair.

[Jacquelyn Partain]

Hi, i am wanting the same thing as pennyhoe1, how to wind the warp with the mohair, is there anything special we need to know? The outline says we will learn how to wind the fuzziest warp ever, but does that mean just by experience, and make it the same way every other warp is made? Can i wind two threads at a time or is that a disaster in the making?
Thanks, i can wait till you are back after the holidays for an answer, but i might try winding one thread at a time in the meantime 🙂

[Sandra]

Good morning, Jacqui. Have you, by any chance, checked out the JST Knowledge Base? There is a section on weaving with special yarns, and in there are answers to questions that Jane has answered over the years on mohair. You might find the information you are looking for there. If not, let us know.

[maryannecampbell]

Thank you so much for all the useful tips! I started weaving a year ago and for my second project selected mohair…not knowing its’ challenges….getting it through the lease sticks in B2F warping was near impossible.
After watching this session I felt I should give mohair another go.
Over the last two days I warped a shawl by myself and finished weaving it this afternoon…no bad words said at all.
Hoping the wet finish and brushing go as well,
happy weaver from Cape Breton

[Marcela Dalmazzo]

Hi,
Can you use mohair for the warp in a table loom? I have an Erika Louet
Thanks,
Marcela

[Sandra]

I don’t see why not, Marcela. Just use the tips that Jane uses for working with mohair.

[Marcela Dalmazzo]

is for the texsolv heddles, not sure they are the best for mohair. I saw all the demonstrations on metal ones.

[Sandra]

If you are unsure – why don’t you use mohair as your weft and use a fine wool as your warp – Harrisville Shetland, for example. The other thing you could do is to ask on the JST Forum to see if others have had experience weaving mohair with Texsolv heddles. Your reed is also a consideration – Jane uses an open reed so that the mohair slides through without sticking. There is also a section on Mohair in the Knowledge Base.

[Michelle Murray]

I’m wanting to give the mohair a go but not feeling super confident yet so would like to start with the Shetland warp. What size of the Shetland is recommended?
Thank you!!
Michelle

[Ginette]

Hi Michelle, the Harrisville Shetland https://janestaffordtextiles.com/product-category/yarns/wool-wool-blends/harrisville-shetland/ works fabulously as warp with a mohair weft. Have you downloaded Jane’s Master Sett Chart from Season 1 Episode 4? Jane has sett recommendations for this combo.

[Patricia]

Hi Jane,

My loom has a 2″ sectional beam which I usually warp BTF without sectional equipment. I usually connect the back loops (tied in small knot bundles) to doup cords on the sectional beam.

I can warp this loom FTB, but do I need to place anything between the layers of mohair in each section as I beam it on? Would you still recommend cutting the loop ends before connecting to the doup cords?

Thank you.

[Ginette]

Hi Patricia,

You can warp FTB without placing anything between the layers of mohair with a sectional beam. On my loom with a sectional warp beam, I’ll wind on the whole width of the mohair warp in one go without separators.  I insert a rod on those back loops and then attach the dummy warp to it and follow Jane’s instructions.  Hope this helps!

[John Young]

Hi Jane,

I made my first mohair warp yesterday. It was a small test piece, only 60 ends for a small scarf. Having forgotten your advice, I warped back to front as I usually do.
Contrary to popular opinion, you “<u>CAN</u>” do this. You can also paddle a kayak from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. It’s been done.
In essence, to work through the lease sticks, you have to advance in 2-3 inch intervals separating the warp threads from each other as you go. It’s like working with Velcro rope. But stubborn me did it.
So, at the end, my personal experience told me that for mohair, it’s worth it to plan ahead and maybe make a small cotton  dummy warp, even if it’s only for that project. Cotton is cheap, Mohair isn’t .
Oh and, listen to Jane.

Take care everyone

John Y.

[Kellie Stapleton]

On a table loom, do the same technique to keep a good shed; raise one shaft and then the other (i.e., 2/4) and also release them separately?

[Ginette]

Hi Kellie,

For the ease of weaving with mohair, raising one shaft at a time then the other will help to keep it from sticking. You can try releasing them together, if you find they are sticking, switch to releasing them individually.

[Josephine Tobin]

Hello,

I recently purchased the mohair blanket kit and after watching the videos feel it would be prudent to start with a smaller scarf project. I have some mohair/acrylic in my stash and am wondering if it will work in a similar way with the fulling and brushing finishing. Is this technique just for “brushed mohair”? As you may be able to see in the photo, there is some halo, but not nearly as much as the brushed mohair I purchased for the blanket. I am happy to experiment, but I don’t want to use the fulling/brushing finishing if it is going to destroy my little scarf!

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Josephine

[Sandra]

I honestly can’t answer that question, Josephine.  I’ve never woven with acrylic – just knitted with it.  Weave the scarf but also weave a small sample that you can try to see if it will finish the way you want it to – if it doesn’t, you’ll still have a scarf to wear.  Just an idea – not necessarily a good one 😉

[Josephine Tobin]

Thank you Sandra. I will go ahead as you’ve suggested and weave the scarf and a sample, then try the fulling/brushing on the sample first. Good learning opportunity!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by Josephine Tobin.

[Ann Nez]

I just watched the small mohair warp segment and learned so many great ideas! I’ve been warping front to back with merino and silk and usually the fibers grab and cause snags, trouble! Thanks so much for your tips on opening the shed before winding on, and leaving the beater unlocked, and slaying one end per dent. Great ideas. Plus your method of raising the harnesses is so much simpler than mine!

my apron rod is crooked so I’m replacing the round dowel with a stick and the old knotted nylon cord with texsolv. I liked the way your baby wolf rod is attached.  Is that one continuous piece  of texsolv held in place with the  anchors pegs?
Ann

 

[Ginette]

Hi Ann,

If your warp beam has holes to insert the cord, you can have it in one continuous piece. On my loom, I have 3 pieces of cord that are attached with screws and that works as well.

[Kimberley Daniel]

Hi Jane – I tried using a boat shuttle on my table loom and failed miserably – it kept falling thru the warp. There is no shelf (race?) on this loom to hold a boat shuttle and so I am using stick shuttles. At the very end of this video, Jane says she’s so glad to not use stick shuttles and recommends the boat. But they’d still work right? Or would mohair on a stick shuttle be a pain? I’ve enjoyed the stick shuttles so far, as speed is not that important to me (I kind of like the meditative state of slow progress I guess!) and my tension is great but I couldn’t keep the boat shuttle from falling onto the floor. Should I try the boats again?

[Sandra]

There is no rule that says you can’t use a stick shuttle!  However, using a boat shuttle will speed things up.  I’ve got a 10 yard warp on my table loom (on a stand which makes it the right height for throwing a shuttle) and am weaving with a boat shuttle.  I wish I could say that my shuttle never goes for a dive through the warp – but I would be lying.  However, successfully throwing a boat shuttle takes practice but once you’ve mastered the technique, it’s amazing the rhythm and dance you can get into while you weave.

[Susi Housman]

Greetings from smoky California – I too do not have a 6 reed for the Mohair   Did you figure out what worked and I would love any and all recommendations?

 

thanks

susi

[Dorothy Hopkins]

Hi I have a Louet Spring, I cannot get a 6 dent reed for it (I am in the UK, Scotland actually) the nearest I can get is a 5 dent and 70cms long. I know it will not be wide enough for a blanket but will it still work?
Thanks

[Sandra]

That would work Dorothy – however, I googled and found a least one shop that carries Louet reeds.  The reed itself doesn’t actually have to be made by Louet.  Those of us in NA who have Louet looms, usually have more than one reed in either metric and/or imperial. We switch our reeds and don’t even really think about it much 😉

[Wyoming Vogel]

I recently bought the venne cotton linen 22/2 and was wondering if you have used this as a warp with your mohair before – and what the results were? Would I still want to have a sett of 8 if I did this? I haven’t gotten the courage up yet to do mohair in both warp and weft!

Wyoming

[Meredith St. John]

Thank you so much for this video – such a pleasure to watch your elegant weaving! I can’t wait to try working with this gorgeous yarn!

[Katherine Heath]

In session one “making a good warp” it seems like you are saying that it is VERY important that all the warp threads are the same length and tension. However, here with the mohair especially but also with any time you tie on a warp to an old warp they are not all going to be the same. So, why does it matter if they are all exactly the same length? I can see the same tension would matter, so they don’t start tangling. Any thoughts? Yes, I go back and re-watch the videos all the time. I learn new things and I don’t feel so much like I am weaving all alone which can get lonely. Thanks for the added bonus of keeping me company and motivated.

Hugs,

 

Ekat

[Deborah Fister]

This is not about mohair, but warping F2B. Tried clamping the reed onto a table. Didn’t work. Eventually went to the loom and filled the reeds there from the lease sticks.. I had a 10 dent reed with 2 ends/dent. I removed the lease sticks and proceeded to thread. What a nightmare! I also didn’t reverse the threading order and my piece is “backwards”, but who cares?

How can I make threading easier? I just couldn’t tell which thread was first. Something about transferring the cross, but I can’t find info about that.

[Danette Cross]

I got an epiphany on the separate treadles, and think perhaps this could be a method of handling the stickiness of Chenille as well. ? I only use PW or straight draw on Chenille, so think that this will help keep it from trying to drag it’s neighbor up when changing shafts.

[Christine King]

Hi Jane and team

I want to make a mohair scarf on my rigid heddle loom and save my table loom for other products. However, Jane says I need a 6 dent reed. On my rigid heddle loom I have a 8 dent reed that is no good but I can only purchase a 5 dent or 7.5 dent. They do not make a 6 dent.

Should I purchase the 5 dent and sley it  1-1-1-2.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Christine

[Sandra]

It looks like you’ve worked it out, Christine!  👏

[Author]

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