Spinning New Fibres
What is it about new fibres that is intimidating? I bought little bags of ingeo, firestar, bamboo and soy silk last year on Salt Spring Island — did I spin it? Nope, not really. I dyed up a bunch of soy silk and started spinning it, but didn’t really like the feel… until…
Last Wednesday, through the Greater Vancouver Weavers and Spinners Guild, I attended the “Spinning New Fibres” workshop led by Kim McKenna (who designed the Salt Spring Island colourways for Treenway Silks). From 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, we spun everything from Viscose Rayon, Tencel and Bamboo to Ingeo, Soy Silk and Silk Latte. Most of the day was spent spinning samples of white/cream coloured fibres, making blends with merino and comparing samples. By the end of the day, we started playing with the coloured fibres in our goody bags and were mixing different coloured merino wools with various kinds of Firestar, Flash and Angelina. My blends were all made with my little Forsyth mini-combs and spun, worsted, directly from the comb.
Each of these “new” fibres has some interesting or beneficial feature. Although 100% handspun “Blending Nylon” or 100% “Fake Cashmere” might not be appealing, blending a bit of it with wool makes the final yarn stronger. Soy Silk on it’s own isn’t really fun to spin, but blending it up with wool makes it easier to spin and produces a loftier yarn. Even adding a bit of Viscose to a blend gives the yarn a slight glittery, shimmery look.
One interesting point though — for the same weight of fibre, natural silk is still less expensive than Silk Latte, Ingeo and Bamboo.
And speaking of new fibres, my Gotland fleece arrived already! I washed a little lock of it last night with some Dawn and hot water and it’s super clean and shiny. The fleece isn’t really smelly at all — I checked several times! Yum.
Edited to add: I was so excited about uploading these photos that I forgot to mention my favourite blends! One of my favourites was Ingeo — it seemed to give loft and structure. Good for blending with wimpy fibres (like adding crispness to alpaca). I liked the merino/Silk Latte blend — smooth, drapey, shiny — but expensive compared to real silk. And my absolute favourite — the deep chocolate coloured merino plus auburn alpaca plus copper flash. Yummy like dessert!
wow! any favorites out of the new fibers and yarn you spun?
Wow. It looks like you had a really fun weekend.
Sounds like a fabulous workshop - I need something like that. Can’t wait to see some photos of your fleece.
beautiful presentation! i’m keeping a journal of the yarns i’ve spun, with samples and all that, but the index cards are a bit more organized-looking than just randomly taping down yarn in a book. hm, maybe i’ll do both. anyhow, yay for the guild, that’s exactly the sort of workshop i dream of my guild having, not that they’re slackers or anything, i just always want more more more.
That’s far more organized and scientific than I could ever be. What were your conclusions? Any blends or fibers that you fell in love with?
Oh how envious I am of you, I wish I could find a class like that! Thanks so much for sharing your samples and explaining some of it to us…It’s the next best thing!
What a great workshop that must have been! I wish I had something like that by me - it’s all been trial and error so far. But as soon as I have my drum carder I’m going to be a blending fool.
What was your ratio of merino to firestar in your two samples?
Wow, they look absolutely fabulous! You know, all these talkings about weaving…I think I’ve got goals planned for the next two years: I’ll be learning intarsia and fair isle and that should complete my basic knitting techniques. Then I’m going to learn to crochet…and from there on, there’s only weaving to go with all those stuff!
Your samples are so beautiful! It sounds like everyone had a great time at that class.
My Gotland arrived also. I had it delivered to me here at work. I couldn’t help but run to the washroom and wash a lock of it. It’s beautiful stuff!
That Angelina is so neat. Did you know that if you want to add it to fabric, you just pile some on top of the fabric, put a protective something over it (parchment or something, I don’t know) and just a quick blast of the iron will melt it? It turns out really shiny and fun. Oh, the wisdom I get from Simply Quilts.
Wow, your samples are so beautiful. Sounds like you had an amazing workshop.
So pretty - your spinning always makes me want to start spinning. I know I’ve said that a million times, but it’s true! I love how organized everything is. And beautifully photographed as well!
What a cool workshop! Thanks for sharing!
Wow and I thought I was beyond coveting.
I am so impressed. I would love to do this kind of workshop…and you are really a skilled spinner. You are a true fiber goddess. 
I like that sparkly chocolatey one too!
Sounds like a fun weekend!! I love the chocolate colored mix too - gorgeous! By the way your sheepy pottery is fantastic - great job on the painting.
Shiny!
Shiny!
Hi!
I am trying to e-mail you about ordering yarn for the 2/18 dye day. I’m having a hard time getting through on your contact us page. I click on info at sweetgeorgiayarns.com and I get an error. Sorry to use comments ~ Can you reply!? THANKS!!
Happy Knitting!
Hi Felicia ~
Hmmm, I am having a hard time e-mailing you…I get an error and it says that there is a problem with the receipant’s e-mail so sorry I’m going to have to go through comments…I have been reading your blog for a couple of months and I’m truly inspired by your knitting and the yarns you have dyed!! I received your e-mail today that the next “dye” day is February 18 so I would love to try your beautiful handpainted yarns!! I was thinking of the “new” colorway Lotus and maybe River in the sock yarn. The new Lotus colorway is beautiful and somewhere in my travels in blogland I saw River knit into socks. Okay, tell me what I need to do next in the way of ordering…THANKS!!
Happy Knitting ~
Debbie
How inspiring, what lovely samples! Thank you for showing them.
I wonder about the prices. Synthetic fibres are supposed to be cheaper, why isn’t it so?
Ha! I had to laugh at your fellow Firefly fans’ comments! It is indeed Shiny!
What a wonderful workshop!
I saw your comment on Rissa’s blog and had to tell you, since I too have a front loader that will felt fleece, I got an OXO Good Grips salad spinner. It does a great job of getting excess water out of fleece that has just been washed or dyed! And if you have a Kenmore, you can dry the fleece on the rack in the dryer and set it to air dry at a low or medium heat…
Hope it helps!
Wow, very pretty, it’s great that you had so much fun.