{"id":7301,"date":"2021-12-11T08:50:05","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T07:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=7301"},"modified":"2021-12-11T08:50:08","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T07:50:08","slug":"in-the-grease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/in-the-grease\/","title":{"rendered":"In the grease"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the PLY magazine Double coated issue<\/a> Maja Siska wrote an article about spinning a lopi style Icelandic yarn from the lock in the grease. I was intrigued by this and knew I needed to try it myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the article Maja describes how she spins a lopi style yarn from a colour variegated fleece. By spinning from the lock those different colours will come to their right on their own instead of being blended into a medium grayish beige. She also spins the yarn in the grease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have read the article numerous times. There were so many things in Maja’s technique that were appealing to me, but most of all the combination. A singles yarn spun from the lock of variegated Icelandic fleece in the grease. What’s not to love?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Close<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A lopi style yarn is a singles yarn with little or no twist, usually commercially spun to either be further spun into a plied yarn or used as it is. The yarn still holds together through the combination of long outercoat fibers and fine, warm undercoat fibers. Knitting with a lopi style yarn usually results in a very light but still warm garment. At first I thought a lopi yarn was an ancient tradition in Iceland. It turns out that it is not, it is a product of spinning mills producing yarn for the Icelandic sweaters that originated in the mid 20th century. Thus, the technique in Maja’s article isn’t a traditional way to spin a lopi style yarn. Rather, it is an adaptation to hand spinning from the mill produced pencil roving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A lopi style yarn. Raw, yet elegant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Adaptation to hand spinning also offers the opportunity to take advantage of the superpowers of hand spinning. I wanted to stay as close to the original structure of the fleece as possible. A yarn with this very gentle processing and handling gives me goosebumps. I often talk about processing with hand tools as a way to get to know the fleece. When just lightly teasing locks I skip a few steps, but I do get to come close to the wool and its original shape. I wrote a poetic style blog post<\/a> about this closeness a couple of weeks ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Icelandic lamb’s fleece<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have wanted to get acquainted with Icelandic wool for a while now. I had even sought out a fleece supplier. When I read Maja’s article I knew I couldn’t wait anymore. I contacted Hulda at Uppspuni mini mill<\/a> in Iceland to ask her for a lamb’s fleece. <\/p>\n\n\n\n