February 17, 2003

Hi Fiber Friends,

Hope you all enjoyed the holidays.  They were quite busy for us with family and with friends visiting from out of town.  These times are always times of renewal for us.

I have made some changes in order to simplify with hopes that it will make your choices easier.  Selections ready to ship are posted on the website and new items will be added regularly. In addition, you may now pay by PayPal for each selection.  Alternatively, you may pay by personal check, money order or email me with your phone number and I will be glad to call you for credit card information.

Best wishes to you in the coming year.

Best regards,
Margaret Pittman

In This Issue:

• New Colorway
• Silk/Rayon-8 oz. Size
• How Much Does It Take?
• Summer and Winter Treadling Options
• Weaving Patterns
• Upcoming Shows in Your Area
• PayPal Shopping Cart Added for Your Convenience
• Shopping/Contact Information

New Colorway

Moonlit Sky is the name of the new colorway  and is available in cotton/metallic only.  Pictures are not yet up but look for them soon at The Romantic Collection or The Hand Painted Yarns.  There are approximately 313 yards on a 4 oz. skein and ample yardage for a narrow neck scarf.

Silk/Rayon-8 oz. Size

Silk/rayon is now available in 8 oz. skeins.  Current dyed stock is in Moonlight Sonata and Plum Parfait.  Stay tuned to The Hand Painted Yarns for more colorways coming soon.

How Much Does It Take?

One of the most frequently asked questions has been how much yarn it takes to weave a scarf, 2 scarves, a shawl or a throw.  Considering using like yarn for both warp and weft, amounts have been given for these articles in the Heritage hand painted yarns at Get Ready Sett Gauge.  In order to make the hand painted go further, a consideration is to add commercial yarns to the mix such as 5/2 perle cotton or 10/2 tencel shown at Mill Dyed Yarns.  The Traces of the Natchez Trace shawl shown at Old Favorites. is warped with bits and pieces of 3/2, 5/2, 10/2 doubled and cotton/rayon and woven with cotton/rayon.

I will be adding gauges when possible and hopefully, general amounts for knitted sweaters, scarves and shawls.  If in question, look at the wraps per inch (WPI) and yardage on a skein.  Consider the pattern/article and the yardage given at Knitting Patterns.

Summer and Winter Treadling Options

This one is from Mary Snyder and requires one tabby and four pattern wefts. This example is made up with two bocks but could be more.  The letters under the blocks represent 4-shaft overshot blocks:  A = 1 & 2, B = 2 & 3, C = 3 & 4 and D = 4 & 1.  Think of these as covering the blocks.  Example:  With a jack loom, if you are weaving A, you would lift 3 & 4 to cover 1 & 2.  Repeat to square the block or 3 or 4 times each block.

Block 1                                Block 2

D-Color 1                            C-Color 3
Tabby                                  Tabby
A-Color 2                            B-Color 4
Tabby                                  Tabby
A-Color 2                            B-Color 4
Tabby                                  Tabby
D-Color 1                            C-Color 3
Tabby                                  Tabby

Variations of the above:

Use two colors of pattern weft and include a metallic with the color.  Treadle colors as in Block 1.

Use one color for Block 1 and one color for Block 2.  Again, you may use metallics with your pattern weft.

Treadle one block only and use value-graded yarns as pattern weft.

These are only a few of the Summer and Winter options to try.  I'll show more in the next newsletter.

Weaving Patterns

A new page is up and will be added to in time of original weaving patterns for you to enjoy.  The beginning of these patterns is at Weaving Patterns.

Upcoming Shows in Your Area

It is with anticipation that I look forward to meeting so many of you I have met on-line at the next show where I will be a vendor.  I will be at the Midwest Weavers Conference, Fiber Fantasia in St. Louis, MO from Thursday, June 26 - Saturday, June 28.  Joining me will be Laura Fry, master weaver and author of Magic in the Water.  Stop by the booth so we can associate a face with the name.  

PayPal Shopping Cart Added for Your Convenience

PayPal shopping cart has recently been added to most items on the website.  If there is an item missing a PayPal button, contact me and I can give you a total.  Or if you would like to use your Visa or MasterCard, email your phone number and I will call you for credit card information.  You may also pay by personal check or money order in U.S. dollars.

Shopping/Contact Information

Yarn shipments are limited to the U.S. and Canada. If you live outside the U.S. or Canada and would like to place a pattern order, please inquire at Margaret@heritageyarns.com.

Visit Knitting Patterns and take a look around at the wide selection of downloadable patterns from HeartStrings.

Purchasing options:  by PayPal shopping cart, Visa, MasterCard, personal check or money order.

Margaret Pittman
Heritage Yarns
5875 Baxter Drive
Jackson, Mississippi  39211-3317 USA

Telephone - (601) 956-1478
Email - Margaret@heritageyarns.com
Fax - (601) 957-2963
Celebrating color in hand painted skeins and warps since 1994

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