{"id":10928,"date":"2024-05-04T07:02:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T05:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=10928"},"modified":"2024-05-04T07:11:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T05:11:42","slug":"fulling-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/fulling-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Fulling candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In just a few weeks my wool traveling club and I will go on our 2024 wool journey to a fulling mill. We have all woven fabrics to full and today I\u2019m presenting my fulling candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love planning our wool journeys. We have planned this one for over two years. On the 2022 wool journey<\/a> we learned p\u00e5s\u00f6m embroidery by Anna-Karin Jobs Arnberg in beautiful Dala-Floda. She also teaches fulling at the nearby fulling mill (one of perhaps five working fulling mills in Sweden), and we decided to spend the upcoming year and the 2023 wool journey<\/a> weaving projects to full in the 2024 wool journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to full<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The fabric to full needs to be woven in a wool that actually will felt. The Scandinavian breeds usually felt very well. The wool needs to be evenly blended, spun and woven, and the sett needs to be loose. It is a good idea to add extra twist to the warp yarn to hold, and let the weft yarn be looser spun to enhance the fulling process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulling mill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Dala-Floda fulling mill is situated in Kvarna, a 17th century industrial site with several different types of mills. It is operated on courses and workshops, and by people who have the knowledge to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The Dala-Floda fulling mill, photo by Dan Waltin in 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fulling candidates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have woven five fabrics during the past four years, two of which are woven with my handspun yarns. If I\u2019m lucky, a sixth weave (handspun) will be finished in time. All the weaves are different and I hope at least one of them will turn into something I can use. I have woven them all on my 60 cm wide rigid heddle loom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rough Gute<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When I first learned about fulling fabrics and saw a weekend course in fulling at a fulling mill I started to plan for a weave to full. I had bought a lovely rough gute fleece back in 2018 and made a few woven swatches. It turned out that they fulled beautifully and very evenly. I had just spun a woolen 2-ply yarn that I used as both warp and weft and it was quite a fast weave. The finished weave has been waiting in my yarn closet for the past four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Plain Gute wool in warp and weft. Hand-carded woolen spun and 2-plied.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think this weave might be the most straightforward of the weaves. It has the same fleece and the same yarn in both weft and warp. I\u2019m sure I can make something out of it, perhaps a vest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raw weave size: 56 x 275 centimeters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 x 3 x 3 pillow cases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pillow cases are one of my favourite test projects for weaving. They are small enough to finish, large enough to actually become something, and quite swift to sew. Usually I weave with my handspun yarn, but in this case (pun intended) I had lots of skeins of Shetland wool from a clearance sale a few years ago, and I thought I might as well weave something out of them. I used the same three colours in three different checquered patterns in three different weaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
I wove the first commercial yarn pillow case at the 2023 wool journey at Boel\u2019s house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The yarns are quite old and brittle, and there is a risk that they will tear in the fulling process. There is also a risk that the colours will full differently, one of the yarns turned out to be finer than the others. If the fulling shrinks the fabrics too much, I can either get smaller pillows or weave bands (from a failed first warping) to join in the sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three
Three weaves in three colours and three patterns.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Raw weave size<\/p>\n\n\n\n