Re: Observations on a Bad Week

Lisa Ann wrote:
> "Kim" <darwinexceptiontakethisout@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
> news:KubHj.24$Eq.12@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Veronique wrote:
>>> On Mar 27, 9:21 pm, "Kim" <darwinexceptiontakethis...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> 7. The next thing I want to try is spinning my own yarn. I figure
>>>> that there's enough goat and sheep and alpacas and stuff around
>>>> here that I should be able to find someone willing to give me a
>>>> little bit of hair to try out. I can't figure out though how sheep
>>>> fur - which is relatively short - is made into long strands of
>>>> yarn. I mean, my own hair is pretty long, but I still don't see how
>>>> twisting a few strands of it together would make a skein of yarn.
>>>> How exactly does that work?
>>>
>>>
>>> Boy, I feel as if I ought to be able to jump right in here with all
>>> sorts of woolly sheep facts,
>> Well, yeah, that's what I was hoping....
>>
>>> and yet all I know is that the strands
>>> don't have to be very long...I can start to spin a thread from Puff's
>>> cat fur, which is two to three inches long.
>> And how exactly do you do that? Because I'm in no short supply of
Brewster 
>> hair.
>>
>>> But also, you don't twist
>>> "a few" strands together, you twist a whole bunch. And then there's
>>> something about kemp fibers, which are longer and harder and tend to
>>> stick out, so I think the qualities of the different fibers affect how
>>> well it spins.
>> But what makes it *stay* twisted together? Why doesn't it all fall
apart 
>> when you start to spin it? I mean, taking the Brewster hair as an 
>> example - I can sweep up a pile of dog hair - and when I sweep it into
a 
>> pile, there is always dog hair flying around the air with just the
motion 
>> of the broom - it doesn't *stay* piled.
> 
> Try making felt out of Brewster hair and see if you can get it to matt.
> 
> Part of what holds it together is the twist - and if you've ever knitted

> with Lopi yarn, you'll know that not all yarn is twisted and plied - 
but 
> the other part to making yarn is fini****ng it.  Once you've spun what
you 
> want to spin, you gently wash the skein (after putting it into a loop
and 
> tying it in several places to avoid tangling), then hang it somewhere to

> dry - usually hanging a weight from the bottom of the loop to lock in
the 
> twist.

Also, you usually ply it, at least I do. Take two yarns spun with the 
same twist, and spin them together with an opposite twist. Makes it much 
more stable.

-- 
Jen