# What size yarn



## featherbottoms (May 28, 2005)

I have been looking at yarn on eBay. Some of the handspun stuff. I realized I have no idea how to read the sizes. For example:

Count: 2's NM (I have no idea what this means)
Bulky Weight (as opposed to what? Worsted? what's the difference?)
up to 8 wpi (warp per inch?)
3-4 spi in stockinette (knitting I assume - stitch per inch in stockinette stitch?)

My RH loom is a 10 dent. I have several yarns here I'm going to experiment with but they are used cones and I have no idea how to gauge the size. So how do I know what fits through the eye of this loom without taking the heddle with me to the store? I don't have a stash to pull from, I'm mostly starting from scratch.

Plus, what do you use to pull the yarn through the little eye on the heddle? I have a teeny tiny crochet hook that fits but it doesn't go through very far. Is there a particular tool for this? I have a sley hook but it doesn't fit there.

I hope to start playing with the loom next week but want to kinda have some sort of idea what to look for as I decide what to make, and what yarn to use.

Thank you all for your help.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

WPI, or wraps per inch. Take a ruler and wrap the yarn around, lining up each turn so you fill in one inch. How many wraps? Compare this with yarn you already have and you will get an idea of how thick it is. Bulky weight is heavier than worsted, possibly as much as two worsteds together. With worsted weight you expect to get 4.5 stitches to the inch when knitting, with bulky probably 3. So, 3 - 4 spi, stitches per inch when knitting and you have something heavier than worsted. I can't answer the other questions.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I am not a weaver. 

I just ordered some catalogs from Halcyon yarns.
They sent me hard copies of both their yarn catalog and their equipment one.
They were free! and they sell a LOT of stuff for weavers. 
Their yarn is also described in 'weavers sett' which is a whole nother language for me.

Check them out.
http://www.halcyonyarns.com/


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## Chaty (Apr 4, 2008)

For my hook on my heddle loom I reshaped a paper clip to where the hook part was small enough to go thru the eye hole. Then I taped it to a piece of dowl rod that was cut off to make a handle. This is what I use to thread mine ...hope this helps some.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Featherbottom for your 10 dent heddle you want to use about a worsted weight yarn. I used a really small crochet hook for pulling the yarn through the holes. Do you have a slay hook for the dents? I suppose you could used the crochet hook for those too.


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## featherbottoms (May 28, 2005)

Marchwind, I have a Brass Sley & Reed Hook combo and a regular Brass Reed Hook but neither of those will fit through the little hole in the heddle, and I have the tiny crochet hook. I also have a sword, a shuttle, and a beater (because I thought I was going to be learning frame loom weaving).

gone-a-milkin' - that was really a bad thing for you to tell me. I just spend an hour looking at things I didn't understand. However, I did order the catalogs 

Chaty, that is a most excellent idea. I have plenty of paper clips and can find something to use as a dowel rod.

And thank you, Maura, for that quick lesson in measurements. I'm also a very new knitter and don't know anything about the yarn I pick up except whether or not I like the feel and color.

I've been perusing eBay this evening looking for gray's and white's. I am painting my kitchen silver and charcoal with white trim and would like to make some placemats. I figure that's probably the easiest thing I could try first. Or maybe some drying towels. Either way, they should both be kind of easy. I just don't have any idea what kind of yarn to choose but seems like cotton would probably work best.

Hopefully, by the end of next week, I'll have something at least warped and I'll show pics.


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## Chaty (Apr 4, 2008)

I get cotton thread for the warping and use anything else to weave thru my warps. This way it wont stretch like the nylon yarn. You want something that wont stretch that runs thru the heddle. That is how I do mine.


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## featherbottoms (May 28, 2005)

gone-a-milkin said:


> I am not a weaver.
> 
> I just ordered some catalogs from Halcyon yarns.
> They sent me hard copies of both their yarn catalog and their equipment one.
> ...


I ordered these over the weekend and they were both here today. I can't believe they got here so fast! Talk about some nice stuff. It's much nicer to look at in the catalogs than on the website. Now I just have to figure out if I can order some. 

Still haven't gotten the loom in the room it's going to go, and it looks like it'll be a couple more weeks. There's a concrete floor in there that we haven't decided what to do with - paint or tile - and nothing can be moved back in there until it's finished.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Yeah, they sent mine out to me right quick too. 

I still havent made an order, but I am building one.
Today a couple teeth came out of my dog slicker brush that I have been using to flick locks with.
I think I am going to buy a real flick carder from them, and maybe just a tiny sample of yarn. :teehee:


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## featherbottoms (May 28, 2005)

gone-a-milkin said:


> ...and maybe just a tiny sample of yarn. :teehee:


You think this is really gonna happen :grin:. Let us know if you do order some. I'd like to hear how their shipping is and what their yarn really looks like.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Oh, I am on a serious fiber budget so I am VERY careful in my purchases.

Lots of times I ogle the sock yarns but there is NO WAY I can justify spending $24 for enough yarn to make one pair of socks.
I do that like once a year, with birthday money. 
The rest of the time I am a bargain shopper. 
I do know how to make my own yarn, and I do have the wool....

I do need a new flicker brush though! and the only ones I am seeing locally are plastic dog slickers. 

Then I get that 'since-you-are-already-paying-shipping' mentality. LOL
So I might as well throw in a couple skeins of something-something, right? :teehee:

And that is how MY mind works, right there. :angel:


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