{"id":11390,"date":"2024-11-23T07:34:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T06:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=11390"},"modified":"2024-11-23T07:42:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T06:42:31","slug":"panther-and-starling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/panther-and-starling\/","title":{"rendered":"Panther and Starling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I got a fleece black as the night and transformed it into two yarns showcasing its superpowers \u2013 one strong and shiny and one soft and warm. I call them Panther and Starling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are a patron (or if you want to become one<\/a>) you can see a demonstration of how I spin these yarns in my November 2024 video postcard.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every year there is a Swedish fleece championships and I like to buy a couple of fleeces at the auction following the prize ceremony. At the 2022 championships I bought a black Rya<\/a> lamb’s fleece as a challenge to myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Long
25 centimeter staples of a black Rya lamb\u2019s fleece.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think it is difficult to spin dark fleeces since I can’t see the fibers properly. Also, I never wear black. But I had made my decision and the beautiful fleece was in my stash. For a long time. I had postponed spinning it, but this fall I decided to spin it before it got too old and brittle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The shine in this black rya fleece is remarkable, with strong outercoat fibers of 23\u201327 centimeters and soft and fine undercoat fibers of 10\u201315 centimeters. I decided to spin two yarns, one worsted spun warp yarn and one woolen spun knitting yarn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three
Carded rolags of the shorter fibers, together with recycled sari silk, and combed tops of the longer fibers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I did the preparation in two steps for both of the yarns. To begin, I combed the wool. I didn\u2019t doff the outercoat in a long top, though, instead I just pulled out the longest fibers and saved them in a box where I had marked the cut ends and tip ends of the fibers. In the next step I pulled the remaining (shorter) fibers off the combs and set them aside. I re-combed the longest fibers and dizzed them off the combs and rolled the top into bird\u2019s nests. The last preparation step was the undercoat; I carded it together with small tufts of recycled sari silk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outercoat and undercoat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I say longer and shorter fibers here, not outercoat and undercoat. In my first trials I made sure to get mainly the outercoat in the top and mainly the undercoat in the rolag. But the yarn I made from the undercoat felt a bit too coarse, and so I used only the finest fibers for the rolags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
I\u2019m spinning the carded rolags with an English longdraw. (screenshot).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This meant that there was a spectrum of fiber lengths \u2013 both outercoat and undercoat \u2013 in the combed top. You can see it in the bird\u2019s nests above \u2013 the very shiny part is most probably outercoat and the more matte is most probably undercoat fibers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The worsted spun yarn is very strong and it nearly broke my skin when I tried to break it (Screenshot).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even if there is a spectrum of fiber lengths in the worsted yarn, it is still very strong and I will trust it as a weaving yarn. At least when it comes to strength, its inclination to cling to neighbouring warp threads remains to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the total weight, 60 per cent was the worsted yarn. It might have been different if I had chosen to divide it more strictly by fiber type. The total yield (raw fleece to finished yarn) was 65 per cent, which is higher than my average 55 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panther and Starling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I reached the bottom of the wool basket this week and plied the last skein of each sort. I love how they turned out. It was a challenge to spin the black fibers, especially this time of year, but I did it. The long fibers were a challenge to handle, but my hands got used to working with them in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Panther and Starling \u2013 nine skeins of strong and shiny warp yarn and five skeins of soft and warm knitting yarn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I call the worsted yarn Panther \u2013 strikingly shiny, black and strong. The softness and the coloured speckles on the woolen yarn begged me to call it Starling, and so here they are \u2013 Panther and Starling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy spinning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can find me in several social media:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n