I used to go the Skansen Outdoor museum every August to process my harvest from my experimental flax patch since I didn’t have any tools. The past few years I have managed to get hold of flax processing tools of my own. In this summer series of short blog posts I will present my flax processing tools. Last week I presented my hackles and today I will show you my flax break and scutching knives.
Breaking the core
The flax fibers grow around a cellulose core. To separate the spinnable flax fibers from the core you use a flax break. You put the bundle of retted flax on the horizontal board and break it with the handle along all the length of the fibers.
The flax break helps you break the cellulose core around which the spinnable fibers grow.
Flax break and scutching knives
A flax break is quite big and heavy and not just something you find at a yard sale, especially not in Stockholm. But a couple of months ago I got a tip in the Swedish Facebook spinning group that a local weaving guild had a yard sale. I knew we didn’t have room for this tool, but Dan convinced me that we should go and have a look. After all, I had been looking for flax processing tools for years! So we went. This was in the beginning of the pandemic and we were only allowed to enter the cabin with the tools one party at a time. There were two beautiful flax breaks, one of which was spoken for already. But the other one was mine and it was 200 years old.
My flax break is from 1821. Look at the wear on that handle!
There were lots of other lovely tools, but since we didn’t even have room for the break either in the car or at home, I let them be.
Not so shabby chic
The guild weavers were outside of the cabin ready to answer any questions. I told them about my work and they were delighted that the break would have such a dedicated new home. I asked them if they happened to have scutching knives too, and they did. And a pair of hand cards with leather pads.
Two fairly modern scutching knives. The larger one is dated 2000. The smaller one has no date, but it looks older.
As I reluctantly decided I had finished shopping I asked them how much I owed them. They said they had different price lists for shabby chic byers and real crafters, so they sold it all to me for $25. Wouldn’t that be something for the used tools market!
Perspectives
When we got home with my treasures our 17-year-old came out of the house. As we unloaded the car he said “Mum, you bought a flax break!”. Now, with a raise of hands, how many city teenagers would you say have uttered that sentence this century (or last)?
Oh, just one more picture of the flax break. It’s so pretty.
When people ask me if our children have learned how to spin I say no and add that they have lots of passive knowledge. They know the difference between Gotland, rya, Texel and finull sheep, they know my different spindle types and they obviously know the names of the flax processing tools. I’m proud of that.
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
The first wool I ever dug my hands into was the fleece of Pia-Lotta the finull sheep (Swedish finewool). Finull wool is my home wool, the wool I feel I know the the best. Finull sheep is one of only three wool breeds in Sweden โ breeds where wool is an important part of the breed standards. In this sixth part of my breed study of Swedish sheep breeds from the spinner’s perspective I will share my experience with finull wool. Previous posts have been about Gotland wool, Gute wool, Dalapรคls wool, Vรคrmland wool and Jรคmtland wool.
This Sunday, June 7th at 5 pm CET I will host a freelive breed study webinar on Swedish finull wool! I will share my experiences with the wool from a spinner’s perspective.
Wool staples from the finull sheep Karin from Glada fรฅret sheep farm.
About finull sheep
Finull sheep is the first sheep I got to know as a spinner. To me, it is the way a sheep looks, the mother of sheep if you will. I’m sure you have a “home” breed too that you measure all other sheep against.
Finull sheep stem from the Swedish landrace that has grazed Swedish pastures for centuries. It didn’t become it’s own defined breed until the 1980’s. Therefore it shares the common history of the Swedish landraces.
Sweet finull lambs in a small-scale shepherding course I took in 2014.
A bit of Swedish sheep history
The landraces
The Swedish landraces were the only sheep in Sweden until the early 16th century. They most probably originate from the North European short-tailed sheep. They had different kinds of wool with both soft undercoat and coarser outercoat and provided Swedish farmers with carpets, vadmal and coarser textiles. Finer textiles couldn’t be produced with wool from the Swedish landraces. King Gustav Vasa ordered import of “bum sheep (rumpefรฅr) which would mean the fat-tailed sheep from Germany, Great Britain and later Spain, with finer wool. For 300 years Sweden imported these breeds to varying degrees of success. The aim was to exterminate the “harmful Swedish sheep”, but the attempts failed. The farmers needed the coarse wool for the necessary textiles they had always produced.
Decrease, more decrease and increase
During the industrial revolution sheep farming decreased โ Sweden imported cheap wool and especially cotton to the spinning mills. Many of the imported breeds and their crosses were removed and replaced with cows. During the First World War the demand for wool from the Swedish landraces increased again. The mills in Sweden couldn’t produce the same kind of lustrous textiles that were found in the museum collections. Breeding was then aimed at saving the old landrace and isolated flocks of Swedish landraces were found in remote areas of Sweden.
Some of these refound flocks had fine wool with lots of shine. They may be a result of crossing the landrace sheep with imported Spanish Merino sheep in the 18th century. The finer wool was also found in Finland (which at the time was part of Sweden). Thetra sheep with finer wool were crossed, first and foremost with Finnish landrace sheep, the first time in 1938. During the Second World War the demand for meat breeds increased and the pure-bred landraces decreased again. In the 1970’s the interest in Swedish landraces increased again and the Swedish finull sheep association was founded in the 1980’s.
Finull sheep. Photo by Dan Waltin
Finull sheep today
Swedish finull sheep are fertile and usually get between 2 and 5 lambs. They are quite friendly and calm. The ewes weigh 50โ70 kg and the rams 80โ100 kg. The statistics from 2019 say 2115 breeding ewes in 161 flocks, but there are lots of finull flocks outside of the sheep breederโs association too. A lot of finull sheep are also crossed with other breeds โ Gotland sheep, texel sheep, rya sheep, Dorset sheep (Findor) and East Frisean milk sheep are common.
Finull sheep are white (61 %), black (23 %) and brown (17 %). The brown sheep have a higher resemblance to the Finnish landrace with a bigger variety in wool fibers, coarser wool and wool on the top of the head.
Wool characteristics
Finull sheep is one of the three Swedish wool breeds โ breeds where wool is an important part of the breed standards. The other two are Jรคmtland sheep and Rya sheep (coming up soon). It is also one of the breeds that has a part in the new breed Jรคmtland sheep.
A shepherd apprentice and I go through finull lambs and look for the best fleeces. Photo by Dan Waltin.
Finull wool is soft, fine and shiny with a high crimp. The difference between undercoat and outercoat is very small. Swedish finull is popular among both hand spinners and Swedish spinning mills. The mills use finull for soft finull yarn but also to mix with Gotland wool since Gotland wool is too slippery to go through the carding machines unmixed.
Finull wool. Photo by Dan Waltin
Since finull is a wool breed there are standards and statistics for the wool. The staples are around 5โ9 cm (when shorn twice a year) with an average crimp count of 8 crimps per 3 cm. The shine is around 4 of a scale of 1โ5. The standards for the breed encourage breeding for shine, staple and crimp evenness. The micron count should be 20โ30 microns and the wool should be even across the body of the sheep.
Most finull sheep are shorn twice a year. I have seen one or two whole-year finull fleeces, but that is an exception. A whole-year fleece will most probably break or felt.
Me shearing the finull sheep Pia-Lotta, whose lamb’s fleece was my very first wool.
At a course in small-scale shepherding I took back in 2014 I got to shear Pia-Lotta the finull sheep, the sheep whose lamb’s wool was that first wool I spun. You can see more of the wool from this shearing in one of my earliest videos Slow Fashion โ from sheep to sweater.
Main characteristics
The main characteristics, the superpowers, of finull wool that I want to enhance in a yarn are the shine, softness and crimp.
Finull wool has a clear and soft shine that I find unusual in a wool with such a high crimp. It takes dye beautifully and reflects the light in a lovely way.
The fineness and softness of the fibers make finull wool a perfect wool for next-to-skin textiles.
The high crimp gives the finished yarn an appealing elasticity.
Sweet staples of finull wool.
Preparing
Finull wool is a perfect candidate for carding โ the short and crimpy finull staples make plush rolags that are screaming to be long-drawn.
Teasing and carding
I never card unteased wool. I could tease by hand, with combs or with a flick card. As much as I love teasing by hand and with combs, my method for teasing finull wool will be with the flick card. The tips of the fine fibers can be brittle and break in the carding process (especially if there is dirt in the tips), and leave unwanted nepps. If I tease the staples with the flick card, any breaks will stay in the flick card.
Brittle and/or dirty finull tips break and stay in the flick card. The teased wool is quality controlled and ready for carding.
This process may seem tedious (and it is), especially considering the short and very thin staples that can be a bit fiddly. However, the time spent flick carding is definitely worth the effort. I end up with soft, even and consistent rolags.
When I have teased the staples I card the cloud as I usually do.
I load the stationary card with the wool, using only the amount of wool that will stick to the carding pad. I remove any excess.
To make sure all the wool gets carded I leave a 2 cm frame of the carding pad empty. If I load all the way to the edge there is a risk that the wool “leaks” out on the side and doesn’t get carded at all.
I card three passes using very light strokes.
When the wool is carded I make a rolag of the batt with the help of the free card and the back of my free hand. I make a last roll of the rolag between the cards.
Spinning
I spin finull with a longdraw. Finull fleeces are consistent throughout the body of the sheep and I can make a larger project from one single fleece. Since the wool is so fine and quite short I try to spin with a higher twist than I usually do.
Finull wool spun on a spinning wheel with English long draw from hand-carded rolags and 3-plied.
I spin finull wool with a supported spindle, a Navajo spindle (for singles) or a spinning wheel. The draft is smooth and viscous in the loveliest way. Again, this is the wool I feel the most at home with.
Finull singles spun on a Navajo spindle.
Use
I use finull yarn for lots of things, but most preferably next-to-skin garments. Since the wool is so fine I don’t usually use it for more resilient products. I have tried, though. And failed.
Two-end knitted mittens from finull yarn. Photo by Dan Waltin
One of the first “real” yarns I spun was a Z-plied yarn for a pair of two-end knitted mittens. The yarn was way too loosely spun and the yarn broke a number of times during the knitting process. I did felt the finished mittens to make them sturdier. They have worn out on the thumbs now, though, and been carefully mended.
One of my favourite garments is my Sides and stripes sweater (design by Veera Vรคlimรคki). The yarn is the blue 3-ply above spun from a truly beautiful finull fleece. I spun the yarn with English longdraw from hand-carded rolags and the yarn turned out amazingly consistent.
Sides and stripes sweater, knitted in 3-ply handspun finull yarn. The orange stripes are handspun from Jรคmtland wool.
Live webinar!
This Sunday, June 7th at 5 pm CET (world clock here) I will host a live breed study webinar about Swedish finull from a spinnerโs perspective. In the webinar I will talk briefly about the breed in Sweden, wool characteristics and how I prepare, spin and use finull. I will use finull during the webinar and show you glimpses of how I prepare and spin the wool.
Even if you think you will never come across Swedish finull this is still an opportunity to learn more about wool and wool processing in general. The breed study webinar will give you tools to understand different wool types and apply your knowledge to breeds and wool types closer to you.
This is a wonderful chance for me to meet you (in the chat window at least, I wonโt be able to see you) and for you to see me live and unedited. The previous live breed study webinars I have done have been great successes. I really look forward to seeing you again in this webinar.
You can register even if you canโt make it to the live event. I will send the replay link to everyone who registers for the webinar. Remember, the only way to get access to the webinar (live or replay) is to register.
The event has already taken place
Stay safe and happy spinning!
You can follow me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
The newest sheep breed in Sweden is Jรคmtland sheep. The purpose of the breed is to have a meat sheep with wool that can be a Swedish alternative to the tons of merino wool we import from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. This is the fifth part of my breed study of Swedish sheep breeds from the spinner’s perspective. Previous posts have been about Gotland wool, Gute wool, Dalapรคls wool and Vรคrmland wool.
This Sunday, March 22nd at 5 pm CET I will host a freelive breed study webinar on Jรคmtland wool! I will share my experiences with the wool from a spinner’s perspective.
I am aware that this is very short notice. However, considering the situation in the world, I think we need a live webinar now more than ever.
Whole year’ staple of Jรคmtland wool.
About Jรคmtland sheep
Stop the waste
A lot of Swedish wool is being wasted. At the same time we import tons of merino wool from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. The owner of a Swedish wool manufacturer in Jรคmtland in Sweden questioned this system and wondered if there was a way to use Swedish wool for his products. The problem, though, was that Swedish wool was coarser and would be scratchy in the next-to-skin garments that his company made. The idea of a Swedish alternative to wool import was born.
A new breed
As a result of this, a project started in 2004 where merino ewes were imported and crossed with fine fibered Svea ewes. Svea sheep is a Swedish meat breed which is a cross between the meat breed Texel and the Swedish landrace finewool sheep. Swedish finewool does have some merino in them from crossing with the merino sheep that we had in Sweden in the 18th century. In 2010 the Jรคmtland sheep was presented as a new breed at the world merino conference.
Unwashed Jรคmtland wool.
Jรคmtland sheep has increased in popularity as both a meat bread and a wool breed. Statistics say that there were 382 breeding ewes in 20 flocks in 2019. Rams weigh 90โ120 kg and ewes 80โ110 kg. This is a lot heavier than the landraces and conservation breeds I have presented in earlier breed studies. The micron count lies between 17 and 23.
Jรคmtland wool has the crimpiest crimp.
Fashion industry
Jรคmtland wool has become very sought after in the fashion industry. Several companies have produced clothes made in Jรคmtland wool. One problem is that the demand is bigger than the supply. A clothes manufacturer may want larger quantities than the sheep farmers can provide. The garments that have been sold have been produced in small quantities with social, environmental and ethical aspects considered.
Knitters and spinners
Many of the Swedish spinning mills today produce yarn with Jรคmtland wool and the products are popular among knitters.
Jรคmtland fleece is also very popular among handspinners in Sweden. In the past few Fleece Championships Jรคmtland wool has been placed in its own category. The shepherdess I usually buy my Jรคmtland fleeces from probably has more championship medals than she can count.
Jรคmtland wool characteristics
Jรคmtland wool at the 2019 Swedish fleece championships. Whole year’s fleece to the left, autumn shearing to the right. The white fleece got a silver medal in the Jรคmtland category.
Jรคmtland wool is very fine fibered and has high crimp. In contrast to most merino, Jรคmtland wool also has a beautiful shine. The staples are uniform over the length of the staple and over the body of the sheep.
Jรคmtland fibers enlarged.
Since Jรคmtland sheep has a lot of merino in them the fleece is generally very high in lanolin, at least compared to the Swedish landraces I’m used to.
I have bought all my Jรคmtland wool from Birgitta Ericsson, a shepherdess who covers her sheep and shears them once a year. The cover is probably necessary to be able to manage a whole year’s fleece, especially considering the high degree of lanolin.
Unwashed staples of grey whole year’s Jรคmtland wool. Photo by Dan Waltin.
The superpowers
When I see a fleece I want to get to know it and find its superpowers. I look at the different characteristics and choose three that I feel represent the fleece and that I want to let shine in a yarn and garment. The main characteristics I see in Jรคmtland wool are:
The softness of the fibers. They are dying to be worn next to your skin.
The crimp. It is hard to take your eyes off the crimp of these staples and I want to make the crimp justice in the yarn I spin.
The shine. Jรคmtland wool generally has a lovely shine that in my experience is unusual in this fine type of wool.
Preparation and spinning Jรคmtland wool
Washing
Before I go into wool preparation I need to talk a bit about washing. I wash Jรคmtland wool a lot more brutally than any of the other breeds I spin (I wash other Swedish breeds in water only). Now that I have learned the terminology in English I can safely say that I scour Jรคmtland wool. I bundle up the long staples and tie them with yarn and put them in a pot. I use lots of detergent and hot water. When the wool is dry I can remove the yarn ties. This method takes away enough lanolin for me to be able to handle the fibers without too much fuss.
Combing and worsted spinning
The first fleeces of Jรคmtland wool I processed I combed. To avoid breakage I flick carded the ends of the staples first and hand-combed with my mini-combs. This resulted in beautiful, lofty bird’s nests with lots of bounce. I spun these fluffy balls worsted on my spinning wheel.
One issue with fine fibers like these in combination with the dry air in large parts of Sweden is static electricity. When I comb the long fibers they point in every direction possible and make the aligning of the fibers very difficult. I solve this by spraying a mixture of water, coconut oil and a drop of detergent on the staples. This calms them down a bit. The coconut oil is soluble in low temperatures and comes off easily when you wash the yarn.
If there is still a lot of lanolin in the fibers I place the bird’s nests near the fireplace to make it more fluid and cooperative.
2-ply laceweight Jรคmtland yarn, combed and worsted spun.
From the fold magic
One day I decided to try to spin the long Jรคmtland staples from the fold. The length was perfect and I thought why not? The second the fibers merged into the drafting triangle from its folded position over my index finger it dawned on me: This is how this Jรคmtland wool wants to be spun.
Spinning from the fold. The fibers come into the twist in a wider angle. Since they come into the twist from the middle of the fibers they strive to unfold.
When you spin from the fold you double the staple over your index finger and spin from the middle if the fibers. What happens when you spin from the fold is this:
The fibers come into the drafting triangle from a wider angle. In this, more air coms into the yarn.
The folded fibers strive to unfold, which also results in more air in the yarn.
Flick carded staples of whole year’s Jรคmtland wool spun from the fold on a supported spindle and 2-plied.
Spinning from the fold is not a spinning technique, it is just a different way to hold the yarn. Thus, you can spin both woolen and worsted from the fold.
Different preparation and spinning of Jรคmtland wool. From the left: 2-ply combed and spun worsted on a suspended spindle, 2-ply spun worsted from the fold on a suspended spindle, 2-ply spun woolen from the fold on a supported spindle, 3-ply spun woolen from the fold on a supported spindle, 2-ply spun woolen from hand-carded rolag on a supported spindle.
Carding and woolen spinning
I would not recommend carding fibers in this whole year’s length. The fine fibers would most probably break and result in nepps in the yarn. Shorter fibers would be excellent to hand-card with fine cards. The fine fibers and high crimp would be excellent for a soft woolen spun yarn.
Use
I have used Jรคmtland wool for lots of different purposes โ sweaters, half-mitts and shawls. It is perfect for next-to-skin garments and accessories. Due to the fine fibers Jรคmtland wool is not suitable for projects that will wear a lot.
Grey yarn from the grey Jรคmtland fleece above. White yarn from Swedish fihewool. Photo by Dan Waltin
The dark grey yarn in the sweater above is worsted spun from hand-combed tops of Jรคmtland wool. You can see the whole process in this video (available in Swedish too). I knit the sweater in 2015 and I recently had to mend the elbows.
Laceweight worsted spun Jรคmtland yarn in Martina Behm’s Viajante design. Photo by Dan Waltin
In my experience Jรคmtland wool looks best in fine yarns โ lace weight or fingering weight. The shawl above is spun as a lace weight. The shawl below is the leftover yarn from the shawl above.
I got some lace weight yarn left and made a spider shawl for my daughter back in 2015. Photo by Dan Waltin
Live webinar!
This Sunday, March 22nd at 5 pm CET (world clock here) I will host a live breed study webinar about Jรคmtland wool from a spinnerโs perspective. In the webinar I will talk briefly about the breed in Sweden, wool characteristics and how I process, spin and use Jรคmtland wool. I will use Jรคmtland wool during the webinar and show you glimpses of how I process and spin the wool.
Even if you think you will never come across Jรคmtland wool this is still an opportunity to learn more about wool in general. The breed study webinar will give you tools to understand different wool types and apply your knowledge to breeds and wool types closer to you.
This is a wonderful chance for me to meet you (in the chat window at least, I wonโt be able to see you) and for you to see me live and unedited. The previous live breed study webinars I have done have been great successes. I really look forward to seeing you again in this webinar.
You can register even if you canโt make it to the live event. I will send the replay link to everyone who registers for the webinar. Remember, the only way to get access to the webinar (live or replay) is to register.
Register for the webinar here!
Happy spinning!
You can follow me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private. If you like what I do, please tell all your fiber friends and share these links!๏ปฟ
I do love a well-made rolag. But making even hand-carded rolags takes practice. I have carded rolags for at least four sweaters. For one sweater I actually calculated the amount of rolags: I used 576 rolags for one single sweater. That’s a lot of practice. Many followers have asked me lately about hand-carding rolags. In this post I describe how I do and why.
Hand-carded rolags in backlight. Hard to beat.
A wise spinner once said: The spinning is in the preparation. I find this to be very true. So much of the quality of the spinning is born in the preparation. Not only is a thorough prep essential to the quality of the yarn, but the preparation stage also gives you a chance to get to know the fiber.
Even and consistent
I want my rolags to be even and consistent: Even as even distribution of the fibers throughout the rolag. Consistent as in the size and shape of the rolags. This is my goal. There are several ways to get there and I will show you my way.
Even through teasing
The first thing I do is tease the wool โ I open up the staples to make a pre-prep before the actual carding. I do this to avoid the risk of over-carding. If I card wool too much fibers will break and leave nepps. One could argue that teasing takes longer and leaves more waste. But I’m not in it for the speed. The faster, unteased, alternative will result in lower quality yarn with the waste in the yarn instead of outside it.
How I tease
I tease in three different ways: With combs, with a flick carder or with my hands. I can also tease with my hand-cards. The important thing is that I open up the staples so that the carding is really just arranging the fibers in an even and consistent manner.
My go-to teasing tool is the combs. I load the combs with wool, not considering the direction of the staples. I comb the wool, usually in two passes. This opens up the staples and in a fairly quick way. You can see how I tease with combs in this video, with a discussion in this blog post. I can also blend different fibers together by teasing with combs. In the above mentioned video I blend wool with recycled sari silk.
If I am dealing with very fine fibers with brittle tips, like Swedish finewool I use a flick carder and flick each staple separately. This way any fibers that are bound to break are left in the flick carder. I can also use a flick carder for dirty or otherwise damaged tips. I use my flick carder to sort out solidified tips in this video. There is a discussion about the video in this post. If I don’t have a flick carder I can use regular hand-cards to achieve the same result.
Sometimes I just want to work with as little tools as possible and tease with my hands. I do it in this video, with a discussion in this blog post. For the purpose of the video I spin straight from the teasing, but it is a great way to tease for carding too.
My favorite way to tease wool is with combs.
Even through carding
When my wool is teased it is time to card it. The teasing has evened out the spacing between the fibers a bit. but I want to do it more and in more manageable chunks: Rolags. The teeth grab hold of the fibers throughout the area of the carding pad and evens out the spacing between the fibers over several staples of wool.
Consistency
Consistent rolags are consistent in shape and size. If I use the same amount of wool in the same distribution over the carding pad I get a good chance at consistent rolags. By making sure all the fiber on the carding pad is carded equally I can control the final shape and size. With consistent rolags I can achieve a yarn that is high in quality, easy to spin and consistent over all the 500+ or so rolags required for one sweater.
well-defined and consistent rolags are a joy to spin.
How I card
There are probably as many ways to card as there are carding spinners. I will show you my way. For me it gets me to my goal โ even and consistent rolags. And who can’t resist high quality rolags? I want to be able to card rolags that I can’t resist spinning.
Learn how to card rolags that you can’t resist spinning.
In the second half of this video you can see how I card rolags and shape them.
Loading
I pull my teased wool onto the cards. When the wool doesn’t stick anymore I stop. That way I know I haven’t overloaded the cards. I remove any excess from the handle side of the card, especially if I am dealing with long fibers.
Frame
I leave an empty frame around the wool. The wool will fluff up when I start carding and it will spread outwards in the next stroke. If I load the wool on the whole carding pad area it will fluff out outside of the carding pad and be left uncarded. This would result in an uneven rolag.
I pull the wool onto the card and leave a frame around the wool empty.
Carding
When the card is loaded I start carding. I stroke the wool gently between the cards. This pushes the wool just a bit into the teeth โ not all the way down. Just to get a rhythm and avoid over carding I count my strokes and passes โ three passes with six strokes for each pass.
When I start carding the wool spreads over the cards, but not outside the teeth if I have left a frame around the wool empty.
To strip the card between passes I place the cards with the handles in the same direction and transfer the wool in two strokes. I make another six strokes. By the third pass the wool is spread evenly across the card area and there are no uneven parts left.
Making Swiss rolls
After the third pass I use the active card and my free hand to lift the wool off the stationary card and make a rolag: I lift the end of the batt with the card and push the lifted bit down with my hand. Lift some more and push it down until I have rolled the whole batt to the handle side of the stationery card. This way I make a Swiss roll of the carded batt. To keep the stationery card steady I push the handle against the inside of my thigh.
I make a rolag with the help of the active card and my hand. I keep the stationery card in place with my inner thigh.
You know when you can’t resist some frosting on your Swiss roll? This can be applied to carding rolags as well. Just to give my rolag that extra roundness and firmness I roll it once more between the cards: When I have reached the handle side of the stationery card and there actually is a rolag, I lift the rolag between my open hand and my active card, move it back to the beginning of the card again and roll the rolag gently between the cards. You need to find the right amount of pressure to actually make a difference to the rolag without squishing it.
I usually card enough rolags for one batch โ be it one bobbin or one spindle-full, but usually around 20 or 25 grams. This way I make enough rolags to be able to control the consistency and enough to keep them fresh โ old rolags tend to go bad after a while. Just like Swiss rolls.
Happy carding!
You can follow me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private. If you like what I do, please tell all your fiber friends and share these links!๏ปฟ
One of my favourite breeds to spin is Vรคrmland wool โ a versatile and lightweight wool in many colours. This is the fourth part of my breed study of Swedish sheep breeds from the spinner’s perspective. Previous posts have been about Gotland wool, Gute wool and Dalapรคls wool.
Next Saturday, December 14th at 5 pm CET I will host a freelive breed study webinar on Vรคrmland wool! I will share my experiences with the wool from a spinner’s perspective.
Vรคrmland sheep is a Swedish conservation breed. Many of the Swedish domestic breeds were extinguished in the 18th and 19th centuries due to import of foreign breeds that were more meaty and had other wool qualities. When the domestic breeds were rediscovered around 30 years ago, Vรคrmland sheep (or forest sheep) was the first breed to be rediscovered. They all came from the same flock in the county of Vรคrmland, close to the Norwegian border. Due to an extensive conservation effort the 100 rediscovered sheep are now around 4000. In 2018 there were 1544 breeding Vรคrmland ewes in 170 flocks in Sweden, making Vรคrmland sheep our largest conservation breed regarding both individuals and flocks.
A conservation breed means that the breed is protected. If the sheep farmer has a gene bank they are also committed to preserving the breed. This means that they are not allowed to cross the breed with other breeds. They also commit to strive for genetic diversity โ breeding for specific characteristics (like wool or hornedness) is not allowed.
Vรคrmland sheep are quite small โ a ewe weighs around 40โ60 kg. They are good at keeping the landscape open and eat both shrubberies, flowers and herbs.
Wool characteristics
Staples of Vรคrmland wool from the left: Two white staples from the same lamb of more of a traditional line. Silky and soft. The brown in the middle is open and airy and just a little coarser. The white silver grey with the honey-dipped tips is divinely silky. To the far right a brown staple with long outercoat and also lots of soft undercoat. All but the middle are from lambs.
Vรคrmland wool is very versatile. A lot of different wool types can occur in one individual, from long dual coated staples to both predominantly outercoat or predominantly undercoat. The fiber is quite fine and sometimes even silky. The staples can be crimpy, wavy or straight. Colours vary between white, grey, brown, beige and black. The staples are usually open and very easy to spin.
Three different Vรคrmland fleeces on the Swedish fleece championships of 2019
There are two main lines of Vรคrmland sheep โ the traditional line and the modern line.
Traditional Vรคrmland
A yummy white Vรคrmland fleece with many possibilities. This is more of a traditional Vรคrmland fleece.
The traditional line of Vรคrmland sheep has a lot of undercoat and a few strands of outercoat. The staples are triangular in their shape and the staples are open and airy. These are lovely to spin and make a soft, silky and strong yarn.
Modern Vรคrmland
A prize winning Vรคrmland lamb fleece of the modern line โ lots of undercoat, long outercoat and some kemp.
When the Vรคrmland sheep was rediscovered some of them were crossed with Old Norwegian spรฆl rams and possibly also Swedish Rya sheep. This gave the breed more outercoat and in some cases also more kemp.
Versatile and lightweight wool of many colours
If I were to pick out three main characteristics of Vรคrmland wool it would be versatility, lightweight and the large spectrum of colours:
Since the staples come in many different forms the Vรคrmland wool is very versatile. I can use different preparation methods and spin a wide variety of yarns from silky soft lace yarn to robust sock yarn and even rug yarn.
In my experience Vรคrmland wool is very lightweight. When you look at the staples you see a broad base with lots of air. This also makes Vรคrmland wool very easy to spin.
The array of colours make me want to spin them all. The shades of grey are just beautiful and the browns, beige, whites and blacks make the colour possibilities endless.
Preparing and spinning
With a big variety of staple and fiber types I can process and spin Vรคrmland wool in many different ways โ fiber types separated, together and with different tools and spinning techniques.
All the fiber prep in a mushroom tray. Above and below: Outer coat hand-combed bird’s nests. Middle: Under coat hand-carded rolags.
Combing
Longer staples of Vรคrmland wool are lovely to comb, either with both fiber types together or by separating undercoat from outercoat. I would spin a combed top with short draw into a strong and shiny yarn.
This yarn is spun with short draw from hand-combed top where I have used the outercoat only.
Carding
A Vรคrmland wool with lots of undercoat is lovely to card and spin with long draw. The skein above is spun with the long outercoat only. I carded the separated undercoat and spun with a long draw on a Navajo spindle into a lightweight and airy singles yarn (see image below).
A light and airy singles yarn, spun with long draw from hand-carded rolags on a Navajo spindle.
In another fleece I had different staple types. I separated the fleece into two piles โ one for long and wavy staples and another for the shorter and crimpier staples. I carded the latter โ outercoat and undercoat together โ and spun with a medieval spindle and distaff into a very airy and light yarn.
Crimpy staples of a Vรคrmland fleece spun into a light and airy 2-ply yarn on a mediaval spindle and distaff.
Flick carding
The other pile of the grey fleece was in a lovely colour of light silvery grey in the cut end and honey-dipped tips. To save as much of the colour variation as possible I flick carded the staples and spun them individually from the cut end.
Vรคrmland wool spun from the cut end of flicked locks to preserve the natural colour variation over the length of the staple.
Use
Since the variation in fiber and staple type Vรคrmland wool can be spun and used in a wide variety of textiles. My first Vรคrmland fleece has become two pairs of twined/two-end knitted mittens โ one whole and one half-mitt.
A venus symbol. The perfect mitten chart. Vรคrmland wool in spun from the cut end of flicked staples. Photo by Dan Waltin.
The yarn used in the whole mitts was spun on a supported spindle from the cut-end of flicked locks. You can read more about these mittens here.
Finished Heartwarming mitts knit with mended handspun Vรคrmland yarn. Photo by Dan Waltin
At the moment I am using a sturdier dark brown Vรคrmland yarn as weft in a weaving project.
One row of knots and three regular shuttlings. Warp in Shetland wool, weft in Vรคrmland wool and knots in Swedish Leicester wool.
Vรคrmland is also very well suited for fulling. I can also see lace knitting, socks and outerwear in Vรคrmland yarn.
Live webinar!
This Saturday, December 14th at 5 pm CET (world clock here) I will host a live breed study webinar about Vรคrmland wool from a spinnerโs perspective. In the webinar I will talk briefly about the breed in Sweden, wool characteristics and how I process, spin and use Vรคrmland wool. I will use Vรคrmland wool during the webinar and show you glimpses of how I process the wool.
Even if you think you will never come across Vรคrmland wool this is still an opportunity to learn more about wool in general. The breed study will give you tools to understand different wool types and apply your knowledge to breeds and wool types closer to you.
This is a wonderful chance for me to meet you (in the chat window at least, I wonโt be able to see you) and for you to see me live and unedited. The previous live breed study webinars I have dome have been great successes. I really look forward to seeing you again in this webinar.
You can register even if you canโt make it to the live event (Iโm sorry Australia and New Zealand, I know it is in the middle of the night for you). I will send the replay link to everyone who registers for the webinar.
The webinar has already taken place
Happy spinning!
You can follow me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private. If you like what I do, please tell all your fiber friends and share these links!๏ปฟ
A follower asked me to make a flax timeline she could follow for her own flax. This is a lovely idea. I am so grateful for suggestions on blog topics. I write for you and if you have requests it’s even better. So thank you Kathy!
Making a timeline with dates for flax is a challenge, though, depending on different climate zones and on which side of the equator you are living. Any approximate dates would be a challenge even within Sweden. The official arrival of spring is around February 20th in the southernmost part of Sweden and May 5th in the far north. In this flax timeline I have tried to use signs as a starting point. You need to translate these signs to your own context.
My flax harvests through the years. From the left: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
In short
Instead of a timeline with dates I have tried to make a guide with practical indicators to help you know what to look for. In short, this is what I came up with:
Sowing: When the soil is manageable
Harvesting: When the stalks are yellow up to 2/3 of their height.
Drying: Outdoors in dry weather.
Rippling: Outdoors in dry weather.
Winnowing: On a dry and windy day.
Retting: Dew retting can be done in the fall or in the spring.
Processing and spinning: When you are able to do it outdoors.
In the paragraphs below I have tried to elaborate these indicators.
Cultivating
Sowing
This is the easy one. Sow your flax on Karolina Day, may 20th. This will result in high flax plants. The women sowing should wear no underwear (to show the seeds that they need new underwear). In addition to that, they should sow barefoot, wear at least three white garments (this would result in a white and shiny flax), walk with high strides (to guarantee a high flax) and let their hair down.
The experimental flax patch in July.
I sow when the soil is ready. This means that any ground frost should be gone and that the soil is manageable. In my part of Sweden this means sometime in April or early May.
This is also the time when the weeds start sprouting. Especially chickweed, a kind of weed that in its initial stage looks very much like flax and gives me lots of trouble when weeding. So I have waited for the weed to sprout, remove it and then sow the flax. This made my life easier and resulted in less chickweed.
When I did some research for this post I learned that sowing early would provide for a more even nourishment for the flax. Sowing later would result in uneven lengths of the flax straw. This explains a lot. My 2019 harvest is very uneven in length (albeit chickweed free). For the 2020 flax season I will start when the soil is manageable, as recommended. I’ll just have to deal with the chickweed.
Harvesting
The time for harvest will again depend on your climate zone. In some countries it may even be possible to have several harvests in one year. It will also depend on what fineness you want your flax fibers โ fine medium or coarse. A fine flax is of coarse appealing to many, but it will also result in a seed capsule that isn’t ready. An early harvest for fine fibers will thus not give you any seeds for next year’s cultivation. Medium harvest will give you medium fibers and more developed seeds. A late harvest results in coarser fibers and fully developed seeds, something you may be interested in if you are harvesting the seeds for oil purposes.
I harvest my flax at the medium stage, when the stalks are yellow up to the lower two thirds of their height. According to my flax book that is around 25โ30 days after blossoming, but this too would be depending on climate zone and weather.
I harvest my flax when the stalks are yellow up to 2/3 of their height.
Prepare for process
Drying
When I have harvested the flax I dry it. How long that takes will depend on the weather and the moisture in the air. The air in my part of Sweden is quite dry and if the sun is shining the flax will dry quite quickly, in just a few days. This year I wasn’t that lucky. The sun was out, and when I planned to keep it out for just a couple of days more, it started to rain. Several times.
In the southern parts of Sweden you can find old flax saunas, especially from the 19th century. These were simple buildings used to dry the flax over an oven when the sun wasn’t enough to dry it.
Rippling and winnowing
When the flax is completely dried I ripple it. I take care of the seed pods and make sure to dry them some more. When the seeds are completely dry I wait for a windy days to winnow them.
I winnow the flax seeds in dry and windy weather.
Retting
Retting flax is an art form in itself and I have just started to understand what to look for. There are several methods โ dew retting, water retting and snow retting. I have experience from dew retting only. In all three methods the flax goes through the same stages, but with different duration. Water retting can be done in a fortnight while snow retting can take over 100 days.
The retting is finished when you can easily pull the fibers from the core in all its length.
I usually dew ret the flax directly when it has dried. Dried flax can still be interesting to pests, whereas retted flax is not. I make sure the lawn is newly mowed so that the stalks come as close to the dew as possible. My general retting period is around 20 days. I turn it over after ten. After around 15 days I check more regularly. The fibers should be easily removable from the core and in its entire length. This year it took exactly 20 days, last year 21.
After the flax has retted I dry it in standing bundles in a windy place.
I dry the retted flax in standing bundles in a windy place.
Processing and spinning
Theoretically you can process and spin the flax any time of the year. In practice, though, you need to process your flax at a time when you can do it outdoors. Flax processing and spinning is very dusty and you really don’t want that to go into your lungs. I usually do it in mid-August, since that is when I take it to the Flax Day at Skansen outdoor museum for processing, but I could just as well do it in the spring or summer.
I process the flax outdoors. to get as little of the flax dust as possible in my lungs.
I hope this gives you an orientation of when to do what. What would be the flax timeline where you live?
You can follow me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private. If you like what I do, please tell all your fiber friends and share these links!๏ปฟ
The breed study is moving on and today I will dive in to the beautiful world of Dalapรคls wool. This is the third post in my breed study series of Swedish sheep breeds. Previous posts have been about Gotland wool and Gute wool. Coming up is also my third live webinar in the breed study webinar series!
Next Saturday, September 21st at 5 pm CET I will host a live breed study webinar on Dalapรคls wool! I will share my experiences with the wool from a spinner’s perspective.
The webinar has already taken place
Whether you are celebrating World wide spin in public day outdoors or indoors, I hope you take the time to warm up/wind down (depending on your location in the world) with a wooly breed study webinar! A worldwide live stream is definitely a spin in public event.
About Dalapรคls sheep
Dalapรคls sheep is a rare and endangered Swedish conservation breed. A conservation breed means that the breed is protected. If you have a gene bank you are also committed to preserving the breed. This means that you are not allowed to cross the breed with other breeds. You also commit to strive for genetic diversity โ breeding for specific characteristics (like wool or hornedness) is not allowed. In 2018 there were about 160 lambing ewes in 25 flocks of the Dalapรคls sheep in Sweden according to the Swedish sheep breeders’ association.
Dalapรคls sheep
The name Dalapรคls reveals both origin and use. Dala in this case means from the County of Dalarna. Pรคls means fur and indicates that the skins have been used for fur. The traditional jacket Kasung was used in areas of Dalarna as a traditional jacket. It was made of leather and had edgings of white wool locks. The locks look very much like Dalapรคls wool.
A traditional Kasung with wool edgings. Image provided by Creative commons
The wool is usually white. Grey spots can occur. Some lambs are born black but usually turn grey or white as they grow.
The Dalapรคls sheep are quite small, around 30 kg for ewes and 50 kg for rams. They have a strong sense for the flock and are very suspicious of strangers. This may come from the fact that they have been grazing in the woods or in a chalet historically and have developed a strong consciousness of enemies like wolf and bear. Because they are so watchful they are not cuddly sheep.
Wool characteristics
Dalapรคls wool is a double-coated wool with strong and shiny outer coat and fine, soft and warm under coat. The most common fiber type is the long and wavy staple. This wool type has little or no crimp.
Extra long and silky locks of different Dalapรคls sheep.
Shorter, wavy and even crimpy staples do occur and the fleece is not even across the body of the sheep. This gives a spinner many choices in spinning the wool. A shepherd or shepherdess can have a small flock of sheep and still get lots of different wool types.
One single sheep can have very different wool types. These staples come from the ewe Saga.
Some shepherdesses sort the wool according to fiber type and/or staple length at the shearing stage.
The top three: Shine, fineness and versatility
If I were to pick out three main characteristics of the Dalapรคls wool it would be shine, fineness and versatility. I asked my friend Lena who is a Dalapรคls shepherdess and these were her choices too. Another Dalapรคls shepherdess, Carina, added that Dalapรคls wool is easy to spin and I agree to that too.
The most obvious characteristic of Dalapรคls is the shine โ the very special Dalapรคls shine. This characteristic alone is enough for me to fall for this breed.
My second choice would be the fineness. Eventhough the outercoat is long and strong it is still very fine and can be spun into a next to skin yarn. The undercoat is of course even finer than the outer coat. The locks are very lofty at the base and the undercoat is soft and silky.
Because of the variation of the wool between individuals and over the body of one individual sheep, Dalapรคls wool is very versatile. I have seen everything from 25 cm long silky and wavy locks to 5 cm curly or even crimpy staples. If you sort the fleece according to wool characteristics and also separate the fiber types you could get a wide variety of yarns.
Preparing and spinning
A Dalapรคls shepherdess was going to send her wool to a mill and asked me what kind of yarn she should ask them to spin. I didn’t really know what to answer. You can get so many different kinds of yarn with Dalapรคls wool. Especially if you are a handspinner.
Separating the fiber types comes to mind โ combing the outer coat for a worsted yarn and carding the under coat for a woolen yarn are good choices. You can just as well card or comb the fiber types together.
Dalapรคls wool can be spun in many different ways. From the left: Carded undercoat, woolen spun on a spinning wheel. Combed outercoat, worsted spun on a spinning wheel. Undercoat and outercoat teased and carded together, woolen spun on a spinning wheel. Flick-carded locks, spun worsted on a supported spindle from the cut end.
Separating the fiber types
Picking out the longest locks and separating the undercoat from the outercoat can give you two beautiful yarns โ a strong and shiny worsted yarn and a soft and warm woolen yarn. I would use double row combs to separate the fiber types and pull the outercoat off. Perhaps I would even comb a second time to separate more and spin worsted from the lovely tops. The leftovers in the combs is the soft and airy undercoat that I would card into rolags and and spin woolen (after having cuddled them).
This way you will get two very different yarns with different superpowers. You can see the difference in the image above, the first from the left is the carded undercoat and the second is the combed outercoat.
Combing or carding together
Another way to create a beautiful Dalapรคls yarn is to card or comb the locks as they are, without separating the fiber types. I would do this with the medium and shorter length staples. Carding and spinning woolen would give you a soft yarn that still has some strength and shine. If I were to comb the locks I would use single row combs that won’t separate the fiber types as much as the double row combs. Spinning the combed top worsted would result in a strong and shiny yarn that would still have some softness.
Spinning from the lock
In the Dalapรคls yarn I’m currently spinning I have wanted to keep the fiber types together. The locks in this yarn are the very longest locks (see featured image) that the shepherdess has picked out from several fleeces. I have flick carded each lock individually and spun from the cut end. This way I will get both outer coat and under coat in the yarn. You can see my technique in my video Catch the light.
I’m spinning counter-clockwise to get a Z-plied yarn for twined knitting. Photo by Dan Waltin.
I have spun the yarn on a supported spindle. When I spin from flick carded locks I prefer spinning on a supported spindle. The slowness of the technique allows me to watch the process and focus on quality. Spinning from the lock can be a challenge since the fibers don’t get as much of a separation compared to a hand-combed top.
Dalapรคls yarn, spun from the cut end of flick carded locks on a supported spindle.
But the yarn I get from spinning from the cut end of flick carded locks is strong, shiny and still soft. When I spin it on a supported spindle I also get the quality and the evenness I want.
Blanka
My first acquaintance with Dalapรคls wool was at the Swedish fleece championships a few years ago. I saw the fleece and knew I needed it. It turned out a silver medalist in the championships! The sheep’s name was Blanka, a lamb. I talked to the shepherdess and she suggested I spin from the cut end. I did, and used a supported spindle to do it. It became my bedside spinning. I spent many evenings spinning the Dalapรคls locks just before bedtime. I had put away some shorter staples and spun a woolen singles yarn from hand-carded rolags on a Navajo spindle. When I was finished I wove myself a pillowcase!
Felting
Even if I don’t plan to felt or full I like to do a fulling test. This gives me information about the fibers in the yarn. In my current project I am planning to weave and full, so the information is truly valuable to me.
I make 10 x 10 cm woven samples on a pin loom and felt them.
Woolen yarn, outercoat and undercoat together
The first sample was from the yarn I had spun woolen from hand-carded rolags with both undercoat and outercoat. The swatch felted nicely, but there were some loops in the structure. This made me suspect that it is mainly the undercoat that felts.
Woven felting sample from woolen yarn spun from carded rolags (undercoat and outercoat).
Worsted warp and woolen weft
To test my theory of the felting undercoat I made another swatch where I separated outercoat and undercoat. I used the worsted outercoat yarn as warp and the woolen undercoat yarn as weft. The result was a rectangular swatch from my square woven sample. I had proven my theory โ mainly the undercoat felted. The structure of the material is the same, though โ a nicely fulled swatch with little loops. They seem to go mainly in the warp direction and I guess I hadn’t separated the fibers properly in the combing process.
In this sample I have used the outercoat as warp and undercoat as weft. The undercoat has felted, leaving a rectangular shaped swatch.
Lockspun
Just for fun I made a third felting test, this time with my lockspun yarn. It resulted in a loopier swatch. My theory is that this is because the fibers are less separated than the carded sample. This yarn was also spun with longer locks.
The felted swatch with the lockspun yarn had more loops in it than the other swatches.
Use
Since the Dalapรคls wool is so versatile I see a wide variety of uses for Dalapรคls yarn. With different preparation, spinning and use of the different fiber types you can use Dalapรคls yarn for basically anything except perhaps things that require rough handling like rugs and workwear. From a sheer lamb’s wool lace shawl, through both soft and everyday sweaters to sturdy mittens. As to techniques I don’t see any limits โ knitting, weaving, nalbinding would all work well.
My current Dalapรคls knitting project โ a pair of sleeves in twined knitting.
I’m twine knitting a pair of jacket sleeves. When they are finished I will spin a weaving yarn and full into a vadmal fabric from which I will sew a bodice. Perhaps I will even use locks as a hem decoration, flirting with the Kasung jackets.
Live webinar!
This Saturday, September 21st at 5 pm CET (world clock here) I will host a live breed study webinar about Dalapรคls wool from a spinnerโs perspective. In the webinar I will talk briefly about the breed in Sweden, wool characteristics and how I process, spin and use Dalapรคls wool. I will use Dalapรคls during the webinar and show you glimpses of how I process the wool.
Even if you think you will never come across Dalapรคls wool this is an opportunity to learn more about a rare and endangered breed. The breed study will also give you tools to understand different wool types and apply your knowledge to breeds and wool types closer to you.
This is a wonderful chance for me to meet you (in the chat window at least, I wonโt be able to see you) and for you to see me live and unedited. The previous live breed study webinars I did were great successes. I really look forward to seeing you again in this webinar.
You can register even if you canโt make it to the live event (Iโm sorry Australia and New Zealand, I know it is in the middle of the night for you). I will send the replay link to everyone who registers for the webinar.
The webinar has already taken place
You can follow me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private. If you like what I do, please tell all your fiber friends and share these links!๏ปฟ
This past weekend was the Flax and wool days at Skansen outdoor museum in Stockholm. I went with a friend and brought last year’s retted flax. My focus for the theme weekend this year was Flax Day.
The experimental flax patch
I have a small experimental flax patch in the flower bed in our tiny townhouse garden. The patch is about one square meter and big enough for me to experiment and learn about growing and processing flax.
The experimental flax patch in July.
Creative solutions
I have grown flax since 2014 and I have improved and learn every year. I have no tools for processing except a rough hackle and a fine hackle. For the other steps in the process I have had to improvise. I rippled the seeds by putting the flax in a pillowcase and roll a rolling pin over it. For breaking the flax I beat the flax with a fist-sized rock against a stone. I used a spatula to scutch. None of these methods work very well. Last year I took my 2017 harvest to Skansen outdoor museum for processing. I also made a video from the processing. The result was wonderful. For the first time I felt I could actually spin my flax.
Flax processing video, released in August 2018.
Flax Day processing
So, this year I went back to Skansen. I put the retted flax from 2018 in my backpack and hopped onto my bike. My harvest was bigger than previous years and I had really watched over the retting process and got a very good result.
The flax biker
Last time I rode my back with a big load I crashed. I had a chili plant for a friend in my bike bag. When looking back to make sure the plant was ok I turned the handlebar too much and the pedal got stuck in a rock by the side of the road. The plant didn’t break, but I did. My left arm broke in two places at the shoulder. The doctor said I wasn’t allowed to move the arm backwards or sideways, but “small movements in front of the body are encouraged!”. I could still spin and knit and that was the important thing.
A small flax harvest fits nicely in a backpack!
So I was a bit conscious of my load this time. Every few minutes of my 8 km ride I tilted my head back so that the helmet touched the flax. When I heard the scraping sound I knew the flax was safe and sound in my backpack.
I did get both me and the flax to Skansen safe and sound. I went straight to the farmyard where the tools were out for demonstration. The museum educators recognized me from last year and were happy to help.
Breaking
The retted and dried flax is stiff and uncooperative. I want to separate the flax fibers from the cellulose core. This happens in a break. By jamming the break onto the flax I crush the core. When I’m finished the flax hangs sloppily instead of being stiff like a broom.
I break the flax to break the cellulose core that is surrounded by the flax fibers. Breaking flax is an excellent workout! Photo by Cecilia von Zweigbergk Wike
I had the museum educators at my side during the whole process. They were happy I was there and happy to help.
The hardest part of breaking is the upper tips. If the straws in the bundle aren’t even in length there will be a thin end of just a few straws. It is difficult to get the ends properly broken since they are too thin for the break to come far down enough to crush them. I knew this, at least in theory, but I didn’t realize the implications of uneven bundles. Always bundle the flax in even lengths, that’s what all the books say. But it is not until I see what happens in practice that I realize why. My mistakes are a map of what I learn.
Pulling
The flax pull is a step between breaking and scutching. By pulling the flax through the puller (I have no idea what this tool is called in English) more of the broken cellulose is removed from the flax fibers.
Pulling the flax to get rid of some of the cellulose bits. Photo by Cecilia von Zweigbergk Wike
Most of it ended up in my shoes.
I have never heard of this tool or read about it in my flax books. Perhaps it is a regional tool. Nevertheless, it is a great tool that will help you get a better result.
Scutching
The goal of the scutching step is to remove as much as possible of the remaining cellulose bits. This is done with a scutching knife โ a sword-like wooden tool โ against a board. An ornamented scutching knife used to be a gift from the groom to the bride of a couple. These knives were seldom used for flax processing, though. Instead they were hung on the wall for decoration and keepsake from the wedding.
In the scutching station you remove most of the cellulose bits from the flax fibers. Photo by Cecilia von Zweigbergk Wike
At Skansen there is also a scutching mill. This was open for demonstration on Flax Day. If you have ever seen a crime series in the English countryside, this would be the perfect murder scene! A big water-driven wheel with scutching knives doing the laborious work for the flax farmer.
In the scutching mill the water drives a wheel with scutching knives. A person puts the flax over a beam and lets the scutching wheel scutch the flax.
Hackling
The hackles are also potential murder weapons. A gazillion pointy needles on a board through which you comb the scutched flax. Usually you go through both a rough and a fine hackle, or even a third in between. Luckily I didn’t break any skin this time.
I hackle the flax in two hackles โ one rough and one fine. Photo by Cecilia von Zweigbergk Wike
After two hours my friend Cecilia and I had finished all the flax from my tiny patch and ended up with this pretty strick. Imagine the time needed to process a whole flax field! I guess the whole village would take part in this work.
Finished! Line and tow in sweet harmony.
I was really happy with the result. The strick was more than double the size of the 2017 strick. I had really paid attention to the retting process and it gave a great result. Almost all of the cellulose is gone.
All the steps side by side. From the left: Retted and unprocessed, broken, pulled, scutched, rough hackled and fine hackled.
In the image above you can see the results of all the steps of the process. From left to right:
Retted and unprocessed. The glue has been retted away and the fibers is ready to be separated from the cellulose core.
After being thoroughly broken in the break the cellulose core have been chopped to pieces. The bundle of fibers is no longer straight.
The in-between step of pulling gives a good result โ some of the cellulose bits have been removed.
After a waltz with the scutching knife most of the cellulose bits are gone (most of them in my shoes, actually).
In the rough and fine hackling the fibers have been aligned and shorter bits removed.
A final step in the process can be a flax brush that is used to brush the line to remove the very last bits of shorter fibers, just before spinning. They didn’t have one here, though.
Brushing the flax can be a final step after fine hackling.
Flax analysis 2014โ2018
My flax harvests through the years. From the left: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Even if my first rat’s tail of flax from 2014 is truly sad and despicable, I have saved it and all my stricks of flax from the following years. Looking at them I can learn from my results and experiences.
2014 โ an unplanned harvest
Well, what can you say. It is just a rat’s tail really, but it is my rat’s tail. I processed it at Skansen this first year. I had only cultivated the flax for fun as a companion plant in the allotment, and without any sort of plan. Not until August did I come up with the idea to actually process it.
2015 โ First fiber intention
This was the first year I had a fiber intention with my flax patch. The result is actually quite good, even if the fibers are rather short. I processed this harvest at home. The only tools I had (and still have) were two hackles. The other steps were creative inventions (see above).
2016 โ under retted
This was the year of poor retting. The glue hasn’t been solved properly and a lot of the cellulose bits are still in the strick. Because of the under retting I got lots of waste and poor quality tow.
2017 โ new crop!
I got new seed from a retired flax farmer. In the image below you can see the difference in length compared to previous years. I processed the flax at Skansen. This was the first harvest with actual spinning quality. The retting seems to be good too, even if I didn’t have a structure for it.
2018 โ my best flax day yet
The result I got from the 2018 harvest is by far the best. This is actually a real strick of flax! This was a really good Flax Day!
My flax harvests 2014โ2018. 2017 and 2018 with new crop.
When processing a relatively large harvest I learned a lot and could improve during processing. I knew where to hold the strick, when I needed to work more in a step of the process and what to look for. I can actually spin with this flax, and not just a meter or two! Perhaps I can weave myself a small project bag together with the tow.
One more picture, just because it is so pretty.
2019 prognosis
I don’t think this year’s flax will be as good as the 2018 result. I had sowed the seeds unevenly which resulted in plants with uneven length and thickness. Towards the end of the summer the flax bended and looked rather sad. I’ll let you know next year how it turned out!
Gotta get my rolling pin and a pillow case ready, today is rippling day for the 2019 harvest.
Happy spinning!
You can follow me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private. If you like what I do, please tell all your fiber friends and share these links!๏ปฟ
At the 2018 Swedish fleece championships I bought a bronze medal winning multicoloured fleece. The shepherdess didn’t really want to part with it, but she also knew that no spinning mill would be able to show the beautiful colours as a hand spinner would. In the end she was kind enough to sell me the fleece and now I have the honour and responsibility of making something beautiful of her baby.
A yummy multicoloured fleece.
Meet Chanel, a multicoloured sheep
The sheep’s name is Chanel (how’s that for a superstar!). She is a 75 % Hรคrjedal and 25 % ร sen sheep. This is her lamb’s fleece. Chanel lives with her flock and shepherdess Birgitta Lindh Andersson.
A multicoloured sheep, Hรคrjedal/ร sen mixbreed Chanel as a lamb. Photo by Birgitta Lindh Andersson.
The fleece has soft undercoat and long, strong outercoat. Do I have to mention the shine? It has it. A deep and golden shine.
The depth of the colours and variations is spectacular. In the picture above she looks mostly brown, but her main colour is actually some sort of latte swirl with dark brown to light golden tips. The colour varies over the fleece. Since the short undercoat and long outercoat have different colours there is also a colour variation over the staples.
The variation in Chanel’s multicoloured fleece is spectacular.
And look at those sweet lamb’s curls! The corkscrew curled tips are a sure sign that you are dealing with a lamb’s fleece.
Lamb’s curls to die for.
Capturing the colours
While the fleece is truly mesmerizing, trying to capture the colours in a yarn is a challenge. Processing them together would just lead to a porridge-coloured result. Even dividing the staples by colour may give a bland result if you card or comb each colour separately. Not only is the fleece in different colours over the body of the sheep, they are also in different shades over the length of the staple. I can use my superpowers as a hand spinner, though, and create a yarn that no spinning mill would be able to achieve.
Shades of coffee
I decided to try and divide the staples according to colour. It was a challenge, since the colour varied over the staples. But I started to make a rough estimation of the different colour themes and finished with some fine-tuning.
Finding the different colours in the fleece.
I ended up with five different piles of fluff, that after some consideration turned into four.
The chocolate. These staples were basically solid in their chocolatey colour and also the softest pile.
The dark coffee swirl. Dark rose grey staples with dark brown tips. This was the biggest pile and will be the main colour yarn.
The light coffee swirl. Medium rose grey staples with medium to dark tips. The second biggest pile and very close in colour to the dark coffee swirl. I will need to make a design that separates these variations to make each colour shine.
The latte swirl. Light rose grey staples with soft honey tips.
The white chocolate. This pile looked a bit sad and lonely, so I decided to let the latte swirl pile adopt it.
I don’t even drink coffee.
Letting the colours shine
So, how can I make the most of the colour variations? If I card or comb the colours separately I still won’t be able to show the variation over the staple. My solution is to flick card each staple separately with a dog comb and spin from the cut end.
Technique
By spinning each staple separately I will get as much colour variation as I can. By spinning from the cut end, undercoat and outercoat will enter the twist at the same time, making the yarn both soft and strong. I spun a fleece with a similar colour variation for a pair of twined knitted mittens a while ago. It resulted in a beautifully variegated yarn. To see the processing and spinning technique, you can have a look at my recent video Catch the light or an oldie but goldie With the sheep in the pasture.
Design plans
I’m thinking of some sort of striped design. There is a risk that the colours blend into each other too much and still create a porridge-coloured result. Therefore I’m considering spinning a light yarn to use as a separator between the coloured stripes to make them all shine. Perhaps with a slipped stitch pattern to subtly play with the colours.
Oh, by the way, if I run out of fluff I can’t get any more. Chanel is still very much alive, but she has changed her mind and become more grey. Still beautiful, though, but different.
Chanel today. A lot more grey. Photo by Birgitta Lindh Andersson.
I haven’t started spinning Chanel’s fleece yet. After all, a multicoloured fleece like this comes with great responsibility. I want to give this fleece my full attention and make it shine. I am in no hurry. But I will keep you posted on how the yarn turns out!
Tomorrow I will leave for Sรคterglรคntan, a nordic center for craft education. I’m teaching a five-day course in different spindle techniques. I call the course A spindle a day. My next post will hopefully be a review of the course. Until then, you can read about the course in supported spindle spinning I taught at Sรคterglรคntan in October 2018.
Happy spinning!
You can follow me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private. If you like what I do, please tell all your fiber friends and share these links!๏ปฟ
Several people have asked me about how I scour my fleece. The truth is: I don’t. I do soak it, though. In this post of washing fleece I will dive deep into the washtub in search of clean fleece.
Scouring or soaking?
First of all, let’s get the terminology straight. I wash my fleece by soaking it. Usually in cold water from the tap, but preferably from the rain barrel. Scouring is a word that occurs a lot. In Swedish we only use the word for washing, so I was a bit unsure of what scouring actually means in a wool context. I asked in a spinning forum about people’s definition of scouring and it seems like scouring involves thorough cleaning, with a detergent of some sort. Someone also reminded me that the word also exists in Swedish: Skura, which means to thoroughly clean the floor with soap and water. The Encyclopedia of handspinning defines scouring as:
“The removal from fleece, cotton or other textile material of dirt, grease, suint, pectins etc. by thorough washing, to leave in it a clean and grease-free state ready for dyeing or spinning”.
Encyclopedia of handspinning by Mabel Ross
Similarly, The spinner’s encyclopedia states that scouring
” [r]emoves dirt and grease from a fleece by washing.”
The spinner’s encyclopedia by Enid Anderson
To scour thus means to remove all that isn’t the textile or fiber itself. That is not what I usually do.
Washing fleece by soaking
I wash my fleece to get the dirt out, and some lanolin. I want to keep enough lanolin to make the spinning smoother. Wool with no lanolin left is not a pleasure to spin for me.
I don’t use any detergent when I wash fleece from Swedish breeds. Swedish breeds are usually quite low in lanolin and after a cold water soak there is usually just the right amount of lanolin left for a smooth and pleasurable spin.
Cold water soak
I try to wash my fleece as soon as I can after having brought it home. I don’t want to attract moths or other woolโhostile creatures with the raw fleece.
Raw fleece with greasy and almost solidified tips. Norwegian NKS fleece.
When it is warm enough outdoors I just soak the fleece in cold water overnight. It can even stay longer than that, it can take care of itself. After that I rinse the fleece in cold water at least three times. Dirt out, lanolin in, just the way I want it.
I use the soak water and the rinsing waters as fertilization in the garden.
I use the soaking water as fertilization in the garden. These are locks from a Dalapรคls sheep.
Some breeds do require a detergent to get enough lanolin out, even for me. Merino is a breed with a lot of lanolin. The newest breed in Sweden, the Jรคmtland sheep, has some Merino in it and I usually use a detergent when I wash Jรคmtland. Sometimes also Shetland.
Warm water soak
If I get a fleece in the winter when it is too cold to soak outdoors I soak it in warm water indoors. I still don’t use any detergent. With a warm water soak, I leave the fleece in the water for just 15โ20 minutes, not longer. When the temperature changes, which it will when I leave the fleece in the warm water soak for too long, the dirt can go back to the wool and create a waxy surface.
What is suint?
Raw fleece has a lot of dirt in it, plus suint and lanolin. Suint is the sheep’s sweat. It is composed of potassium salts and soapy organic acids that are soluble in cold water. It thus acts as a cleanser of the wool grease, the lanolin. In trying to understand this, the encyclopedia of handspinning comes to my rescue again:
“While the natural grease assists spinning, the suint attracts dirt and interferes with drafting. When fleece is soaked in cold or tepid water the suint dissolves in the bath and acts as a cleansing agent for the wool.”
Encyclopedia of handspinning by Mabel Ross
You can see the suint as the soapy bubbles in the water.
This means that a washing method that dissolves the suint cleans the wool. The lanolin stays while the dirt is dissolved in the water. I get just what I want โ a clean fleece with the lanolin still in it to assist the spinning process.
The fermented suint method
If I know I am going to wash several fleeces I make a soaking party of it โ I use the fermented suint method.
I soak my dirty Dalapรคls fleece in really dirty water to get it wonderfully clean.
This means that I take advantage of the accumulated suint โ the natural soap in the fleece โ from several fleeces. I do this outdoors in the warm part of the year โ this is not something you want to do indoors.
It is hard to imagine that this brew cleans the fleece, but it actually does!
This is how I wash fleece with the fermented suint method:
I fill a tub with either rain water or water from the hose. After filling the tub I soak the first fleece in the water. Ideally, the first fleece should be a really dirty one to bring as much suint and gunk as possible. I leave it for a week. I make sure I put a lid on the tub. This brew does not smell like raspberry pie.
After a week I fill a new tub with rinsing water, same temperature as the greasy water. I pick up the fleece from the suint water, using rubber gloves. This does still not smell like raspberry pie. I leave the fleece in the rinsing water for a while and rinse with another two waters. The third water should be reasonably transparent. I spin cycle the wool and let it dry outdoors on a grid. I use the rinsing waters as fertilizers in the garden.
After I have removed the first fleece from the greasy soak, I soak another fleece in it and leave it for a few days. Same rinsing procedure. I keep doing this until I’m out of fleeces. I now have a suint bath that is on its fifth fleece. The water is really gunky and smelly, but it gets the wool magically clean and my precious lanolin stays in the wool, just where I want it.
When I have no more fleeces to clean I use the gunky suint water as a fertilizer in the garden. This is a very potent fertilizer, though. I make sure I dilute the liquid to avoid overfeeding my plants.
When the fleece is dry I have a wonderfully clean wool with just enough lanolin for a smooth spin.
A comparison between a raw staple and a staple washed with the fermented suint method. The right staple is visibly dirtier and has really greasy tips while the left staple is white and clean. The staples are from the same NKS fleece as the raw fleece above.
The NKS fleece that I started the fermented suint bath with had really greasy and somewhat solidified tips. After the washing process the tips were soft and clean.
After I have spun the yarn I wash it with a detergent, usually an organic perfume-free shampoo. That takes most of the lanolin away and makes it ready for whatever textile technique I want to use it for.
Fleece washed with the fermented suint method. The wool is clean, including the once solidified tips. This is the same NKS fleece as the raw fleece above.
A word on vegetable matter
After washing โ any kind of washing โ the wool is clean. However, any vegetable matter that was in the fleece prior to washing will still be there after. A lot of it can fall out of the wool during the preparation of the wool (expecially combing), and some in spinning and plying. But when we look at a fleece we need to consider the amount of vegetable matter before we buy it. If it looks like a lot: Leave it. The will always be another fleece. No cleaning method will get the vegetable matter out. Removing vegetable matter is a purely mechanical process done by you. And my guess is there are other ways you want to spend your time with a fleece than to dissect it looking for twigs, seeds and pines.
I found a chestnut in my very first fleece.
Happy spinning!
You can follow me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private. If you like what I do, please tell all your fiber friends and share these links!๏ปฟ
