#making yarn

[ezekiellsplayground]

Little video of processing the Swedish Helsinge lamb fleece. Helsinge is a heritage breed known for it’s double coat - the inner coat (thel) is super soft and warm, whilst the outer coat (tog) is coarser and shiny. The different properties of the tog & thel make each more suited for certain applications (ie use thel for something warm and toasty for next to skin, & use tog for outwear that needs to endure weather or abraison). To separate the coats you use double tine combs and comb away until all the strong fibers are aligned so the tog can be dized out leaving the thel caught between the tines.

[wanderingjunkdrawer]

✨️Fibre ✨️ Bruja✨️

🐏Hybrid Fleeces 🐑

The Deep Stash™ belched forth a dark bundle of wooly wonderness with a mystic label East Fresian / Polypay hybrid

It came to be stashed the year our Guild was sampling the flocks of local fiber farms.

The locks are incredibly crimpy

Flicking the lock is one way to prep this wool - combing the other (absolutely no carding as the staple is too long.)

[Be very careful to protect your hands when flicking gently washed or raw locks. Scraping a knuckle with a flicker that has been in contact with raw wool can lead to bacterial infections.]

This sample was chain plyed but it could have remained a single. Either way, this yarn would make an outstanding warp. The hand feel is silky & the drape is soft, however the micron count is a bit too high for sensitive skin. Outerwear, accessories, lace afghans, warp for other types of yarn - the warping possibilities are super intriguing. But I digress. Hybrids from fiber flocks can make a once-in-a-lifetime yarn.

Because each hybrid is its own wonderful world of wool, when in doubt buy the entire fleece.

[strongbookthoughts]

Notes on Yarn Spinning with a Modern Twist

So since the last spinning book I looked at was from last century, let's look at one from 2023!

So this book is loaded with colorful clear images.

There's a huge section on preparing fleece starting with the state it's in the moment it's off the sheep.

There's a very well illustrated (photographed?) section on getting started with whatever style drop spindle you have.

There are a few plying options given. Sadly not the next one I want to learn, but some solid beginner ones.

There's a section on a few ways to make art yarns. This is where we get into doing slubs on purpose, adding beads and sparkle, and all kinds of delightful nonsense.

I'm just gonna acknowledge that I look at spinning as a way to get yarn for knitting and crochet. I loathe working with art yarns that are all kinds of uneven textures. So I mostly flipped through what's probably the main point of this book as quickly as possible. There's still a TON of info that's useful to someone who wants to make a smoother consistent yarn.

Also, if you've got multiple spinning books, especially from different decades? Take your safety tips from whomever is being most cautious. That's often going to be your newer books, but not always.

Anyway, I do like this book very much, and I may be checking it out again after I finish my survey of all the spinning books I can get my hands on.

[thetimetravelingseamstress]

Working on some spinning

[madebyconstellations]

Still haven't fully figured out tension for chain plying yet but we're getting there lol

[leiyahime]

Its "flat smells like wet sheep"-day again - aka finishing the yarns I made during the last... month? I guess.

The first three skeins of the Merino-Lyocell fibres I got in Leipzig I like the colours. I think the first two are a liiittle bit undertwisted but I leave them like that.

Everything that got a hot bath today. Plus an undyed Merino/silk that is already in the water. The violet at the bottim is Merino/silk the rest Merino. (Maybe I need a bit more variety)

Sadly the black in the black/blue skein bled a little into the blue which makes me sad...

[levavi-oculos]

Pretty pretty rolags! Hand-carded and hand-pulled from my Brother drum carder. 2.3oz of acrylic fiber perfect for spinning. Colorway based on Van Gogh’s Starry Night.

Available here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/nightmouseknitting

[afewdroppedstitches]

After failing to fall asleep for 40 min, I decided to get up and play with the new toy.... spinning some lovely BFL. And this little wheel is 🔥🔥🔥🔥.

Image 1: a charcoal black EEW Nano with white bobbin sitting on a black stool on a lime green hexegon-shaped silicone mat.

Image 2-4: close up shots of BFL (blue faced Leicester) roving dyed red, greys, black, yellow, and oranges with a little bit of white and brown.

Image 5-7: close up shots of the bobbin with some fresh spun singles wound onto the bobbin.