Updated 2-22-2024
If you're newer to weaving, you may not realize that not all yarns are made equal. In fact, there is so much variety in yarns it is rather hard to qualify what are the best combination of characteristics. And it can be even harder to purchase yarn that has those characteristics. Throw in the need for a large color choice for tapestry weaving, and the options do narrow somewhat.
I live in the USA, so I mostly talk about yarns that are easily available here with one favorite exception from the UK.
what makes a good tapestry yarn?
A firm yarn that is not lofty. Lofty yarns pack in too much which means you have to weave many more picks to fill in your forms. They have a lot of air in them which makes them lovely for knitted garments but terrible for weft-faced weaving.
A yarn that doesn't have a whole lot of end-to-end stretch in it. When a yarn wants to bounce back on itself (as a nice knitting wool will do), it will want to do that in your weaving which causes problems with weft tension and makes your edges draw in.
Color choice. If you're not a dyer, color choice is going to be very important to you. Many commercially dyed yarns don't come in that many colors. If you are weaving something for which you want 5 reds in gradation, most commercial yarn sources are not going to provide that with the notable exceptions of Gist Array, weaversbazaar, Australian Tapestry Workshop Yarn, and Colonial Persian (was Paternayan).
Thin yarns you can use multiples of in a weft bundle versus a thick yarn you'd only use one strand of. Using a yarn that is very thin that you can bundle in the weaving gives you more color options. You can bundle singles (yarn that is not plied or consists of only one twisted piece of fiber) or plied yarns (yarns that have two or more bits of fiber twisted together in a consistent way) if they are thin enough to use more than one together. If you are new to tapestry and want to use just one strand of yarn at a time, you're going to have to look for a fatter yarn that matches the warp sett you want to use. Lamb's Pride Worsted is a fat single (it is not plied) that works woven at 8 epi by itself. It is too fat to use two strands at that sett. Harrisville Highland is an example of a 2-ply yarn that works with one strand at 8 or 10 epi. With some plied yarns like Harrisville Highland and Quebecoise 2-ply, you can take the plies apart and put two different colors together like THIS.
If you’re interested in a short course that goes into much more depth about yarn characteristics and has reviews of over 20 yarns, my online class What Makes a Good Tapestry Yarn? can be very helpful.
What do I use?
Harrisville Koehler singles, tapestry
Harrisville Koehler Singles
My large-format tapestries are all woven with Harrisville Design's Koehler singles. I dye the colors myself with Sabraset acid wool dyes from Prochemical and Dye. I use three strands of this yarn at 10 epi and three or four strands at 8 epi. It dyes beautifully and I like the way the yarn acts in the weaving.
This is a singles yarn which means it is not plied. So when I combine those strands, it creates a bundle that doesn't have a lot of extra texture in it. If you like texture, you can bundle a plied yarn of course. I also do a lot of plying on my spinning wheel. This is not necessary! Just because I do it does not mean that you should. Most tapestry weavers do not ply their singles--they just lay them in in bundles. I do gradual color gradations and like the blending effect I get with plying the yarns.
Harrisville Koehler Singles are now available to the public in an undyed form HERE.
Gist Array
This tapestry yarn came on the market in 2021 from Gist Yarn. It is a thin 2-ply yarn that is dyed in gradations and was created specifically for tapestry weaving. Notably, the fiber is sourced in the USA and all manufacturing and dyeing is also done in this country. I’ve been using it consistently since it came out and it is a beautiful yarn. I use 3 or 4 strands at 8 epi. I use this yarn a lot for small tapestries and I did use it in one large tapestry in 2023, Wildflowers. You can see me weaving that tapestry on Change the Shed.
WeaversBazaar
This is a yarn made in the UK. The company is run by two tapestry weavers who are producing yarns specifically for tapestry weaving. I use their 18/2 and 9.5/2 yarns mostly in my little looms projects, but they would also be marvelous choices for large format work. They also make heavy yarn which I talked about HERE. These yarns are great for bundling at whatever sett you'd like. They come in a wide variety of colors including gradations. And shipping from the UK to the USA is not as much as you think it is. Their website is HERE. And if you live in the UK, this is the tapestry yarn to try first.
Weaver's Bazaar yarns
Rebecca Mezoff, Winter Trees, Weaver's Bazaar 18/2 wool at 12 epi on a 6-dent Hokett loom.
For teaching, I use these yarns the most:
Harrisville Highland and Harrisville Shetland
I especially like to buy their undyed versions and dye them myself. They dye very well and this option makes a nice, even yarn. But they do sell these yarns in 64 colors.
Harrisville yarns don't come in a wide range of colors, so look carefully at the pallette if you're not a dyer. They dye this yarn in the fleece which means that they get huge bales of dyed fleece and then mix that fleece when the yarn is made. This means that much of the yarn has a very heathered appearance. You can see the different specks of colors in it. This can be a gorgeous option for tapestry weaving. You will not get clear, pure colors from this company though.
Harrisville Highland yarn, hand-dyed in this photo
Highland is twice the size of Shetland. I use one strand of Highland at 8 or 10 epi. These are great setts for a beginning tapestry weaver, so this yarn is a good introductory yarn. The Shetland is much thinner and I use one strand of it at 12 epi or doubled at 8 epi. The colors for both yarns are the same, so the only advantage of using Shetland would be if you want to use two strands together to mix colors. This doesn't work as well as it does with the singles yarn because Shetland is plied already and the singles aren't. I often will use the Highland instead and take the plies apart to mix two colors.
Gist Array
I’m teaching a lot of color workshops in 2024 and for many of them I’ll be using Gist Array. It is a lovely yarn and is the star of my quarterly course, The Tapestry Discovery Box which I do in collaboration with Gist. See above for more details.
Other excellent tapestry yarns
Vevgarn Frid
This yarn is sold in the USA by Norsk Fjord Fibers. It is a beautiful yarn that has some spelsau in it (sheep breed) that makes it very shiny. It is not at all soft. It is made in Norway and is a 2-ply yarn which is slightly thicker than the Harrisville Shetland. You can use a couple strands together at 8 epi (I've heard of people using as many as 4 together at this sett depending on your warp and your tolerance for lice). This yarn dyes very nicely, comes in 108 colors, and comes from Hiilesvåg Ullvarefabrikk, a spinnery on the west coast of Norway. I love using this yarn for finer tapestries at 12 epi with one strand.
Sample woven with Frid Vevgarn, 2 strands at 8 (or maybe 10) epi.
Frid Vevgarn in balls, pinks are hand-dyed by me.
Faro
Fåro, a Swedish tapestry yarn
Until about 2022, this yarn was made in Sweden by Borgs, a company founded in 1734. They went out of business recently and Klippen bought the yarn line. I have been assured that it will continue being made and you can get it in the USA from many suppliers. It is a singles yarn that is pretty much identical in size to the Harrisville Koehler singles. It has a little more shine than the Harrisville due to the kind of fleece used. This yarn works well with 3-4 strands at 8 epi. It is a singles yarn. It dyes beautifully and comes in 74 colors.
Colonial Persion (was Paternayan)
Paternayan now sold as Colonial Persian
I am just going to admit that this isn't my favorite tapestry yarn, but it is loved by many tapestry weavers, so if you're interested, try it yourself. It's chief advantage is that it comes in more than 400 colors including many gradations. It is an embroidery yarn, and as such, is a little fluffier than I'd like for tapestry weaving. But it was used by the Scheuer Tapestry Studio in New York in the 80s and if it is good enough for them, it is probably good enough for the rest of us.
Paternayan went out of business in the early 2020s and the yarn is now being made by Colonial Needlework. The original dyer of the yarn has a hand in it and as far as I can tell, the yarn is the same. It can be purchased in embroidery hank sizes if you want small amounts or in larger put-ups if you can use a lot. Google for sources.
Appleton Crewel
This is another thin yarn that I like a lot. Don't be fooled into ordering the Appleton tapestry yarn though. Both yarns are made for embroidery, but the crewel yarn is much thinner and firmer. The tapestry yarn ("tapestry" is often used in Europe to refer to embroidery) is fluffy and rather like a thicker version of Paternayan and I do not like it for tapestry weaving. The crewel yarn is excellent for tapestry can be bundled for a very nice woven surface with color variations. This yarn comes in over 400 colors including extensive gradations. I have seen it in needlework shops in the USA.
Paternayan, Waverly from Brown Sheep, and the ball to the right is Appleton Crewel
Australian Tapestry Workshop yarn
Australian Tapestry Workshop Yarn
I have not used this yarn much. It isn't easy to get in the USA since the only North American dealer went out of business. It is one of the gold-standard tapestry yarns on the planet though and if you live in Australia, I would look into it if I were you! It is a 2-ply thin yarn which is bundled for color variation. You can see a whole lot of amazing photos on their website HERE. This is the yarn they use in their monumental tapestries.
Lamb's Pride worsted
This yarn is made by Brown Sheep Company, a mill in western Nebraska. It is a fat single and it has mohair in it. This means that it is rather shiny and a fun thing to try for tapestry weaving. One strand of the worsted weight works well at 8 epi. Because it is a fat single (it isn't plied), it creates a strong diagonal effect when woven in weft-faced tapestry. This yarn is available in many places and might be the easiest yarn to lay your hands on in your local yarn store.
They make another yarn called Top of the Lamb which is lovely for tapestry and is used by many Dińe weavers. I don’t believe that yarn has mohair in it.
Lamb's Pride Worsted yarn
Lamb's Pride worsted woven
Taos Wools
Taos Wools and Joe’s dye set-up
Taos Wools is run by Joe Barry and is based in Arroyo Seco, NM. Joe hand-dyes churro yarn that comes in a tapestry weight called chica. I use two strands at 8 epi. The yarn is beautiful and the hand-dying is something that is really special. He has a brick and mortar shop, gallery, and teaching space and he sells his yarn online. He also dyes knitting and weaving yarns.
EPiC
This is a very thin yarn that I dropped from my list years ago because I had so much trouble getting it. It seems to be back in production. https://timeless-textiles.com/
This yarn has been used and loved by many tapestry weavers over the years. Some of the colors are intentionally dyed with a little color variation which is very nice in tapestry. The yarn is made in Portugal and sold in the USA. They have a nice sample pack with enough of each color to do some sampling. This is pictured below.
EPiC yarn for tapestry
EPiC yarn for tapestryy
Anahera yarn, 3 ounce hanks photo credit: Elizabeth J. Buckley
Anahera
This 100% New Zealand wool yarn is being sold in the USA by Elizabeth Buckley from her website: https://www.elizabethbuckleytapestryartist.com/anahera-yarn
It comes in 3 ounce hanks of approximately 420 yards. It comes in 127 colors. Elizabeth says that it is similar to the Persian yarn that Paternayan used to sell many years ago (or to one strand of the more recent 3-stranded Colonial Persian yarn—see above for details).
Do you have other things you look for in a tapestry yarn? Have you used any of these yarns? Let us know in the comments!
I have a resources page under FAQ that has links to these yarns as well as a list of international resources.