Keeping Warm With Wool Part Two

Part One here.
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Greetings ATS crafters.

Before getting to pre-prepared fibres some more on combing and carding.

Combing as a fibre preparation predates carding by 1000s of years. Indeed, it wasn’t until the mid 1300s before metal workers found a method to create (easily and cheaply?) the thin wire in sufficient quantity needed for the making the small teeth on the carding cloth. Wool combs, on the other hand, could be easily made from wood, bone, or metal and be serviceable.

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Primitive sheep's fleece has a protective outer layer of coarser fibres, and a softer underlayer that provides insulation.

Three distinct types of fibers can be found in fleeces: wool, hair, and kemp. A wool-growing sheep’s fleece can contain wool alone; wool plus hair; or wool plus hair plus hair plus kemp.
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While the term wool can refer to the entirety of a fleece, it can also be used more specifically to denote the comparatively soft and relatively crimpy fiber component.

In Merino, the fleece is all wool. In a breed like the North Ronaldsay, the undercoat is wool and the outercoat is hair.

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Simple combs can be used to separate the undercoat and outercoat of a fleece from a North Ronaldsay or similar breed. The wool undercoat can then be carded for fluffy woolen spinning and the combed outercoat is suitable for stronger worsted spinning. More modern breeds that have been bred for wool have a fleece that is almost 100% undercoat.

More advanced combs can be used to prepare longwool fleeces such as Cotswold for worsted spinning to make dense fabric.

Some early traditions say the Cotswold was brought to England by the Phoenicians (whose early base of operations centered on ancient Tyrus, an island along the coast of Lebanon) sometime between 500 B.C. and 100 B.C.

Proponents of this theory cite the rife trade they carried on with Albion (the British Island where England, Scotland and Wales are located). They also point to the similarities of husbandry practices in the ancient inhabitants of the Cotswold Hills in Britain with those of Levantine flockmasters, particularly the sheep cotes used in ancient Lebanon and Israel, and mentioned several places in the Bible.
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Cotswold was most probably the type of wool used to make the famous sheep's wool "rain cloak" catalogued among the personal possessions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (285-305 A.D.). This type of garment was normally made from goat fiber (mohair from Angoras and similar breeds of goats).

www.cotswoldsheep.us.com...


This video shows part of the process.

Just to demonstrate some fleeces can be spun with minimum preparation . . .


Pre-prepared fibres allow you to go straight to spinning without the lengthy process of preparation. Searching for 'combed tops', 'carded batts' and 'carded sliver' will get you to a supplier. One advantage of using pre-prepared fibre is it's usually cleaner. Spinning with dirty or greasy fleece means every time you stop to put the kettle on or answer the phone you have to wash your hands first. Also with a dirty fleece tiny bits of dust fly off as you're spinning. This dust can stick to any lubrication on the spinning wheels bearings making a grinding paste and rapidly wearing the bearings. The wheel needs to operate as smoothly as possible for maximum efficiency. An inefficient wheel adds too much time to the process. Lubrication should be kept to a minimum. I use sewing machine oil if I have to lubricate a wheel's bearings, and wipe it off to leave the barest trace.

Now you have your prepared fibre the next step is spinning it into yarn. The different methods of spinning yarn will be covered in the next instalment.

Don't let the regulators freeze you this winter. Start learning the fibrecraft basics and make your own warm wool clothing.

the best post on ATS tonight
thanks

I cycle in the mountains here in Japan and a wool blanket is a must, plus some hot coffee in the morning

My parents used to raise and herd Angora Goats and we would shear them occassionally and sell the wool to interested paties locally.

I love winter because it's an opportunity to wear my favorite tranditional wool coat, I absolutely love wool!

Thanks for the interesting insights on it's production processes!

a reply to: Kester

I appreciate all animal products for clothing, leader is another one I prefer to any other shoe material.

Whats great about wool, the animal isn't harmed except the occasional cut when shearing.
i heard that the modern day wool sheep would die if not sheared by humans... Kind of absurd.
Not as absurd as vegans renouncing these animal products, for a petrol based alternative.

originally posted by: GENERAL EYES
My parents used to raise and herd Angora Goats and we would shear them occassionally and sell the wool to interested paties locally.

I love winter because it's an opportunity to wear my favorite tranditional wool coat, I absolutely love wool!

Thanks for the interesting insights on it's production processes!

Thats so cool!
Me personally, I’m obsessed with alpaca. I find it so much more comfortable.
Alpaca and silk is the two warmest materials for me to beat our winters.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I've never had an opportunity of experience Alpaca Wool, but they are endearing animals.

I'll look around to see if I can find it locally sometime.

(Might be difficult, we're kind of a small town)

Thanks for the heads up!

originally posted by: GENERAL EYES
a reply to: JAGStorm

I've never had an opportunity of experience Alpaca Wool, but they are endearing animals.

I'll look around to see if I can find it locally sometime.

(Might be difficult, we're kind of a small town)

Thanks for the heads up!

For some reason even the softest (cashmere, or merino wool) bother me. I don’t know if I have an allergy to wool or what. I have none of that with Alpaca.
When I wear Alpaca, (this may sound weird) it feels healing to me. It has a different energy to it.
It is so soft, and so warm without getting hot. I can even wear it in the summer, I can’t do that with wool.

Real silk is another fabric that is so warm. People have no clue how warm natural (not mixed with anything) pure silk.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I'm weird about certain fabrics.

I favor naturals, like wool or cotton blends.

Silk is beautiful and luxurious but my lifestyle doesn't allow for delicates right now.

Maybe one day, if I'm lucky.

a reply to: GENERAL EYES

Hemp and linen are far superior to cotton. In terms of durability hemp is my favorite its quite warm though. Linen is best for comfort...Well just after silk.

a reply to: Terpene

It's hard to find hemp where I am locally.

Medical marijuana was only recently passed, and I haven't heard of any industrial or textile use of the hemp fibers from local farmers.

Heck, I don't even know if there are local open air farmers, I think it's all in indoor facilities with dwarf plants.

Not sure.

But I remember the kids in the 90's and their hemp pullovers, and it's a very durable and wonderful fabric.

I just couldn't afford it back then (or now to be honest).