Sample weaving is an important step in creating a handwoven wool scarf

What is sampling and why is it an important process for a weaver?

Before a handwoven wool scarf comes to life on the loom, there are essential steps that often get overlooked: sample weaving. Sample weaving is where a weaving idea takes shape, where colours, yarns, and the sett are tested, and weave structures are explored.

Designing a handwoven wool scarf or fabric can feel like a leap in the dark. However, sampling ensures that each decision is considered carefully, aiming for a more successful project. This blog discusses the reasons for sampling and some techniques I use before embarking on a large project to weave a handwoven scarf.

Why is Sample Weaving a Good Idea When Creating a Handwoven Wool Scarf?

Sampling is an important step in the weaving process for several reasons. Weaving can be costly and time-consuming. The sampling process aims to prevent costly mistakes or the regret of spending many hours weaving a project that ultimately is not satisfactory. In short, I find it hugely frustrating to have woven a fabric that, in my mind, is not as beautiful as I intended. Sampling gives me reassurance that the design and yarn will work together, helping me make many important design choices before weaving even begins.

Sampling allows me to see how the colours of the yarn interact in the real fabric. This process enables me to make changes if I wish before dressing the loom and weaving. Sometimes these changes involve the inclusion of particular colours or perhaps their dominance. Proportions of each colour, weaving design, and sett can all be adjusted based on sampling, aiming to create a fabric with the desired visual impact and feel.

Design and Sample Weaving Steps When Creating a Handwoven Wool Scarf

Testing Yarn Colours

One of the most important reasons for sample weaving is that it allows me to test the yarn colour combinations on a small scale before embarking on a larger project. I have, in the past, measured and dressed the floor loom with a long warp only to feel unhappy about the colour combinations when weaving began. A mistake of this nature is costly, as I weave with predominantly merino wool, fine cottons, and silk.

When choosing colours for a scarf, I gather the cones of yarn and often put them out on a table or on the castle of my loom for a few days. Each time I walk by the yarn, I take a look. Sometimes I may switch in another colour or simply rearrange which cone of yarn is next to another. This process enables me to get a feel for whether I am happy with the chosen colour combination. I find that some colours instantly look good together, while others I might be less sure about. I often try to include what I call a 'colour pop' into my weaving. What might initially feel like a 'wrong combination' in my opinion will bring a design to life.

Paper Weaving and Card Winding

Once the palette feels right, I occasionally use watercolour paints to create strips of coloured card, which I can weave to create a mock-up woven sample. I also wind the yarns onto cards. These steps are like sketching with thread. By paper weaving and wrapping the yarns around a card in different sequences, I can see how the colours interact when placed closely together. A single bright stripe among darker tones may stand out dramatically as the colour pop. The winding on the card enables me to decide upon the proportions of each colour of yarn. Card winding also gives me a portable “palette” to carry around. I can check how the colours look in different lights—natural daylight, soft indoor glow, or even against the clothes I imagine wearing the scarf with.

Sample Weaving on a Small Frame Loom

Before progressing, I create small woven samples on a TabbyandTweed square frame loom. These mini weavings are invaluable. They show me how the yarns behave together, not just in colour, but also in texture. The frame loom lets me test different weave structures—plain weave for simplicity and balance, twill for drape and softness, or textured patterns for depth. I can also experiment with proportions of each colour, considering whether I want a wide band of any particular colour or just a fine accent line.

Experimentation with Weave Structures

The structure of the weave has a huge impact on the final look and feel of a handwoven fabric. Sampling allows me to compare structures and designs on a smaller scale before committing to weaving metres of cloth.

Trialling the Sett

Getting the sett of the weaving correct is hugely important when designing a fabric. I have, in the past, made mistakes concerning the sett, which have resulted in some rather disastrous results. For example, I have woven a fine lace yarn on a sett that was too low (15 rather than 25 epi), resulting in a very sturdy weft-faced fabric that did not create the scarf with the drape I was aiming for.

If I am using a yarn that is new to me, I will often use my TabbyandTweed sett sampling loom. This gives me the option of sampling at a range of setts from 8 to 28 epi. In the image below, you can see that I have woven at both 12 and 14 epi. The results are very different, even though it is a small change in the sett. Before making the final decision on sett, these sample fabrics would be removed from the loom, washed, and finished, allowing for comparison between the different setts in what would be the final finished fabric.

Checking the Finishing

After weaving, a woven fabric needs to be finished. Finishing is the process where the fabric is washed and fulled. With wool, in particular, there is always a degree of shrinkage. I often weave with merino lambswool, and this finishing process is transformative. The washing removes the spinning oils, causing the yarn to shrink and full to a beautifully soft finish. Once finished, the fabric sample can be studied and checked for the desired qualities.

When weaving a long length of fabric, I will often remove the first metre of fabric, which is then finished and checked. On occasions, I have, in light of this process, altered the sett by re-threading the reed. It is also not unknown for me to identify a threading error at this stage, which is then corrected before continuing to weave the remaining warp.

Bringing It All Together

The sample weaving becomes a record of my weaving decisions. Sometimes it confirms my first instincts; other times it completely changes the plan. But every test helps refine the final weave on the floor loom. By the time the scarf is ready to be woven on the floor loom, the choices feel more grounded. The colours have been tested, the textures explored, and the structure tested. Some potential pitfalls have hopefully been avoided, with the hope of a more successful weaving outcome.

A handwoven scarf isn't just a beautiful object; it is a quiet celebration of craftsmanship in a fast-moving world, making them superb gifts that tell a story.

If you feel inspired to consider a handwoven gift, then why not visit the gifting page of my website.

My handwoven scarves, snoods, and accessories are available for purchase in my website shop for UK delivery.

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