Why should you care about the fibers that you spin and knit? Have you ever fallen in love with a braid of fiber because of the color, then spun it and knit it, yet it became something you were not expecting? Droopy or stiff, scratchy, hairy, shedding everywhere? It could be because of the fiber. I will admit to being seduced by color and colorways of many talented dyers without realizing until I got home and started spinning that even though the colors are indeed beautiful, the fiber or fiber blend is completely inappropriate for what I want to make.
This is because fiber is the backbone, the essence of what your yarn is. It’s the foundation that your yarn will stand on. If the foundation isn’t right, frequently there’s nothing to be done to make it right, other than use it for a different project.
The choice of fiber is fundamental to yarn. The characteristics of the fiber translate directly into characteristics of the yarn you make with it. (See Characteristics to Consider before Spinning a Fiber.) Fiber also comes into play if you have allergies and when you’re thinking about stitch patterns. It affects the weight and softness of your finished piece. Everything about a fiber is relevant to the yarn you spin.
When you use blends, aspects of all fibers in the blend inform your yarn, and some overshadow others. Every fiber, be it wool, synthetic, or silk, affects the finished yarn. Some spinners work only with wool, but more and more are branching out to fiber blends and different varieties of fiber. I didn’t include cotton or cellulose fibers, because commercially prepared and dyed options for them are not as readily available to a spinner as wool and wool blends are. However, more and more commercial fibers are available to the spinner, especially different wools. Let’s explore some of the most popular types of fibers commercially available to spinners and what their properties mean to yarn and knitting.
There is nothing I love more than to shop at a fiber festival and be faced with a booth overflowing with choices of braids of fiber to spin. It used to be that the selection was only about color. I’d find mountains of braids in every variation of color that a dyer could think of in Merino or Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) top. Now, if you are a wool spinner, you have no doubt noticed that the choices are growing beyond color. More breeds are available as commercially prepared fiber, ready to spin, than ever before. You don’t have to buy a fleece and process it yourself to be able to spin fiber from different breeds of sheep.
With the advent of more choices, however, come more decisions. Now a spinner has to decide not only on the “purple and orange” or the “green and gold” but also BFL, Polwarth, or Teeswater. The fleece from each breed of sheep, whether processed by hand or machine, has unique properties that will contribute to your final yarn and whatever it is you make with it.
Wool is the backbone of spinning, and most spinners spin wool or wool blends. Sheep breeds are so versatile and varied that a spinner could spin only wool for his or her entire spinning life and never get bored. It used to be that unless spinners started with fleece, they would get only a generic wool to spin a blend of middle-of-the-road wools. But things have changed, and there has never been a better time than now to be a wool spinner. At the last fiber show I attended, I counted 20 different breeds and fiber blends in commercially processed and handdyed top.
For my experiments in this book, I chose to explore three breed categories that are easy to find at fiber shows. These categories show a range of characteristics that make a difference to your yarn and knitting. For each category, I’ve chosen three breeds to use as examples. Although this is general information, you can find many other books that go into great detail about sheep breeds if you are interested. (See Suggested Reading.)
Bluefaced leicester cross Locks (left), targhee top (right)
Fine wools are short-stapled and crimpy, and they spin into elastic yarns. They have a matte appearance, so they don’t reflect light well. Dyed colors look lighter on fine wool. Fine wools are the standard of soft by which most spinners judge other fibers. They are so soft that they can be spun and knit into camisoles and worn all winter without a tickle or scratch. They are frequently used when knitting for babies. Because the individual fibers are fine, however, the yarns are inclined to be tender — they easily pill and felt. To counteract this, look for one of the many fine-wool blends, frequently with silk or nylon for a great sock yarn.
Fine wools can be spun with a high or low twist, though low twist exacerbates their less-than-durable quality if knit into something that will get a lot of abrasion. Also, because of their short staple, fine wools can be tricky for a new spinner. On the other hand, fine wools make a gorgeous, fine laceweight yarn. Merino is a favorite of lace master Margaret Stove.
Wool top and roving
Medium wools are the go-to fibers of the spinning world. They are easy to spin, knit, and wear. They are excellent fibers for beginning spinners and for any spinner who’s learning something new. Medium wools balance durability and elasticity beautifully: they are not as elastic as crimpy fine wools, but they have enough well-defined crimp and spring to spin and knit into garments that hold any stitch. Medium wools have the greatest range of softness. Most people can wear something knit of medium wool next to their skin — maybe not on their necks, but as hats, mittens, gloves, and socks. They also make a great sweater yarn. Medium-wool yarns have excellent stitch definition when drafted either woolen or worsted.
Longwools have big personalities: they are bold, shiny, and drapey. The range of characteristics of fleeces in this category varies dramatically. I can barely wrap my head around the idea that BFL and Wensleydale are in the same category. All longwools have a delicious luster, even when spun with a woolen draft. They all also have a long staple length, from 4 to 12 inches. I often find myself fighting to draft a longwool, only to realize my hands are spaced to spin Merino, not a longwool, and as soon as I separate my hands a bit, drafting is a breeze.
Choosing which of the longwools works for different kinds of wearables is an interesting thought process. BFL is neck-soft and wonderfully durable, so it’s no wonder that, for many, it’s a favorite fiber to spin. Wensleydale is sometimes referred to as rug wool, but that’s not the case! Wensleydale makes beautiful lace, and a Wensleydale lace shawl is a thing of beauty. Longwools don’t need as much twist as their shorter-stapled sisters. Extra twist is what leads a longer longwool, like Wensleydale, to become hard and wiry.
Teeswater locks
Angora is the down combed or clipped from the angora rabbit. Short-stapled with no crimp, it makes a soft and very fuzzy yarn. Warmer wool, it’s mostly used in a blend. Angora can be tricky for new spinners to spin, as it has short, slippery fibers that need a fair amount of twist. Knit into garments, it is next-to-the-skin soft but may be tickly because of the halo. Angora yarn doesn’t have much elasticity. Spin it with more twist than you think it needs, and when you finish it, full it if you want the halo to come up right away (see Fulling). An entire sweater made from angora may be too warm for many, but it’s excellent for accessories and in a blended yarn.
Camelids have been domesticated for thousands of years, used both for their fiber and as pack animals. Their fiber is fine, light, and multiple times warmer than wool.
Alpaca is soft and lustrous, it has beautiful drape, and it is extremely durable and warm. Alpaca has little to no memory and is often blended with wool or silk. It can be spun with a woolen draft to give yarn a small amount of loft, or worsted to showcase the shine. It knits into beautiful garments, but keep in mind that alpaca is not springy and it is warmer than wool. Beware the sweater that grows to your knees and is too hot to wear except when there’s a blizzard.
Llama is related to alpaca, but llama has a dual coat: a soft, downy undercoat and a wiry, water-resistant outercoat. If the coats are spun together, the yarn will be incredibly durable but not skin friendly. On the other hand, llama’s undercoat is warm and soft enough to wear next to the skin. It’s well worth looking for dehaired llama fleece.
Two-humped camels are the best fiber-bearing camels. They have three coats, all used for different purposes. Spinners look for the downy undercoat that is short and fluffy, with crimp. In spite of this crimp, however, it still isn’t very elastic to knit with. Spinning it fine with a woolen draft and a little extra ply twist can help add a little spring.
All three of these big beasts have multiple coats, with the downiest undercoat being the fiber that spinners clamor to spin. If you buy raw yak, bison, or qiviut (from the musk ox), the down needs to be dehaired before spinning to preserve its luscious softness. The fibers of all three are short and elastic. Bison, especially, has very elastic down. Spinning woolen and giving your yarn a hard finish, à la Judith MacKenzie, will result in a beautiful matte, fuzzy yarn that is a pleasure to knit with and wear because of its over-the-top softness. Do keep in mind that all of these beastly down fibers are much warmer than wool. Those fibers are what keep these big animals warm in subzero temperatures.
Goats have some of the most wide-ranging and sexy fibers. From the strong and shimmery ringlets of the angora goat to the luxurious down of cashmere, goat fiber can stand alone or work beautifully blended with other fibers. It always brings a little something special to the spinning party.
Cashmere is the gold standard in luxury fiber, and it’s easy to find. It behaves like the big-beast fibers (yak, bison, and qiviut) because of its incredibly warm, downy undercoat, which is short-stapled with crimp. When spun, fulled, and knit, cashmere has a soft matte appearance. It makes gorgeous accessories and can be blended with many other fibers.
Mohair is the fiber from the angora goat. The fiber is long, strong, and shiny. Mohair is often added to fiber blends and commercial yarns to give strength. After it’s spun or knit, mohair can be brushed to create a fabric with an amazing fuzzy halo. Kid mohair is softer and finer than adult mohair but still strong and glossy. Dyed mohair has intense color. Mohair locks are a favorite of textured- and art-yarn spinners. Like fiber from the longwools, mohair doesn’t need much twist and will turn wiry if overtwisted. When you knit with mohair yarn, especially yarn that has been, or will be, brushed in the fabric, go up a needle size or two. The mohair fuzz takes up a lot of space!
Cashgora is a crossbreed of a cashmere and an angora goat. The fiber is not as soft as cashmere, but it’s longer than cashmere and lustrous. Pygora is a cross between a pygmy and an angora goat. The fiber is as soft as kid mohair, even on adult animals.
The options for preparation, blend, and type in the world of silk seem to have exploded lately. The two most common silks used for spinning are bombyx and tussah. (For examples of various preparations, see chapter 3.)
Silk is soft and light. It retains warmth in the cold, and it “breathes” to keep a wearer cool in warm weather. It can be shiny or matte, takes dye like a duck to water, is crazy strong, and blends well with nearly every fiber on the planet.
For a new spinner, silk can be intimidating to spin. Tussah is a better choice for a newbie or the silk intimidated. Tussah is silk fiber gathered from silk cocoons after the moth has eaten its way out. The fibers are textured, shorter, and not as slippery or fine as bombyx silk. Tussah can be spun with a woolen or worsted draft.
Bombyx silk is reeled from whole cocoons of the Bombyx mori moth and is luminous and bright white, with a long, fine fiber. For the most shine from bombyx silk, spin it worsted. If the long staple length is troublesome for you, spin from the fold — from the flat, not the tip. It will help control the fiber and still encourage shine. When knitting with silk, remember that it is not a very elastic fiber.
The fibers in this category are manufactured using scientific techniques, but they are based on natural products, not synthetics. These fibers include rayon and bamboo (both plant based), casein (milk based), soy (tofu), and Tencel (wood pulp based). Used rarely by themselves, they are first pulped and extruded into long, thin strands (think of a Play-Doh Fun Factory or a pasta maker). (Some bamboo is not lab processed, so read product descriptions closely if this is important to you.) If spun by themselves, they act similar to bombyx silk — long, strong, and shiny. When blended with other fibers, usually wool, they impart lovely shimmer, drape, and strength.
Bamboo is absorbent and breathable, and it has sheen and drape. It spins similarly to bombyx silk, and it blends beautifully with other fibers. There are two kinds of bamboo in the fiber world; both are made from the same bamboo plant, but they are processed into spinnable fiber in two ways with different environmental impacts. The type most readily available to spinners is the chemically pulped-and-extruded bamboo fiber. Harder to find but lighter on the environment is bamboo processed into spinning fiber by retting (a natural way of separating fiber from stem) and combing.
Tencel, made from wood pulp, is soft and strong, and it, too, has sheen and drape. It works well in blends, but it has no elasticity.
Lab-grown and manufactured, nylon is used in blends to give strength, durability, and elasticity to fine natural fibers; for example, Merino/nylon is a popular blend for sock yarn. Nylon also brings the party to spinning: Firestar, the brightly colored and sparkly glitz that is added to fiber blends and batts, is made from nylon.
