Our first podcast!!!

Our first podcast.

Rose "Spins a Yarn" 

EPISODE 1 - Fiber Prep 

FIBER FAQs ---- Fiber Prep - What does it all mean ? top, roving, rolags, clouds

Chapter 1 - Fiber Prep 

As a long time spinner and fiber producer (alpaca), wool and other fibers buyer and working with many mills and working with and selling commercial yarns over the past 12 years, I get many questions on terms commonly used in the fiber world.  I can see why they are confusing and many used interchangeably (incorrectly). So to help "demystify" spinning and yarn, I am going to try to pull all these terms together into one blog post.

I also started and own the largest and original spin for trade group on Facebook "Spin a Pound, Get a Pound™".  Based on question we receive daily in the group and privately, I think this will help a lot of the newer members, especially the growers in communicating with their spinners.  I co-mod this group with a great bunch of wonderful ladies who make me smile each day and who make running the group fun and manageable.  If you are a grower of fiber or a spinner, come join us!

This will be ongoing as there are tons of topics to discuss.

So onto today's topic ----- Fiber Preparations 

• Top - top whether commercially prepared or hand prepared aligns the fibers in one direction.  This prep allows for a more dense yarn/fabric and is good for hard wearing items like socks.  Combing fiber also removes any residual shorts, neps, noils and VM.  For hand preparation, combs or comb/hackle preparation and then dizzing the fiber off of the combs or spinning is all referred to as top.  Commercial top is what is most often used for hand-painted braids that all spinners go crazy over.  Commercial top holds together well and stands up to wetting, dyeing etc.  For hand prepped top, it is best to dye the fiber prior to combing.  Top does produce more waste than any other prep method, but it is a superior, consistent preparation.  Spinning from top is the only way to produce a true worsted yarn. 

  
  

  

  Braided commercially prepared top -  undyed (left), dyed in my Rainbow colorway (right)

• Roving - often confused and used interchangeably with the term "top".  Roving is fiber that is pin drafted (commercial) off the carder or dizzed off (hand prep) a drum carder.  Most small farmers have roving made rather than top because there are only a few mills in the US that comb fiber into top.  Also, the weight requirements for a batch are out of reach of many smaller fiber producers, and because of the waste while making top, the cost per ounce for top prep increases dramatically over roving.  Most of the smaller mills in the US are simply not equipped to produce top as it is a separate machine, so if you are buying mill prepped fiber for a small farm, more often than not it is roving.  When a small fiber producer is selling top, they make sure to label it as such. 

  

  Roving (Romney wool) in a ball)

  
  

  

  The same roving (Romney) spread to
  show the definition.  Fibers are not all
  aligned like top

• Batts - a batt is simply fiber pulled off the carder in one piece whether commercially prepped or hand prepped by a hand spinner.  Batts are a popular and sought after fiber prep because tons of color, texture and different fiber can be used.  Batts can be smooth or textured.  They can be layered or well blended.  The can be plain or crazy.  Batts by far is the most fun for me to prepare.  Because each spinner spins a batt differently (rips strips, rolls, dizzed etc) exact batts given to different spinners can produce wildly differing results.

  

  Sand and Sea™ Batt Jelly Rolled

  

  Witch's Apprentice ™ Batt rolled (left)
  and jelly rolled (right) 

  
  

  

  Maleficent™ Spinning Batt laying flat

  
   
• Rolags (punis) - rolags are produced in one of 3 methods.  Hand cards, blending board or pulled in pieces off a drum carder (rather than the entire batt). This prep is the traditional way to spin a true woolen yarn using the long draw method. 

Fiber on a Blending Board - (rolag prep)

Rolags ready to spin

• Clouds - clouds are picked but not carded or combed fiber.  Handfuls are held by the spinner and drawn from the hand.  Totally a fun way to spin and very common with fibers like loose cashmere or angora bunny.  Depending on the fiber and amount of openness to the lock, this can produce a lumpy bumpy are yarn or a smooth yarn.  
• From the lock - spinning from the lock is a method similar to cloud spinning.  Locks of fiber are flicked to open them and done one lock at a time.  This is often done with very fine fiber like sharlee merino when over prepping can cause neps and noils, but is also used for those spinners who do not have combs, hand cards or a drum carder.  This is also popular with spinners who like to spin in the grease. 
• From the fold - whether spinning from a lock or top, the fiber is folded over a finger and is drawn from the middle.  This allows more air to be trapped than spinning from a lock or top in line.  Trapping air allows for a more lofty yarn.  Spinning from the fold can also be done with top or roving. 
• Flicking a lock - using a flicker brush, dog brush or even a hand card, flicking open the lock prepares it either to spin directly or to get ready for carding.  This is most often done for tight or dirty tip fleece.  Swing or box pickers can also open locks to prepare them for carding, but for very fine fibers, pickers can be too aggressive and cause neps and noils and flicking is preferred.  Once the lock is flicked it can then be spun "from the lock" or "from the fold" or go on to further preparations. 

Next Time - Worsted vs Woolen (woollen) and what does semi-worsted mean ? 

Alpaca Cowl - Part 2 (moving to the fiber studio)

Now back to our series on an alpaca cowl . . . the Noro virus had me out for a few days, and a customer of mine joked that it must be because we knit with too much Noro yarn since she also was ill.  (If you didn't get that joke, you must not be a hard core knitter).  :)

Step 5 - Picking the Fleece  (Optional) 
Picking alpaca fleece is an optional step as alpacas do not have the tight lock formation as some wool breeds (like merino) does.  I do pick fleece when necessary such as when the fiber is really full of VM (vegetable matter) or there is a little matting from washing or just from rolling.  I also use my picker to blend fibers and colors.  So yes my picker does get a work out with alpaca - but not in the traditional way wool picking is done.  I do love to pick wool when I get some in (like a beautiful Romney fleece I just picked up) or raw merino or the like.  

I decided to pick Rosalita (rose grey) fleece because she was just FULL of VM and little burrs.  I know that the finer animals are like velcro but she was ridiculously full of VM!!!  I actually was out doing herd health on Sunday and purposely held onto her a little while to see this year's fleece and yes - she is full of VM again - I am not sure if she just rolls in the hay purposely or what.  The other animals in her pen that are in her micron range are NO WHERE NEAR full of VM that she is!!  This is precisely why I have made the decision to coat all my alpacas after shearing this year that are under 23 microns.  I want to keep as much fleece clean and VM free as possible.  It is an investment, but the amount of usable fiber that will be saved will more than make up for the coat cost.  

I did not (because I didn't need to) pick Brandy's fleece.  She was already cleaned and carded and ready to go. 

Here are some pictures of Rosalita's fleece being picked.  The fleece goes into the back of the picker (this is a swing arm triple picker).  It has many, many sharp points to "open" up the fleece.  This is NOT a toy and can be quite dangerous (as all fiber prep tools can be), but is a necessary tool for fiber folks.  

Fleece being loaded into the picker

The fleece goes into the back of the picker and is "swung" through so that the teeth open up the locks.  It does get out lots of VM, but Rosalita was so dirty that there was still LOTS of VM even after picking.  

Fleece after picking, still lots of VM

Here is the picker before picking (clean) and after picking (VM and Sand).  I made the decision right there that this fleece will need to be combed rather than carder to make a usable lovely fiber.  I cleaned the picker after every ounce or so of picking - so it definitely help - but still needed combing to remove the VM further.

Before picking - clean (see all the teeth)

After picking (VM and sand) 

Step 6 - Washing the fleece

Note that this process is for alpaca, if you have sheep it is slightly different (and different for different wools).  After the fleece has been skirted, sorted, graded and blown out to remove even more debris, I take the fleece that I will use for a certain project and wash it.  You can wash in a sink, bath tub, muck bucket or old top load washer. Whatever the vessel is that you use, the process is the same.

• Add detergent to the vessel (I typically use regular blue Dawn dish detergent).  You can also use many of the wool washes on the market or laundry detergent, but I like Dawn the best.  Just remember, you want to use the regular, un-concentrated Dawn without any of those enzymes boost chemicals. 
• Add hot water (so that you can put your hands in it without saying ouch) and swish it around to distribute the soap.   You are not looking for bubbles, just distribution of the soap.
• Now add the fleece.  Sometimes I put the fleece in a mesh bag (if I am doing more than one fleece at a time in a large vessel) and sometimes I just put it directly in the water.  Push the fleece down gently so that it all gets wet and is submerged.  DO NOT agitate.  Leave for 30 minutes.
• Take the fleece out - DO NOT wring it.  Just take it out and put it aside and repeat the wash step again.  Again leave for 30 minutes. 
• Take the fleece out - DO NOT wring it. Just take it out and put it aside.  Now fill the vessel with hot water again (rinse the vessel out if necessary).  This is the rinse cycle.  Push the fleece down again without agitating.  Leave for 30 minutes.  The rinse I typically do 3 times. 
• After the 3rd rinse.  Take the fleece out, squeeze (don't wring) out the fiber and roll it up in a big bath towel to remove the excess water.  Now lay somewhere to dry.  I sometimes use my skirting table, an old sheet out on the lawn or my new favorite, a drying rack I made.  

My process is typically 2 washes and 3 rinses

The fiber mesh bag with Rosalita's fiber inside (not the best pic)

Soapy water waiting for the fleece.

Step 7 - Prepping the fleece

Meanwhile while Rosalita's fiber was bathing - I decided to prep Brandy's fiber.

Because I am a Clemes & Clemes distributor and the new blending board is now a part of my fiber tool arsenal, I decided to prep Brandy's fiber on the blending board.  Brandy's fiber was already carded on my drum carder. . . but it didn't need to be (you can place uncarded fiber on the board too).  I am in love with this blending board and I have been in rolag heaven. . . it is just so much fun!!!

Want your own blending board?  Get it here.  This links to my online store. 

• I placed a layer of Brandy's fiber on the board as the first layer.  
• Then I placed a layer of Tussah (golden) silk on the board
• Then I placed a layer of firestar (red) on the board
• I continued several times until the board was full 
• I removed them as rolags (pic of rolags are NOT of Brandy's prep because I forgot to take a pic), but they are representative of the rolags I spin with and spun Brandy's fiber with.
• I spun the yarn - the first ply is an evenly spun sport weight-ish ply that will be plyed with Rosalita's prep as soon as that is done. 

First layer - Brandy (brown alpaca)

2nd layer - Tussah Silk

3rd Layer - firestar

Some rolags from the board (but NOT for this fiber, forgot to take a pic of Brandy's prep)

The yarn - this is one ply (Brandy, silk, firestar) of a 2-ply yarn

Next time ---- Rosalita's prep . . . .