For day 7, we will be in Mott 8.
Agenda for the day:
- We will meet with Janet Morris in Admissions who will talk to the class about fiber arts
- We will discuss different sources of fibers and the pros/cons of each animal and fiber type
- We will learn how to prepare fibers properly for textile creation
- We will look at different types of spinning techniques
- We will get our hands on spinning wheels and drop spindles
- We will look at modern production vs. traditional creation and discuss the pros/cons
- We will play a survival game!
Raising fiber-bearing animals and plants can be a wonderfully rewarding experience. Not only do you get to bond with the animal, but the fibers that can be harvested from your animals or plants can be used to make beautiful and functional textiles. Understanding a little bit about some of the main types of fibers is useful when beginning.
Alpaca is 3 times warmer than wool and much finer. It does not contain natural grease like wool, therefore it is not necessary to clean it before handspinning it into yarn. Alpaca comes in a variety of 22+ colors, which allows handspinners to work with the natural color of the fiber instead of using dyes to introduce color into the yarn.
Characteristics • Natural, Animal Fiber • Lightweight, Soft Luxurious • Very durable • Hand-washable or dry-clean • Little static, no pilling • Dyes well • Blends extremely well with other fibers Types of Alpaca Alpacas are from the camelid family. They look similar to Llamas but are smaller in size. There are 2 breeds of Alpacas: Huacaya and Suri. Suri – wool locks can be long and curly or straight fibers that are silky, very fine and very soft. There is a wide variety in the color of the fiber such as, white, fawn, reddish brown, gray, dark brown, and black. Suri Alpaca fiber is ideal for making soft loftier yarns for knitting. It can also be used for felting. Huacaya – (pronounced wuh-kai-ya) wool is denser than the Suri alpaca. It is soft and very easy to spin. This is the most common breed of alpaca found in the U.S. and Canada. Wool is probably the most popular fiber to spin, largely because of its versatility. It is also the easiest fiber for beginners to spin.
There are several different breeds of sheep, and each breed offers a different type of wool. It is well worth the time to learn the characteristics and purposes of the different types, in order to understand the types of yarn they will produce. Part of becoming an expert handspinner is being able to select the right fiber with a particular objective in mind and being able to meet the objective with success. Wool comes in a variety of colors, lengths, curls, and textures. The main types of wool are: fine wools, medium / crossbred wools, and long wools. Characteristics • Natural, Animal Fiber • Strong, durable • Comfortable • Flame resistant • Versatile • Elastic • Warm • Hand-washable or dry-clean • Good insulator • Wrinkle-resistant • Dyes easily • Blends extremely well with other fibers |
Angora wool comes from the angora rabbit, and is 7 times warmer than wool.
Characteristics: • Natural, Animal Fiber (rabbits) • Clean, directly from the rabbit • Does not require washing, picking, combing, or carding • Luxurious • Very durable Hand-washable • Not irritating to the skin like sheep’s wool • Easy to dye • Blends extremely well with other fibers The angora goat produces mohair. They are small in size, and the fiber is long, curly, and lusterous.
Characteristics • Natural, Animal Fiber • Luster • Non-flammable • Very durable • Washable • Wrinkle and stretch-resistant • Soil resistant • Absorbent • Easy to dye • Blends extremely well with other fibers Types of Mohair Kid Mohair fleece is the first shearing from a young angora goat. It is very fine and soft. Goatling is the second shearing from a goat and is also fine and soft. Adult Mohair is the fleece from the mature goat and can be both fine and coarse. |
Spinning flax can be a wonderful experience, but it is not highly recommended as a fiber for beginning handspinners to learn with. Following are some basic facts about flax fiber and spinning flax.
Characteristics & Types Flax is the stalk of a plant that is used for fiber. It is considered a cellulose or bast fiber, similar to hemp, jute, and ramie. Flax, which has been spun, is called, linen. • Plant fiber • Line/ Stricks – long, strong, shiny fibers • Tow – short fiber, easy to break, coarse • no elasticity • hard wearing, strong • softens with age Cashmere & Mulberry Silk, Tussah Silk, Cultivated Silk
Silk is an easy fiber to spin because of its long fibers. It has less elasticity than wool, but spins into a strong, smooth, and lustrous yarn. Types of Silk Bombyx Mori Silk is cultivated from a silk worm that lives naturally in the mulberry trees of China and the Far East. It is very white and soft. Tussah Silk is the term used for wild silk from Asia. It usually has a color range of light to dark honey and beige. It is very suitable for handspinning, with a texture that is a little coarser than Bombyx Mori silk. Characteristics • Natural, Animal Fiber (Silk worm) • Lightweight, Soft • Thinnest of all natural fibers • Luxurious • Very durable • Hand-washable or dry-cleanable • Little static, no pilling • Dyes well • Blends extremely well with other fibers |
Once you have selected your fiber to use, you'll need to shear it, comb it, or harvest it. Then it must be prepared and washed. Skirting the fibers means picking out any vegetable matter Washing requires hot water, a little soap, soaking and setting, rinsing, soaking and setting, then rinsing again. You'll need to hang it to try! Then you're ready to begin carding, or combing, your fibers, gathering them into the same direction so they can be spun.
Charge the carder
Take one of the carders in your left hand and with your right hand, lay staples of wool across the teeth of the carder. Distribute the wool evenly across the entire card until the teeth are barely showing through.
Take one of the carders in your left hand and with your right hand, lay staples of wool across the teeth of the carder. Distribute the wool evenly across the entire card until the teeth are barely showing through.
Carding
Take the second carder in your right hand and position it directly over the left card. Gently brush the right carder across the teeth of the left, towards you. Do this five to ten times until the fiber is evenly distributed on both cards.
Take the second carder in your right hand and position it directly over the left card. Gently brush the right carder across the teeth of the left, towards you. Do this five to ten times until the fiber is evenly distributed on both cards.
Take the “toe” end of the stationary carder (bottom edge), and line it up with the “heel” (handle edge) of the working carder. Lay the ends of the fiber onto the teeth of the carder, and lift them up to transfer the remaining fibers to the working carder. Card from the newly loaded carder as before. When the fiber is well separated and airy, scoop the fiber from the left carder.
Prepare For Spinning
Roll the fiber toward the handle of the carder to form a rolag for spinning.
Roll the fiber toward the handle of the carder to form a rolag for spinning.
After carding the fibers into the same direction, the fibers are then ready to be spun. Drop spinning and spinning wheel spinning are two of the most common forms of spinning. Once the fibers are spun into a single strand of yarn, two strands of yarn are 'plied' together to make the yarn twice as strong. It is then ready to be dyed or left natural!