Started weaving the worsted sample this morning. Since it is white on white and difficult to see clearly what is going on, I checked my threading/sleying with a contrasting colour.
I keep ends of bobbins for this purpose – in this case it’s a royal blue 2/8 cotton. There was nothing to fix, so I began with the white weft.
For this yarn – a 2/28 worsted (that’s not a typo or me being Canadian, that’s the size in the butt of the cone and how it was sold to me by the US supplier – I’ve been told that worsted preparation puts the ply first, then the ‘count’ number, and since this is a worsted yarn using the numbers in this fashion would be the correct way to express the size of this yarn) I chose to go with 32 epi.
When I started weaving, the weft was beating in more closely than 32 – probably closer to 38. I briefly thought about re-sleying, then decided that if this cloth was being woven for the purpose of a scarf, I would want something with more drape than a 36 x 36 density would provide.
Instead of re-sleying, I adjusted my beat. I think you can clearly see the curve as I went from 38 (or whatever it actually was) to something closer to 32 ppi.
The trick now, of course, is to go back to the loom and retain that muscle memory of the lighter touch required for the 32 ppi. If you can’t be perfect, be consistent!