http://www.suripaco.com/
So I emailed Ken right back and asked if I could post his message here on Blog where stitchers and shop owners would see it. This is his reply.
"You are welcome to publish my note on the blog--I would like to reach out to people interested and knowledgable re Paternayan yarn to help us decide if we are getting the hand and spin qualities correct (although I perceive hand is not nearly as important for this yarn) as well as the durability required for needlepoint work. How important is the variation in the strands? As you can imagine, having to create 3 different 2 ply yarns to put into the three ply finished product increases production costs significantly. Is it your impression the Paternayan yarn is a worsted (or at least semi-worsted) product. Apparently, a number of years ago the quality of the British produced yarn dropped off so JCA switched to a US supplier(and probably US wool) but their quality was sporadic as well.
Yes, SuriPaco is us--it is something we do when we are not at our day jobs."
I told Ken that as far as I was concerned, the traditional Paternayan with three plies, each slightly different in size, was an interesting quirk that made Paternayan wool unique, but certainly was not very important, especially comported to the colors, twist and durability of Paternayan wool. I also let two shop owners know about Ken's stock of Paternayan skeins. But that's just one stitcher's opinion. If you have thoughts about Ken's questions above or are interested in talking to him about buying some of his old stock, leave a comment below where Ken can see it or email me at chilly hollow at hotmaildotcom and I'll make sure Ken gets the message.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
45 comments:
I agree that the variation in strand size is not necessary - in fact it is actually a drawback. The original fiber (dating back to the 70's) was a better quality than JCA's, and hopefully it could be reproduced.
We have a local wool firm called the Stucken Group here in South Africa that produces both wool and mohair yarns. Maybe they can help. They certainly have the expertise to spin any yarn that is required!
I'm all for it! I've sworn off it for decades, maybe this will make me try it again. Not having the strand variation would be better I think also.
3 similar strands would definitely be nice--no more worry about skimpiness on 18mesh!
This is wonderful news. Mary Agnes
Ken, if you are reading these comments, Mary Agnes is a Florida shop owner. Sorry, you will have to copy/paste the URL as I can't make web addresses clickable in Comments.
http://www.needlenicely.com/
I am an avid Needlepointer as well as an avid Primitive Rug Hooker. As a rug hooker we depend on Paternaya to hand bind our rugs with. The size of the strands don't matter to the Rug Hooker, just the total thickness.
Dana Smith in Arlington, VA dls5775@aol.com
I just came upon this blog. As a fiber artist that exclusively used Paternayan Persian yarn I am thrilled that we could have this yarn again. I have been trying other yarns and am sadly disappointed. The quality of the Paternayan was unsurpassed for durability.
AS for the the variation of the strands…it does not matter. However it would be nice if they go to a uniform thickness preferably the middle weight. Most likely easier for production.
Kim Heinlein
Kim, I have my fingers crossed that Ken can pull this off. Paternayan came in lovely colors and wore like iron. Nothing beats it for rugs and chair upholstery.
I live in Belgium and in Europe the Paterna wool is not available anymore. In the United Kingdom there is an e-mail shop (sew exciting) who pretends to sell it but the quality is not comparable with the real Paterna. I hope that you in the U.S. can make this wonderfully wool again. In that case i buy it immediately.
Dear Miss Belgium, I have heard that recently the quality of Paternayan has declined. I expect the Paterna you can buy is of this inferior quality. I have my fingers crossed that a new Paternayan will be available in the next year or so that will be as good as the original. We do miss it here in the U.S., too. Nothing is as durable for upholstery and rugs in my opinion.
Quite honestly, i love stitching with Paternyan. I love the color selections and was sad when it went away. I am hoping it returns as Ilove the way a project looks stitched with this fiber. Some projects just look better stitched in basketweave with Paternyan yarn.
Dea, I am slightly allergic to wool so I stay away from Paternayan as much as possible. Still, it is a fabulous thread and I miss it.
We have nearly all colours still in store.
We hope the new owners do return to producing the Paternayasn tapestry wool.H
as the new owner still got stock to offer.
If so I would like to hear from them
Stephen info@ribbonrose.co.nz.
My name is Sandra,and the other main thing this yarn was used for is antique rug repair. It have been doing that on and off for about 25 years.And nothing else I have tried is as strong,and has as much luster. And in this field,the irregular fibers really are useful.I really hope it comes back into production.I am happy that I found the replacement brands,they are even better for somethings. But Paternayan,is still the best for high quality rug repairs.Please keep us updated! Thanks
Sandra, an update is planned for tomorrow (10/8/12) so stay tuned!
I have been using Paternayan since 1967. Just found an unfinished bell pull and am at a loss to match the original Imari colors. Why the owners or heirs who own the company now would just close it down...?! There is a WORLDWIDE demand for this product! Susan Sherwood
Hopefully Paternayan will be reborn. Keep those fingers crossed!
I have several projects I'm in the middle of. They are canvases I've been working over a period of years and only after being in the middle am I discovering that I need more thread to finish. Dye lot isn't important since there are no large expanses of the missing colors but I'm sorry, no other brand will do - the colors aren't right and aren't even close. Paternayan has been a staple of my needlepointing for decades. How could they go out of business with such a large demand! I've even used it for knitting. And definitely for rug and sweater repairs as well. Please bring it back!
I think the previous owners were not really good businesspeople. That's the only thing I can think of, plus there are a lot of choices in threads now. When I started there were two: Paternayan or Appleton wool. Plus you could buy gold Kreinik in one size. That is definitely not the case now.
Keep your fingers crossed. The new owners are introducing Paternayan again at the TNNA Winter market.
Oh, please, Ken and Chilly Hollow, please make more Persian yarn a reality!! I have had so many customers just begging for one or two or 7 more skeins of this or that color so that they can finish a project. A friend who does the Tartanpoint pillow kits by Agnes with Camus International uses Paternayan exclusively for her pillow kits and I've heard she can't ship her kits unless she can find more Paternayan. And a customer who started chair seats for her dining room (all 12 of them) is still stuck needing 8 more hanks of her background colors for her last two chairs. Nothing, really, else will work. I'm an on-line store now, not a retail shop, and I know how durable this wool is and how many knitters would use an 8-yard skein for quick and easy knitting repairs. And the rug shop across the street would use it for their rug repairs. It can't just go away!
Susan, I have nothing to do with this. I'm just reporting on Ken's plans, but there's an update here.
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2012/10/paternayan-update.html
And another here. Sorry but you will have to copy/paste. Links in Comments can't be made clickable. But it does sound like there will be Paternayan again.
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2012/10/even-more-about-new-paternayan.html
To be able to get Paternayan again would be a dream come true. I agree with the writer who said that other yarns just don't make it and I've put off doing needlepoint because of it. Please, please do make the best yarn of paternayan available again.
C.S. in New Orleans
I've got my fingers crossed. The TNNA trade show is in early Feb. this year and that's when the new Paternayan should reappear.
Many of the colors are currently available on Amazon, so for those looking, this might be a spot to check out. I have found this to be a great site in my search for a couple of my projects. Who knows if the new product will be any where near what the original was, and what is being sold on Amazon is definately the original great product....
Is Paternayan being sold via Amazon.com or eBay? Just asking for clarity's sake.
Totally agree that we need Paternayan produced again. I owned a needlepoint shop in the late 70's and there was nothing else that matched the quality and color. We used crewel yarn for our projects because we felt 2 strands covered better than 2 strands of Persian. Really miss the variety and subtly of colors!
Anon, things are progressing. Saco River has introduced the most popular colors and now they are trying to get other colors in the line. I have also heard that Colonial Needle has introduced a line of persian wool called Colonial Needle Persian Wool but I don't know anything about it except that they are using the original spinners so their wool has the traditional three plies each slightly different in size. Stay tuned. I think there are going to be enough varieties that wool lovers will be able to stitch with "Paternayan" again soon.
I hope they save us all by producing the exact same quality of this wonderful wool just like the original Paternayan. Loosing this product has been a great disappointment to all of the people in the industry that I have talked to. Such a loss! Please please bring it back!
Savannah, it's looking promising. Shops are starting to get a limited range of colors from the new Paternayan. Stay tuned!
Having just returned to needlpoint after a 35 year hiatus, I've been more than underwhelmed with the wool yarns available today. My fingers, toes and knees are all crossed that you can bring back an equivalent to Paternayan.
Saco River's new Paternayan is starting to become available to the shops in limited colors. Keep your eyes open!
Just discovered this conversation. YES... PLEASE bring back all the Paternayan colors. I know they are coming back now, but have yet to try them. I love the durability and the fact that they don't pill up or get fuzzy like so many other threads do. And thanks! Kate Dickerson - KSH Needlepoint Collections
I'd been using Paternayan for decades and was devastated when it was no longer available. Tried using Waverly. Ugh! A local needlepoint shop tried to tell me that Waverly was just the as Paternayan. Anyone with eyes or sensitive fingers could tell that that wasn't the case. Are any shops in the San Francisco Bay Area caring it yet?
Judy, I don't know who has the new Paternayan yet. I've heard that it is very difficult to get so far but that's the rumor mill. It may be easier to get some places than others, don't know.
What is the latest in Paternayan yarn? I have the book ScarfStyle by Interweave 2004 and was interested in making Kathryn Alexander's scarf on pg 57. I ordered all the colors of Paternayan from Crafters Market (Chesapeake, VA) and they sent me 1/2 my order then stopped answering emails/phone. I've since found out they are not reputable and have LOTS of complaints against them. Where or where can I find this yarn? And who is a reputable company selling it? If it is not available what is an equivalent?? I never thought to knit with this until seeing this pattern. Now I am intrigued...
Do NOT order from Crafters Market = horrible company.
A new company bought the Paternayan name. They distribute it to needlepoint shops (I didn't know it was used for knitting). I suggest you talk to Liz at Needlewoman East. She has a nice stock of it and is my "local" shop. She and her staff will be happy to get you what you need. Here is the shop website. http://www.theneedlewomaneast.com/Welcome.html
Just had a look at the "new" yarn from Saco Dyeworks at a needlework shop with the old JCA stock. THE SACO DYEWORKS YARN IS THINNER AND ROUGHER AND NOT AT ALL THE SAME LONG STAPLE WOOL. Don't know about dyelot stability or anything else...this just ain;t the same as the JCA stuff.
Thanks, Anon. It's good that you got to compare both versions of Paternayan. So many people don't have any of the old stuff left to really compare in person instead of in their memories.
We own a shop in San Antonio that used to be a main distributor for Paternayan so I still have quite of bit of the older inventory of Paternayan along with the new stuff. In my honest opinion they are very close. The big plus I have to say is that every strand is equal diameter, making it so much easier to work with. They have worked hard to match the sheen and texture of the older Paternayan, and I really think they have done an excellent job.
I realize this is an older post but just a little update Saco River Dyehouse is chugging right along and has just about all the colors in the Paternayan color palette. Back order wait times have significantly shortened, since they increased the number of pounds they dye per week.
They are also working on updating the color cards. Which I hear will be available soon. At this point they have professionally printed cards. We carry Paternayan in quarter pound hanks (approximately 160 yards, 4 oz), or small twists (approximately 8-10 yards, 0.25 oz). The small twists are either skeins that we created ourselves or the small twists that Saco River makes it is basically one continuous 8 yard strand.
http://www.yarnbarnsa.com/needlepoint-threads/paternayan-yarn/
Thanks for the update, Enid. Lots of folks find this article via Google so they will be happy to hear your report. May I post this separately as an article so folks who aren't searching for Paternayan information will see your report?
Yes please do. I think this is the third time I've tried to reply and I'm not sure if it is going through or not. Somedays technology and I just don't work well together. :D
I got it now, Enid! I'll copy/paste what you wrote me in a new article so folks find it. Thanks for the update!
Does anyone have a conversion chart for the old Paternayan colors to the new ones. My book "Needlepoint Designs from Oriental Rugs" by Grethe Sorensen (1981) gives the numbers of Paternayan yarn colors that simply don't exist. I can only think they were the old numbers.
You may be right. This is a question for Ken, though. I don't know of any conversion charts of Paternayan numbers from the old company to the new. You might also check with the Yarn Barn in San Antonio to see if they can help. Shops that stock a lot of Paternayan may have some idea of what the old numbers convert to. Here is their website. https://yarnbarnsa.com
Here is the contact info for Saco River Dye House, which owns the Paternayan name and is producing Paternayan now. Good luck! http://www.sacoriverdyehouse.com/site/
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