Jute strop/ other canvas materials?

[Tok]

Since linen strop components aren´t exactly easily available, I thought about knitting my own canvas strop (I have one, but I´d like to play around a bit). When it comes down to material, linen is still hard to find… but I found Jute. Do you think that this would work?
And, what other materials would work (I know: hemp and cotton)? No plastic stuff, though!
Any ideas?

Regards,
Tok

 

[TM280]

Hi Tok,

You mean weave, not knit? I believe that knitting any fiber except wool won't get you very far. Much too coarse and too much spring. But if you knitted a worsted wool, maybe 50% bigger than you wanted it, then felted it, it could work quite well. As long as your knitting skills were up to the task But it still wouldn't be very strong in the long run.

If you wanted linen yarn for weaving, find you local traditional arts organization. They should be able to point you in the right direction.


regards,
Torolf

 

[Tok]

Well, I was actually thinking about knitting it like a friendship bracelet. There are different ways, here is one:

http://www.friendship-bracelets.net/tutorial.php?id=12

But you might be right. building a frame to weave them shouldn´t be too complicated ( I just remember that I had one as a toy. I guess, I threw it away. Damnit)

Regards,
Tok

 

[TM280]

Oh, I had forgotten about that knotting technique. I used to make them when I was a kid...
That doesn't sound like a bad idea. One would have to use very fine yarn, though. You might wind up with a 50-70 end count if you wanted a 60 mm width. Time consuming, but the tension is more controllable than if one was new to weaving and tried that.

If I remember correctly, if the knots are too tight the band will curl considerably.

A child's loom is available everywhere (search for micki loom) for not too much money, or card weaving is traditionally a band weaving method. A pack of playing cards will get you started.

regards,
Torolf