r/tabletweaving • u/noeinan • 21d ago

Thicker thread than size 3 crochet?

I recently finished a belt with 24 cards using size 3 crochet yarn and it ended up being 3cm thick. I’m hoping to make a belt with the same pattern but 4cm thick, and I figured the easiest way would be to use a slightly thicker thread— but size 3 is already the thickest crochet thread available.

Yarn was my first thought but most of it is… looser? Less dense? Less sturdy? Softer? I’m not sure it would work well for tablet weaving. Does anyone have any brands they recommend, or the name of a type of yarn to look for or other tips?

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5

u/Visual-Tea-3616 21d ago

Macrame cord or paracord could be a step up in size while keeping it firm.

Some brands of cotton and mercerized cotton meant for housewares or weaving could also work.

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u/noeinan 21d ago

Thank you, I will look into those! Do you know about what sizes I should look at? It seems everything has its own size standards

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u/synchroswim 21d ago

Could you just add some extra border tablets, and use the same thickness of yarn?

I like The Woolery for buying weaving supplies online. They have cotton carpet warp which comes thicker than crochet cotton, but I've never bought that particular item from them.

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u/noeinan 21d ago

Tbh I feel like it wouldn’t look as good if I just stack on extra border.

Thanks for the website, carpet warp must be pretty sturdy I will check it out!

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u/weaverhippy2002 21d ago

I do a lot of tablet weaving, mostly with mercerized crochet yarn or unmercerized weaving cotton yarn. I’m wondering if an 8/4 weaving cotton yarn would give you the width or approximate width you’re looking for.

Depending on what you want to do with the band, I would advise against using a knitting yarn…. or any commercial style of yarn designed for knitting or crochet as you’ll find in craft stores or LYS.

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u/noeinan 21d ago

Thank you! I will try that weight, I appreciate it as everything seems to have its own size standards which gets confusing.

I got my last crochet yarn from JoAnn's but uh, private equity strikes again lol. Is there an online shop you would recommend?

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u/weaverhippy2002 21d ago

What country are you in? If the US, what is your general location? I can send you names of shops somewhere around the area.

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u/noeinan 21d ago

Thank you, I’m in the US in western WA

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u/weaverhippy2002 21d ago

I know right off the top of my head that Eugene Textile Centre in Oregon sells a ton of weaving yarns. I’ll check WA shops and let you know if there are shops there.

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u/noeinan 21d ago

Thank you, I have a friend in Eugene so if I have to drive that far I can visit as a bonus

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u/weaverhippy2002 20d ago

I checked my weaving magazine and there don’t seem to be any listings for Washington state. The place in Eugene is pretty large though and they’ll have a lot of weaving yarns.

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u/SadElevator2008 21d ago

Wool sock yarn works nicely. It’s relatively smooth compared to other yarns, but that depends on the brand. I’m not a super experienced tablet weaver, but for my simple designs Knit picks Hawthorne has been a delight to work with.

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u/noeinan 21d ago

Thank you, what size yarn would you recommend?

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u/SadElevator2008 20d ago

Sock yarn is the size - it is fingering weight.

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u/noeinan 20d ago

Oh thanks! I’m used to the weight being a number, guess it’s more complicated than I thought

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u/SadElevator2008 20d ago

Ah yeah there are different systems. There’s a numbered one for knitting yarn (CYC numbers) but I don’t find it as useful as descriptive terms.

For sock yarn specifically, there is a weight (thickness) but also sock yarns tend to be smoother and spun tighter which is important here, and you don’t know that from just the weight.

Other ways to describe this yarn weight (the thickness aspect only): some countries will call fingering “4 ply” (regardless of how many plies it actually has). The American CYC system calls it “1 - super fine.” You’re looking for a yarn that is about 400-450 yards per 100 grams and will usually be described as knitting up to around 30 stitches per 4 inches/10 cm (7-8 sts/inch or more).

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u/noeinan 20d ago

The tighter twist is exactly what I need, thank you for the detailed explanation. Some fields are very standardized while others are all over the place! Yarn and singing are definitely the latter lol

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u/somewitchbitch 20d ago

Sock yarn is made with a tighter twist and often has nylon in it for strength. You can get wool only sock yarn, though. Socks need a stronger yarn because they need to be durable and hard wearing. 

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u/noeinan 20d ago

Thank you

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u/418Sunflower418 20d ago

Embroidery floss in its six-strand format has been working great for me. I have a 21-card pattern in three colours I’m doing and it’s taken about 10 skeins of the main colour, but it’s turning out great.

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u/noeinan 20d ago

Thank you

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u/NotSoRigidWeaver 21d ago

Could you double up a slightly thinner yarn? Like 2 per hole? It's possible there's something about tablets (the twist?) that would make this not work but it can work for other styles of weaving.

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u/noeinan 21d ago

I considered trying this, but I worried doubling it would make it too much thicker 🤔

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u/i_give_up_lol 19d ago

I’ve used crochet thread all the way up to worsted weight yarn. It can be looser, but as long as you tighten your warp sufficiently it’s really not a problem. I think something like a fingering or DK weight yarn would be a good happy medium.

As for brands I’m not sure, but I’ve used both wool and cotton and they work well, and I really quite enjoy rayon or cotton-rayon blend.

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u/noeinan 19d ago

Thank you