Holly-
By preference I won't ever work in acrylic after I finish my next two projects. The shawls were for a mother and daughter. A mutual friend of ours challenged me to make shawls that couldn't be missed. I posted scans of them here http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/fibernet/photos/view/ed4c?b=7 and here http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/fibernet/photos/view/ed4c?b=8 <http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/fibernet/photos/view/ed4c?b=8&m=s&o=0> &m=s&o=0 Since they are to be worn on campouts, I wanted something that could be washed easily. Also the daughter is 6 years old, so I figured acrylic would stand up to abuse a bit better than wool. I didn't find the yarn very stretchy. The only issue I had was that the two yarns were slightly different weights so it was challenging to keep the weave structures even. My next two projects are a set of belly bands for a ger. These are 10 yards each and will be out in the weather two weeks a year and the rest of the time in un-airconditioned storage. I chose a cotton warp for strength and an acrylic weft because of the cost. I'm about 10 inches into the first one and I'm already having issues. I used warp sticks for the first time to try to keep the tension even and it is worse than any other weaving I've done. I've already unwoven the whole thing once (at 2 inches) to retie and try to even it out and still, every time I advance the fabric the tension is completely off. Anyone have any suggestions for how to adjust uneven tension after you've already started weaving? John S. _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Holly Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2008 6:12 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [fibernet] Wet finishing Acrylic It's been, thankfully, YEARS since I dealt with acrylic--that was in the form of knitting yarn, but I can't imagine the process of finishing is much different. It does need wet-finishing, even though a synthetic fiber, as any yarn can stretch while weaving and wet-finishing helps relax the yarn as well as remove reed marks, etc. Avoid much agitation as acrylic pills easily. Cheaper acrylics can heat-set, too, so don't use high (cotton) heat if you machine-dry. Other than that, wash in cold or warm water with gentle agitation--I think even synthetics need some spinning oils, which won't be washed out of weaving yarns--or could just pick up dust and dirt between spinning and weaving. Laundry detergent would be fine. Tumble dry low, as just about every acrylic or other synthetic garment I've seen has said :) And I almost never use fabric softener anymore, but that might not be a bad idea with acrylic. Synthetics are more prone to static electricity than other fibers, and the fabric softener can help with that. What's the project, John? Was the yarn very stretchy and did it pose problems due to stretchiness? Holly [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
