Tweed Color Specks

**zirrow** · 18th October 11, 03:50 PM

What is the purpose and/or meaning behind the specks of color that appear through tweed and few other woolen fabrics out there? I don't mean just the variances in color throughout the yarn, but the bright blue, green, yellow, and red bits. I don't suppose it's one of life's great mysteries that will help solve the world's plight, but I've always been curious. Any of the more informed out there have any ideas?

Not sure if this is better suited to the miscellaneous forum, but it deals with fabric used in kilts & kilt accessories, so I ran with it. If I am way off base, please have mercy as you pick up your torches and pitchforks.

**Paul Henry** · 18th October 11, 04:14 PM

Purpose or meaning? absolutely none! other than that of the eye of the maker or designer.

Tweed is created by the mixing together of several different coloured handfulls of wool which are then mixed well and spun together into thread.The subtle mixing of colours in the finished cloth is one of the wonderful things about tweed, and makes it very individual, and at the same strangely identifible as tweed.
Perhaps once upon a time the wasn't enough wool to complete an order, and the spinner simply used other bits to extend the yarn, who knows, but it's one thought!

Have a look at this site Harris tweed to give you some information about one very special type of tweed, but there are many, many different versions of tweeds from many different companies , and indeed countries!
I love tweed, in all it's forms!

**chrisupyonder** · 18th October 11, 10:34 PM

Check this out. How to make your own tweed yarn

http://abbysyarns.com/2007/05/making-a-tweed-blend

Chris.

**Pleater** · 19th October 11, 05:57 AM

They could be 'neps', which are small clumps of fibre too short for the carding mechanism to catch hold of and mix in.

I had a look at the Harris tweed production - it is rather sad to see that it is being made on wide looms, and not by hand in the old sense - they are pedal powered and the weaver no longer handles the shuttles. Still - all things change or come to an end.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

**Paul Henry** · 19th October 11, 07:01 AM

Originally Posted by Pleater

They could be 'neps', which are small clumps of fibre too short for the carding mechanism to catch hold of and mix in.

I had a look at the Harris tweed production - it is rather sad to see that it is being made on wide looms, and not by hand in the old sense - they are pedal powered and the weaver no longer handles the shuttles. Still - all things change or come to an end.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

Harris tweed hasn't been woven completely by hand for some time, the looms have been pedal powered for many , many years, and I'm not the only one here who thinks that "hand woven harris tweed" isn't exactly honest!
Some weavers still do produce single width, but I'm very happy that a business which might so easily have collapsed a few years ago is at least able to produce in some ( although still limited) quanity

**fluter** · 19th October 11, 07:30 AM

XMTS member and supporter Dr. Nick Fiddes, of Scotweb, produced a lovely little video on the making of Harris tweed. To see it, select the video link here: http://www.scotweb.co.uk/products/harris-tweed-fabric/

or look for it on youtube.

**zirrow** · 19th October 11, 08:01 AM

Originally Posted by Pleater

They could be 'neps', which are small clumps of fibre too short for the carding mechanism to catch hold of and mix in.

<SNIP>

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

aha! That's it, that's what I was referring to; it's amazing how much better the results of a google search turn out when you have the proper terms

My new Hanna Hat has tons of little neps all throughout, and though I've often wondered, I've never really looked into it. My wife apparently has never paid as much attention to tweed and thought it was odd that they were there. Thank you all for clearing things up for us.

**Lime** · 19th October 11, 08:36 AM

tweed yarns are generally blended special to achieve the color mixture desired, but still random bits of other colored fibres can sneak in

Presumably this makes it even more difficult to match the cloth if one has a very nice tweed jacket (as I have) which would be set off perfectly by a matching vest?

My jacket is in the "plain ginger" (if such a thing is possible with Harris Tweed!). The sample I obtained with a view to having a vest made, apart from being a very slightly different shade of ginger seemed to have more flecks of white which gave quite a different impression. Perhaps I should just give up on the idea.

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 19th October 11, 05:58 AM

Paul is correct, the very definition of tweed is a color mixture. The story is that the origin of tweed cloth was with spinners not wanting to waste any fibers, so they would sweep up all the random bits of fiber from the mill floor and spin that. :-) I don't know if that is precisely true, but something like that could very well have been the origin of tweed.

Today, tweed yarns are generally blended special to achieve the color mixture desired, but still random bits of other colored fibers can sneak in. When I was on Lewis last year at one of the yarn mills I saw the room they mixed the wool in, using giant air ducts blowing and spinning air through the room to blend all the dyed wool.

It certainly did not look like the scrubbed down the room after each blending, so I'm certain that other colors from past jobs would find their way speckled throughout the yarns. It's part of what gives tweed its charm.