Skinny and Steel–Blog Post
Katzy took Denise Kovnat’s class at IWC Conference in Logan, Utah and got to see fabrics woven with stainless steel yarns. What? Weaving with stainless steel? That sounds crazy! But really, these are thin yarns: two-ply with a thin stainless-steel wire plied with a silk or cotton strand. The thicker the yarn, the thicker the stainless-steel wire is.
The amazing thing about fabrics made from stainless steel, is that the stainless steel in the yarn gives the fabric a memory. That means, if you create a fabric with pleats, it can be shaped to either show the pleats, or flatten out the pleats and the fabric will hold its shape until you poke at it again.
Since Katzy took Denise’s class last summer, we have been working to replenish our stock of stainless-steel and silk yarns. We have recently stocked two new stainless steel and silk yarns: Tetsu and 39 Stainless-Steel and Silk. The Tetsu stainless-steel silk is a thicker yarn with about 8,608 yards per lb, and the 39 Stainless-Steel Silk yarn is a lovely thin yarn with about 24,800 yards per lb.
To see how they wove up, Katzy took these new yarns for a test drive. We will have Katzy tell you what she found.
By Katzy L.
To give these yarns a test drive, I used the draft in Chapter 8 of Denise Kovnat’s Book “Weaving Outside the Box, 12 Projects for Creating Dimensional Cloth”, page 72. The fabrics that Denise designed in this chapter have pleats created by a combination of a turned-twill structure and a stainless-steel and silk weft. As Denise points out in her book, turned twill will create pleats when the weft yarn is finer than the warp yarn.
Warp Speed ahead.
I warped my loom with 20/2 Tubular Spectrum™ mercerized cotton yarn and sett it at 36 ends per inch. 20/2 cotton yarn has about 8,400 yards per lb, and is similar to the 60/2 silk that Denise used in her project. For the weft, I wanted to test out the Tetsu, and the 39 SS. The Tetsu yarn has about the same number of yards per pound (8,608 yards per lb ) as the 20/2 cotton warp. The 39 Stainless-Steel and Silk yarn is about 3 times as skinny (24,800 yards/lb).
I used the Tetsu yarn by itself as weft, and for the samples that I wove using the 39 Stainless-Steel and Silk yarn, I paired it with another silk yarn: 3 Color Tram Silk, Jaspe Silk or 3 Color Spun Silk yarn. I wound those 2 yarns directly onto the bobbins. Be aware that the 39 Stainless-Steel and Silk yarn needs a girdle when it is the source cone as it likes to kink back on itself. If it does kink, I have been able to pull it straight again with minimal effort. I like the concept of having a thinner yarn that can be combined with all kinds of yarns to create stainless-steel yarns with all kinds of texture.
These are a Few of My Favorite Things!
Shown below are 4 of my favorite samples from all the ones that I wove. Number 1 is woven with Tetsu White as the weft. The other samples have the 39 Stainless-Steel Silk paired with another silk. Overall, I like how I was able to make radically different fabrics with the various weft yarns, and the beat. The pleats in the fabric are more noticeable when the weft yarns are beaten in well.
Sample #1
Weft: Tetsu Stainless Steel Yarn (White). Woven at about 44ppi.
This fabric has an interesting feel. It reminds me of the feeling of kelp seaweed. Slightly spongy, and rather opinionated about how it wants to be. A very shapeable fabric. It seems to have its best form when slightly stretched out. The gold pleats show on top, and the other colors move to the back.
Sample #2
Weft: 39 Stainless Steel and Silk Yarn (Dark Gold) and 3 Color Tram Silk (Sepia Gold). Woven at 40ppi and 36 ppi
This sample has a nice softness to the fabric. The pleats are more defined with the section that is woven at 40 ppi and softer with the 36 ppi fabric.
Sample #3
Weft: 39 Stainless Steel and Silk Yarn (Dark Gold) and 3 Color Tram Silk (Cactus Dark Green). Woven at 60 ppi. The pleats are well defined. The fabric holds well when flat and when you wring it. You can see a video on our youtube channel that shows the fabric in motion. Click Here to see the video.
This is the longest sample. I wanted to have enough fabric to make a cowl. Now that I see the fabric off the loom, if I wanted to make a cowl, I would want the fabric to be at least twice as wide. The pleats really narrow the fabric.
Sample #4
Weft: 39 Stainless Steel and Silk Yarn (Dark Gold) and Jaspe Silk Yarn. Woven at 40 ppi.
I love the resulting texture from the Jaspe yarn. This was one of the last samples that I wove as I was running out of warp. The nubby texture of the fabric is delightful, and the pleats show well. I certainly am going to weave more of this combination.
Samples are a Great Beginning!
This was a great starting point for exploring the fabrics that can be made with stainless steel yarns. I am working to design a cowl or scarf with these yarns. Don’t be afraid of these yarns! Jump in and have some textural fun!
