In 2018, I stumbled upon the art of fiber processing mostly by chance. I first got started looking into fiber processing because I was curious about some of the yarns I was purchasing for my crochet blankets. It was very expensive to buy all natural yarns as I found out on my bedspread blanket where I ended up spending $400 to get enough yarn to finish it. I thought that possibly hand spun yarn would be more economical if I was able to do the processing myself. Of course this didn’t turn out to be the case, but I have been grateful for the journey of discovery this quest has set me on. I have learned first hand about some differences between various types of fibers as well as the full process required to turn raw fiber into yarn and finally a woven pillow.
I have always had a daydream to own a small farm since I visited my great aunt’s ranch in Massachusetts and saw them tackle sheep to pour a flea bath over them. She let me wash some of the sheered wool in their barn sink, which was fascinating to me as a girl. My grandma’s family also had homestead farms in Nebraska so I grew up hearing stories about my grandma keeping carrots in her cellar and riding horses to school. Although I don’t yet have my own farm, I watched some videos on sheep and llama farms which were intriguing. I thought I could get some fiber from a local farm to practice with. Fortunately, my grandpa and his wife own two llamas, so I had the chance to visit their property a couple of years ago where I met Savannah and Lei. Savannah has the biggest dark eyes with the most beautiful eyelashes I have ever seen. My grandpa’s wife, Peggy, had just shorn them both (persevering through some painful kicks) and generously offered me their pelts to process. Peggy also gave me some wool scouring soap and a video tutorial on spinning. I thought I was ready to start making yarn, actually, I was still several steps away.
When I got home, I started by washing the fiber outside a few times, then I washed it in my bathtub a few more times. I picked out sticks and seeds and rinsed it until the water was clear. Then I set up a couple of fans and waited for it to dry, which took several days. During the process, I learned that the water temperature should be warm, but not change from hot to cold or it will risk felting the fiber. To avoid felting, water also shouldn’t run directly on the fiber and it shouldn’t be agitated too much. The llama fiber was quite long and very soft. Llamas have coarse guard hairs that should be picked out before spinning.
Once the llama fiber dried, I watched some Ashford videos on how to prepare it for spinning. I got some of their carding brushes which help put the fibers in the same direction so it can be pulled into roving that can be spun. I wanted to go faster than I could with the brushes alone so I found a diagram on how to make a drum carder and convinced my dad to help me make one in his workshop. It has carding cloth like the brushes, but it’s attached to two drums that brush together by turning the handle.
The most expensive part of the carder was the carding cloth that goes around the drum. The drum itself is a number of circles cut from plywood with a drill press and glued together. The handles were custom made by a welder who is my dad’s neighbor. The pulley is a rubber belt that sits in the groove of wooden wheels that were made with a router. The drums can be adjusted with the bolts that are held in grooves cut into small pieces of plastic. It is a very effective piece of equipment that helps to get small pieces of dirt and grass out in addition to making the fiber more pliable. I prefer to use it outside so I don’t have to clean up the dirt from my carpet.
After the fiber is processed, then it is finally ready to spin. I first tried to use a drop spindle to spin the yarn. The process helps make the fibers stronger and overlaps the shorter lengths to get a continuous yarn that can be used for weaving or rugs or pot holders or many other items, the list is endless. Again, I found the drop spindle slow and tedious, so I found a spinning wheel that was used and learned how to use it. The foot pedal was detached, so I got a replacement part and used some string I had to set up the wheel. I watched the spinning video Peggy gave me and started to practice. I have some trouble keeping the wheel going, but am getting better and have made several skeins of yarn so far.
In 2019, I had my daughter, so I spent most of the summer getting her nursery ready and getting my projects at work finished. In 2020, I was back to my project and my sister found more fiber sources for me, but this time it was wool and alpaca. The local farms in Larimer county were just the source I was looking for. I got a few bags of Alpaca seconds from the Stargazer Ranch. Seconds are shorter or dirtier fibers, but they are much more affordable. I decided to use this fiber for felted wool dryer balls. The alpaca fiber felts really well so it is easy to work with to make dryer balls. I turned my back yard into a fiber washing station over the summer and made a large drying rack to put in my yard. It was a nice way to get some outside time in the sunshine. I would take my baby monitor with me and listen to podcasts on raising a toddler or fiber arts while I washed and washed and washed.
The wool I got was from the Suarez ranch Suffolk sheep. Suffolk is a sheep raised for meat, but the wool can be spun as well. These animals didn’t wear coats, so the wool needed washed and the vegetable matter removed. I watched a couple of videos on how to pick through a pelt and how to tell the front from the back. It’s funny to see the full pelt altogether and how it resembles the shape of the animal. Some fiber artists try to keep the lock structure in place while washing the fiber, but with this volume, that was not feasible. With this wool, I have made felted soap and tried out natural dyes, but they washed out (except for turmeric), so then I tried permanent dyes which have worked better.
That has been my adventure with fiber processing so far. I know there is much more to come as I can tell from the bags of raw wool in my garage attic. Take a moment to appreciate my fiber grower pictures above – the sheep, llama and alpaca who made this journey possible. Please stay tuned for my future blog posts on wool dying, weaving and felted soap making.