Bockens Bomullsgarn 8/2 Cotton Yarn

What it's for

A towel yarn first: two ply, unmercerized, absorbent, and strong enough to warp with. It weaves bath towels as well as kitchen towels, usually in waffle or a float structure at a more open sett. What it won't do is hotel terry, because pile needs a second warp beam running slack. Rug warps are in the rest of the Bockens line.

How many cones

Four tea towels, twill at 20 epi, 18 inches in the reed, 30 inches of loom each, 30 inches of waste, woven long to absorb shrinkage and hems.

• Ends: 18 in x 20 epi = 360
• Warp: 360 ends x 150 in = 1,500 yd
• Weft: 140 in woven x 20 picks x 18 in = 1,400 yd

2,900 yards, so two cones, one for warp and one for weft, with spare. Swap in your own numbers.

Sett, and why the published numbers disagree

The Handwoven Master Yarn Chart gives 16, 20 and 24 ends per inch for 8/2 unmercerized cotton, and its author says only the middle one is measured. In Handwoven's Yarn Lab, Laura Fry wove a ring-spun 8/2 and weighed what each sett took up: plain weave drank most at 15 epi, twill at 20, and huck lace the same at every sett. Open setts and long floats drink more but wear out faster, which is why Fry lands on twill at 20 ends per inch as the balance.

Two tests

Wash a sample and wipe a wet counter with it. Cloth that shoves water around instead of lifting it is sett too tight. Then pin a ten inch mark into that sample, wash and dry it the way the towels will be washed, measure again, and add the loss back to your warp before you hem. Handwoven won't publish comparative shrinkage figures for 8/2 cottons, because yarns from different countries behave differently. Take your own reading.

Who spins it

Holma-Helsinglands, in Forsa, Hälsingland. The mill was founded in 1898 as the region's first mechanical flax spinning operation, started by Axel Leman with two local farmers who saw what the flax grown in their village could become if it were processed by machine. It's been spinning there ever since.

The numbers

• 100% cotton, 250 gram cone (8.8 oz).
• Natural runs about 1,870 yards (1,710 m). Bleached and dyed run about 1,777 yards (1,625 m), plus or minus 5%. Bleaching and dyeing both shorten the cone slightly at the same weight.
• Dyed colors rate 4-5 of 5 for color fastness in a 60C (140F) wash, 4-5 of 5 for dry rubbing, and 5 to 7 on the 8 point light fastness scale across the line.

On a rigid heddle, double the yarn in a 10 dent reed and weight any end still slack after you pat the warp flat. Stuck between two setts? Call us. Somebody here has had it on a loom.