Everywhere you go these days, you hear about this or that “going green”. Well, handspun yarn has not “gone green”, it is and has always been as green as it gets. Stop and think on that for a moment. Every bit helps. Even on a small scale like making hats, scarves or mittens for your friends. Those are less items mass produced. Less items mass produced mean less energy used in the producing. As a fiber artist, I have always realized processing fiber myself saves money. If I wash and card the fiber myself, (or spin in the grease) I haven’t paid for that step in processing the fiber…. however, take that thought one step farther. I not only saved the cost of paying a mill to do it for me, the mill did not pay for electricity to run the equipment or water to wash and scour the fiber. Now think about that in the bigger sense. When you buy a wool sweater from a commercial store, the sheep were mass sheared with an electrical shear, the wool was scoured in hot water in large amounts through several cycles using both water and electricity, not to mention the chemical bath to remove the vegetable matter, then dyed in a commercial size tub using heat to activate and set the dye. The wool was probably air dryed in a heated room to speed up the drying process, then picked to remove any remaining vegetable matter and carded on large equipment. Then the wool was spun by a machine into yarn, and knit by a machine into your sweater. At this point, I am sure the sweater was shipped via truck to the location where you purchased it. Are you getting the picture? A sweater spun and knit by your own loving hands will have more sentimental value and will probably be kept and worn for much longer than a cheap one you purchased, thus limiting the need for replacement. This should give you one more reason to feel good about spinning your own yarn and kniting, crocheting, weaving or felting your own clothing.
Archive for Processing Fiber
Kool Aid Dye for Wool or Mohair
Yes! You can dye your natural fibers, including wool, cotton, mohair, alpaca, llama, etc. with Kool Aid. It is simple, inexpensive, and effective. I have used them in a pinch when I have run short of commercial acid dye. Kool Aid stains fiber or fabric, so it will work as a dye. Kids love this project! The only thing to remember is that for a rich vibrant color, you must use a lot of Kool Aid for a small amount of fiber. Heat the Kool Aid in water and vinegar just as you would an acid dye, and let it simmer on the stove. Or as an alternative, add ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for several minutes. I have a friend who puts the solution with 2 ounces of fiber in a quart canning jar and leaves it in the sun for several hours. Anything that will apply heat to the mixture will work. Just simply rinse when done and air dry.
Hand Sheering Sheep
Here is a photo I received from Debra Haden of a hand-sheering demonstration by Sharon White, at the 2006 Taos Wool Festival. I am certainly not this good at it. I cheat! I put my sheep in my goat stand and stand them up while sheering them. My back just won’t take bending for that long of a period of time. I do use the old fashioned type hand sheers. I may have statd this before, but I purchased… at a very expensive price tag.. an electric sheer. It is noisy, heavy, and it cut my poor sheep’s skin terribly! Never again. I love my babies too much to put them thru that. Any one want to buy it?
Selecting Fleeces For Handspinning
The first step in spinning a good yarn is of course selecting a good fleece. Now, you could just buy roving or wool carded into batting, but if you want to spin in the grease, as I often do, start with the right fleece. Once again, this is easier if you find a reputable wool grower that covers their sheep. A covered sheep will offer a fleece with a lot less (vm) vegetable matter. The fiber will not be sun bleached on the tips as well. If you are not sure where to find covered fleeces, contact Sharry Bone at Westfarthing Farms, (505)281-2065, and tell her I sent you! She has a booth at Taos Wool Festival this October. Anyway, look for a fleece that has been skirted and shook out. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to get a fleece home to find straw and feces in the center once I take it out of the bag. Remember, fleeces are sold by weight, and I paid for that mess! Also, second cuts are the short little fibers created when a shearer goofs. They are inevitable, but a good and experienced shearer will keep them to a minimum. Since you can’t spin them, you don’t want them in the fleece, because once again, you are paying for them. I have purchased nine pound fleeces and been lucky to get four pounds of usable fiber! A good spinning stable length is 4-6 inches long. Anything shorter, and it is harder to spin. I have spun fiber as short as three inches. Then consider breed. We will go into the different breeds and class of wool they offer later, but if you are new to spinning, start with either a shetland, rambouillet, merino or corriedale. Any one of these will give you a soft yarn you will be proud of with little or no itch factor. Happy Spinning!
Washing Fiber
Fiber can be washed to remove dirt and grease and spun without being carded. A lingerie bag works wonderfully. Shake fiber and pull apart to remove as much vegetable matter as possible, then put into lingerie or sweater bag. Fill washing machine with detergent and hot water, then add your bag of fiber. Do not add bag before water as this can cause felting. Poke the bag down into water and soak for 20 minutes. Spin, remove bag and repeat. This process usually takes at least 4 washings. Rinse using same method but add fabric softner instead of preferred detergent. Rinse 3-4 times. Then remove your fiber from the bag, fluff and allow to air dry. Once completely dry, fluff the fiber by gently pulling it apart and removing any remaining vegetable matter. Then just spin it up! The result is a wonderfully textured, rustic looking yarn. Allow slubs to remain as they will add character to the finished yarn. This yarn looks great knitted, crocheted, or woven. It will also felt better than any I have tried in a knit/felt project.
Dyeing Fibers
In my opinion, the old saying, “you get what you pay for” is not always true with dyes. I have tried more expensive dyes by Gaywool, which averaged about $14 for a canister that claimed to dye 1-2 pounds. I have dyed several pounds and still have some left. However, the dye took a long time to set, and never completely rinsed out. Yes, I followed the directions on the package. Since in this case, I dyed a wool batt before spinning, I even had dye rub off on my fingers while I spun. I have tried fabric dyes from a fabric store that claimed to dye natural fibers including cotton and wool. These dyes were very inexpensive and I got them on sale for $1.99 a package that dyed 1 pound. In this instance again, hard to rinse out, took a long time to set. But much more than that, the color was not vibrant as I wanted, and the wool felt rough after drying. I take pride in the softness of my wool, so needless to say, this was not acceptable. I have lived and learned and now swear by W.CUSHING & CO. acid dyes. They come in a little packet that will dye 1 pound…. or more…. I’ll explain later…. The cost is very reasonable. Starting price is around $2.95 a packet, but if you call the company direct 1-800-26-7847, they offer bulk discounts. I think the minimum is 24 packs, which will bump you down to around $1.95 each, and that is the beginning. Ask them for specifics because I know there are larger discounts. You can search for dealers on the net and view the color chart, but so far I have not found one that offers the discounts. Remember that if you are a licensed business, which I am, you qualify for “no tax”. Now… details.. the colors are vivid at full strength… if you keep adding skiens or fiber roving to pot during the dye process, you will get varying shades of the same color! This dye absorbs completely into the fiber! When the dyebath is exhausted, you will know obviously because the water will be clear. No guesswork… no extensive rinsing. And remember…. rinse at the same temperature as the dyebath to avoid felting your fiber. This is easier than it sounds….. just let it cool completely and rinse in cold water. Don’t risk burning yourself or felting that fabulous fiber. Remember to follow the directions on the package, as you will need to ad white vinegar. Don’t think you can add cider vinegar in a pinch, it does not work! Then just experiment with the dyes. We’ll talk more about techniques.
