Category: Design

Yarn Wraps, Part 2: Using your wraps for design

2/19/2020

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From Wrap to Warp

A simple wrap
Click on any photo to zoom in

Designing a Warp

Once you have a wrap you like, how do you use it?

Try considering the wrap as a miniature warp, which will have only one repeat. For example, if your warp will be 500 threads, but your wrap is only 100 threads, measure 5 threads in the warp for every thread in the wrap. The final warp will look just like a “magnified” version of the wrap.
Another possibility is literally, thread by thread, repeating the wrap across the warp multiple times.
A mirror image warp could be done by measuring 3 threads for every wrap thread, with the second half of the warp measured as a mirror image of the first half.
The possibilities are endless!

1	Use the wrap once across the warp

2	Use the wrap once across the warp. Use a piece of the beginning (flipped) to balance

3	Flip the wrap and use it end to end Option 1

4	Flip the wrap and use it end to end Option 2

5	Repeat the warp over and over across the warp. Repeat the beginning of the warp to balance.

6	Repeat the warp over and over across the warp, but make the warp symmetrical from the center out.

Repeat the warp across the warp,
but try flipping the wrap end to end as you go.

Tips when designing for a warp

Do at least two repeats of your wrap to make sure the transition will be good from the end of the color order back to the beginning.
For neater selvedges, consider using a color similar to your weft color on the edge of your wrap (warp).
If symmetry is important, repeat the beginning section of your wrap on the end of your warp to “balance” the color sequence or flip the entire sequence to make a mirror image from the center out.
If you do not have the exact color you need, try using the yarns you have to get a blended color.
Single threads of a related color or contrasting color next to a stripe in your wrap can soften a transition between colors or make a transition “pop”, resulting in a more interesting wrap.

Think Weft

Your wrap might be inspiration for a weft faced weave or a tapestry.

Your wrap could also inspire a rug or a boundweave.

Do the Math

How many threads will you have in your warp?
How many threads are in your wrap sequence?
Do you want or need multiples of each thread in the wrap?
How many repeats of your wrap will you need across the warp ?
Remember to allow for that “balancing” stripe on the far end of the warp if you are planning for one.
It most likely will not work out exactly right, so now you need to “fudge” by going back to your wrap and adding or deleting threads here and there to get it to fit into your warp plan.

Challenge

Try doing a few yarn wraps
Choose your favorite and plan a project with it - maybe a scarf, a towel, a napkin...
Then weave that project.
Have fun!

The End - Whew!

-- Pattie Lamb

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Yarn Wraps, Part 1: Why, How & Finding Inspiration

2/18/2020

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Click on any photo to zoom in

Why Wrap?

Important tool in a weaver’s toolbox
Great way to do color studies
Inexpensive way to experiment with colorways for warp planning
Keep as part of your project record

Mechanics of making a yarn wrap

Needed:

Cardboard: 2” x 6-8” strips – preferably white
Double sided tape
Masking tape
Scissors
Yarn

Tip: Use a firm cardboard like a mat board.

Place 3 strips of double-sided tape on the back of a 2 x 6-8” cardboard strip.

Cut short pieces of yarn (1 - 2 yards) of each color you plan to use in the wrap

Secure the first color yarn on the tape on the back side of the card and begin wrapping snugly around the card.

When finished with that stripe, clip the yarn and secure on the back of the card on the tape

Begin the next color by securing it on the tape on the back of the card

Continue adding stripes of color until you have achieved the design you want.

It’s easy to add small stripes in between, reduce the size of a stripe, or take out a stripe and replace with a different color if needed.

When satisfied, cover the back with masking tape to secure.

Color inspirations for yarn wraps

Favorite photographs
Artwork
Scenes in nature
Favorite yarns or fabrics

Designing the wrap:
the artistic part of the work

Stripes can be random
Stripes can be inspired by the proportions of color in your artwork or fabric
Stripes can follow a mathematical pattern:
Fibonacci series: 1-1-2-3-5-8-13-21-34-55...
Rearranged Fibonacci: 5-1-8-2-13-1-3-8-5-13-21-8-3-5-1-13
Pascal’s triangle: 1-1-1-1-2-1-1-3-3-1-1-4-6-4-1-1-5-10-10-5-1…
Square numbers: 1-2-4-9-16-25-36….

Inspiration from yarns

Evolution of a wrap for napkins

1

2

3

Starting point

Replaced the purple and green with natural and aqua

Removed the white, added medium blue/navy blue combo stripes for dark blue & medium blue stripes, and in the center, added red and yellow accents

Result: 1 warp, 3 wefts, 3 napkins

Planning a blanket
A mixed wrap was made from assorted wool yarns.

Result:
The sample at right was woven with a black wool weft to determine the sett for a blanket.

Inspiration from fabric

From window treatment to wrap

Result: A set of cottolin dishtowels

Inspiration from artwork

Designing a rug
Peggy from the Triangle Weavers Guild was inspired by this painting to do a series of wraps

Result: A rep weave rug!

A class project

Leslie's wrap from a painting, done in a class setting

Result: A sample. In this case, the loom was warped with 2 different colors, and the wrap was woven as the weft!

Designing a napkin
Ruth Ann from the Triangle Weavers Guild used this painting from a calendar and a grid copied onto vellum to decide how much of each color to include in her wraps

Result: 2 wraps, the second of which was used to create a warp for the napkin.

First wrap

Second wrap

The napkin samples

Inspiration from a photo

Result: A cotton scarf

Split complementary color scheme

Fibonacci series used randomly for stripes

Result: a wool scarf

A color study using warm colors and Fibonacci series for the wrap.

Similar colors were used to design 2 ply-split braids.

Inspiration from nature

Fine threads can sometimes be used to “blend” together to get a desired color when the exact color you need is not on your shelf.

Inspiration from fashion

Primary Triad color scheme

Fibonacci series used randomly for stripes
(1-3-2-1-5-1-3-1-2-5-1-3-2-1-5-1-3-1-1-5)

Single threads of contrasting or related color help to break up large blocks of color and make the stripes more interesting.

Color study inspired by a photo

A color study using cool colors and Pascal’s Triangle (1-1-1-1-2-1-1-3-1-1-1-4-6-4) for the stripe proportions.

Using wraps for color studies

Complementary Color Study

Irregular stripes

Value contrast

Color gradation

Free choice

Aqua Blue Color Study

Light values

Medium values

Dark values

Mixed values

Using wraps for color studies

In this case I made a sample first of even sized blocks of colors to test how the colors interacted with different weft colors.

Then I planned a random warp strip for dishtowels using the wrap and the colors in the sample.

-- Pattie Lamb

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Yarn Wraps, Part 2: Using your wraps for design

Yarn Wraps, Part 1: Why, How & Finding Inspiration

Pattie Lamb

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