Mixing Things up for a Sweater
words and photos by: Johanna Carter
I always admire those who are able to spin mountains of yarn for a big project, ready to knit a wonderful sweater or cardigan. It is a satisfying feeling when you finish all that work, especially if you started with washing and combing the wool or even raising your own sheep.
Mixing spinning and knitting
The typical way to work through a larger project is to spin all the singles first and ply them in a particular order so you get the yarn even throughout the whole project. I don’t have so many bobbins, but my bigger problem is that I am quite impatient and want to get on with knitting once I have an idea. And normally, my brain is full of ideas for fibre work and the limit is the time, as I am a musician and teacher. I can’t sit at the spinning wheel for a long time if I’m not on holiday, so during the school year I mostly knit, and during the holidays I can dye, spin, use my drum carder, and do lots of fibre work. The only time I was able to produce bigger quantities of yarn before I knitted them up was during the Tour de Fleece in the two years during the pandemic, when we did not go on holiday at the beginning of July.
A highly photogenic collection of naturally dyed fibres.
I like to finish knitting one big project like a sweater or cardigan before I start the next one, or at least until I can’t carry it in my bag easily anymore, so I have an excuse to begin the next one. Sometimes it is good to have a second project on the go – I call it mindless knitting, where I don’t have to look very much – which I can keep my hands busy during Zoom or other meetings, which helps me listen.
Mixing colours and fibres
Usually I dye my yarn with plants which I collect in the woods or get from garden flowers. I also use cochineal and indigo, which I buy, to get lots of different colours. I really love the greens and blues I get from dyeing with indigo. I have lots of dyed wool, and all those colours give me inspiration for further projects.
Beautiful greens and blues dyed by the author using indigo and other natural dyes.
Blending the wool on the drum carder I can get even more shades. I like to blend with fibres like silk, alpaca, or plant fibres, and I love sari silk, to get those little bits of colour in my yarn.
Fibres of different types and colours are blended on a drum carder for elegant results.
When I have an idea for the next sweater, I start carding, and then I can begin to spin. Once I have spun enough yarn – say, for one day – I cast on and start knitting, usually top down, so I don’t have to decide too much in advance about length and width.
An idea for the author’s next sweater in the gathering stages.
When I spin on my wheel, I have to sit at home, but while spinning I can read a book or talk to others during online meetings. I also like to spin on my spindles, and that works on a walk, or a museum visit. I take them on holiday as they don’t need much space, and when I spin for a lace shawl, I don’t even need much wool either. At home there are spindles all over the place; I can spin when I am waiting for the kettle to boil, when the computer is slow, when I am cooking. Like that I can make good use of a short time and the yarn still grows.
Knitting as soon as the yarn is spun helps the author complete sweater projects in a timely manner.
I can take my knitting almost everywhere, which is why I don’t want to wait to get started until I have spun all the yarn for a whole sweater. I knit at home, on the bus or train. The only thing I have to make sure of is to be one step ahead with the yarn.
I love to knit Fair Isle sweaters. My favourite method is to use only one bobbin, which I don’t even fill, because I need smaller quantities of lots of colours. Then I wind a ply ball and ply it on itself. For that I put my thumb through the ball, so I can tension the two singles with my fingers and they don’t get tangled, as long as my thumb (or a cardboard roll or a pencil) stays in the middle. I don’t have any leftovers from plying, and it is quick when I suddenly need more yarn.
Several charming sweaters dyed, spun, and knit by the author.
I have never had problems with the yarn not being consistent enough throughout a project. I just know what yarn I want and my fingers seem to remember what to do. I am sure it is good advice to have a little card tied to the spinning wheel with a bit of the singles you are aiming for, so you can check and make sure you are spinning a consistent yarn.
Mixing breeds
There are so many different breeds, but some of my favourites are Shetland, BFL, and Jämtland – a Swedish breed. After dyeing them, I often forget what I have used, so when I do a new project it often turns out that I have used different breeds and fibres just to get the right colour. For the Fair Isle knitting I want to juggle lots of colours, which is more important to me than making a sweater out of only one breed.
Recently I made a pullover for my husband using about 12 different breeds and colours, even mixing short and long draw. For me it was a breed experiment and a way to use up lots of smaller quantities of wool I had in my stash. For that sweater I used combed top without blending.
Mixing in knitting during the spinning process is a wonderful way for a spinner to avoid being overwhelmed during a sweater project.
My feeling is that some people don’t dare to start spinning for a bigger project because they get overwhelmed by the quantity they have to spin and then all the knitting there is to do, especially when you want to spin the yarn entirely on spindles. Mixing the spinning and knitting for the same project is more interesting; you get more variety and more freedom to choose what you want to do next as long as you don’t run out of yarn. It breaks the project down into smaller, less daunting parts. The only thing you might want to plan is to have enough fibre at the start, but even that is not necessary, there is always a sheep growing more wool.
Sending double-coated fleece to a fiber mill
words and photos by Terri Louise
Although some spinners really enjoy processing an entire raw fleece from start to finish, not everyone has the desire, or the facilities, to handle the initial prep work. A fiber mill can turn a raw fleece into soft, spinnable roving – but double-coated fiber has some special challenges. Here’s what to ask before you send a double-coated fleece to a mill.
Some of the basic questions apply to any fiber sent for processing – what is the mill’s pricing structure, do they have a minimum weight requirement, and what services do they offer? Virtually any mill can wash, pick, and card wool into roving. If you have a preference (such as bumps), find out in what finished form their roving comes.
For a double-coated fleece, the most important question is if the mill can handle the fiber length. The outercoat on some breeds can be 15 inches or longer. Not all mill equipment can deal with that length. Others may have an extra charge for hand-feeding long fiber into the equipment (this does not necessarily make the total processing more expensive).
If you want roving that combines the two coats, many mills are capable of doing that. I have sent Icelandic lamb fleece to Ohio Valley Natural Fibers several times and have gotten back lovely roving. The combined coats of lamb or adult can be softly spun for a lopi-style singles yarn or spun and plied various ways. But some processors have the machinery for an additional service: dehairing.
Dehairing machines were developed for removing the coarser guard hairs from fibers such as cashmere, alpaca, and bison. A series of rollers with different textures separate out the finer, more desirable undercoat. Double-coated sheep breeds can benefit from this option as well.
Carrie, owner of America’s Natural Fiberworks, said a dehairing machine has another advantage. Although the best results always come from sending good-quality, well-skirted fiber, the reality is that many fleeces have a fair bit of VM (vegetable matter) and second cuts. A dehairing machine will take out quite a bit of both of those undesirable items.
Should you have your double-coated fleece dehaired? For an adult fleece, this will give you two distinctly different rovings – wonderfully soft undercoat and the coarser outercoat. Carrie said clients often get the outercoat made into sturdy core-spun rug yarn, but it can also be returned loose or as roving. Be sure to specify your choice from among your mill’s available options.
For a lamb fleece, the difference between the under and outer coats is not as pronounced, and dehairing will remove little of the outercoat. However, if your lamb fleece has VM or second cuts, dehairing will improve the final result.
As a comparison, I sent 6 pounds of Icelandic lamb fleece to America’s Natural Fiberworks. I had half of it dehaired and half processed normally. The result – dehairing lamb fleece made only a minor difference (granted, it had nearly zero VM or second cuts). The non-dehaired fiber had a 68% yield versus a 65.5% yield for the dehaired fiber. This meant the dehairing machine removed less than 2 ounces of fiber out of 3 pounds. The spinners who sampled both the dehaired and non-dehaired lamb roving did not consistently find an obvious difference – they liked it all!
Fiber mills are a great resource for those who want, or need, their services. If you have a double-coated fleece that needs processed, ask a few extra questions to make sure the mill can handle your fiber. Dehairing is an additional option that may be suitable for the results you want. Let the mill do the prep work – then enjoy the spinning!
In 2013, Terri Louise got two pregnant Icelandic sheep off Craigslist, and discovered the fiber community. She loves caring for the sheep, working with their fiber, and the fact that there is always more to learn. Follow their adventures at Spotted Sheep Farm.
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Playing with Icelandic
words and photos by Barbara Bundick
At the 2019 Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, I purchased an Icelandic lamb fleece with lovely golden locks curling over a snow white base.
Whatever I did with this fleece, I knew I wanted to keep the tog and thel together. The tog, by the way, are the long curly locks that shed water, keeping the sheep dry. The thel is the soft down that protects the sheep from the cold. After reviewing my options, I decided to try coreless core spinning the locks.
Once I skirted and then washed the fleece, I took a closer look at what I had. I admit I was disappointed. Not only did the fleece contain an overabundance of second cuts and vegetable matter (VM), much of the thel, the luscious soft white down, was shot through with black fibers, probably kemp. There was no indication of any of this in the judge’s review sheet.
Word to the wise: don’t take the judge’s review sheet at face value. Always check for yourself. Second word to the wise: don’t impulse buy a fleece on Sunday morning in the few minutes available before running off to class.
Ah well. Normally I would comb the worst of the VM out. However, since that would separate the thel from the tog, combing wasn’t an option. I was stuck, but since my goal was to practice coreless corespinning, I decided I could live with the flaws.
Coreless corespinning is the same as corespinning except you wrap the fiber around the core at the same time you’re spinning the core. For me, that means keeping my left thumb on the edge of the drafting zone and my right thumb in the middle of the drafting zone. I spin the fiber between my thumbs into the core. The fiber outside my right thumb rides up over the right thumb, wrapping itself around the core. By keeping the tog locks on the right, beyond the right thumb, they would be free to wrap loosely around the yarn and then shake free when it was time.
I tried corespinning two ways – fast and slow. The slow method consisted of separating out the locks and fanning out the cut end. I spun the cut end while the lock was allowed to curl around the core. It worked, but it was slow and picky.
So I tried the faster method, which consisted of fluffing out a bunch of the washed locks combined. It also worked, but I wasn’t quite able to keep the locks out of the core the way I wanted to. So I returned to the slow, picky method and declared success – or at least as much success as I was going to get given all the kemp.
Will I try core spinning locks again? Probably. I do love a nice Icelandic fleece. The rest of this fleece, however, will be a gift to the compost pile.
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PLY Magazine believes that Black lives matter, as well as LBGTQI+ lives. Those most vulnerable and persecuted in our communities deserve our love and support. Please be good to each other.
The electric issue is coming!
Yes, that’s right, the summer issue is filled with tools that go vroom vroom, buzz buzz, or even purr quietly. So of course it covers the one so many of us have and enjoy – the electric spinning wheel, but it also talks about carders, winders, dyeing, and drones. It includes blending, spinning, plying, consistency, planning, traveling, and stories that will inspire and delight. There’s history, evolution, and a spinner who sells everything to set out as a spinning nomad. Then it more loosely interprets electric and talks about conductive fibers, sparkle, and bright colors. Of course, there are amazing projects too.
Don’t miss this issue; make sure your subscription is active by May 20th (if you subscribe and are out of issues you’ll get a separate email with a direct link to your account).
PLY Magazine believes that Black lives matter, as well as LBGTQI+ lives. Those most vulnerable and persecuted in our communities deserve our love and support. Please be good to each other.
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