spinning

tutorial – preparing alpaca for spinning

Tutorial preparing alpaca for spinning

Recently I learned that the mother of an acquaintance of my mom has a small flock of alpacas, and piles of unused freshly shorn fiber. So when, the question came if I would be interested in taking some of her hands, I was delighted! I’ve never worked with raw alpaca before. I got a big bag of white and another one in brown, the pictures below really don’t do it justice.

And, of course, I had to prepare this raw alpaca to be able to spin it into yarn! In this post, I’ll show you how I went about it. Please bear in mind that I’m new to processing alpaca, so this very first batch really was a matter of trial and error for me.

Differences between alpaca and wool

Before going into detail about how I prepped this fiber for spinning, it’s good to talk about the differences between wool from sheep and the fiber from alpaca’s. Off course, there are many differences in fiber even within both sheep and alpaca’s, due to breed, age, nutrition etc. A very basic difference, however, is that alpaca fibers are hollow, where sheep fibers are not. Because of this, alpaca fiber repels water and retains heat, making it warmer than wool. Also, in general, alpaca will have better drape and less elasticity than sheep wool.

From a fiber prep perspective, the main difference is that sheep wool contains lanolin and alpaca fiber does not. However, alpaca’s just love their dust baths, so a wash before spinning is absolutely advised to prevent locking in dirt.

Ok, let’s get started on this fiber!

Alpaca fiber prep step by step

Since I’m very new to preparing raw alpaca for spinning, I’ve started with only a small amount of fiber. My aim is to prep enough to spin a shawl-amount of yarn.

  1. Picking through the yarn to remove the short bits.

    This fiber was not shorn with the hand spinner in mind and contains quite a lot of vegetable matter and shortcuts that will have to be filtered out. In the picture below, you see on the right the pile of shortcuts that I’ve already removed from this handful of alpaca.Step 1 of fiber prep

  2. After, picking each handful of fiber, I put it into this laundry bag.

    This particular one has compartments, which is a good thing, since it reduces the amount of movement possible in the bag, and thus possible felting/Step 2

  3. One bag completely filled!

    There fits much more fiber into the bag than one might think. The pile in front of it are all the short bits I filtered out.First laundry filled!

  4. Next step is washing the fiber.

    Here I used some wool wash and warm water. Not to remove lanolin from the fiber, since alpaca doesn’t have any, but to get some of the dust and dirt out. Take care not to agitate or squeeze the fiber, because it doesn’t take much to felt it. Washing the alpaca

  5. Do you see how filthy the water turns?

    The fiber itself didn’t look as dirty, but looks can be deceiving!Washing water turning brown

  6. The grit remaining in the sink after washing.

    I really didn’t expect this much dirt to come out.Grit remaining in the sink

  7. After washing, I rinsed the fiber in a new bath with hot water.

    Again, take care not to agitate the fiber to prevent felting.Rinsing the washed fiber

  8. Next, I’m removing as much water out of the fiber as possible, without squeezing!

    Because this is a tiny amount of fiber, I used my dedicated fiber salad spinner. For bigger quantities, a centrifuge would be best. Please note that the centrifuge in your washing machine is only advised if you can use it without any rinsing water, because that would cause the fiber to felt.Squeeze all the water out!

  9. The next step is to dry the alpaca.

    I filled up my laundry bag twice and agitated the second batch even less than the first one. You can see the difference in this picture: on the left is the first batch, and on the right the second one. This stuff really felts as soon as you look at it wrong! I use a flat perforated crate for drying fiber, to promote air circulation. (Also, Donut is of the opinion that wet alpaca smells funny.)Drying the fiber

  10. After drying, which took a couple of days, this is what I ended up with.

    It looks a tad felted, despite handling it as lightly as possible.Dried alpaca

  11. Fortunately, the fiber fluffed up quite nicely!

    On the right, you see some more shortcuts that I found and separated out.After fluffing

  12. Below, you can see the result of all the washed alpaca fluffed up.

    Doesn’t it look wonderful?A big crate of fluffed up alpaca!

  13. Next is carding all the fluffed up fiber into batts for spinning.

    I ended up with 5 batts total. For those who’re interested: my carding machine is an Ashford drum carder, with a 72 point carding cloth.Carding the alpaca

  14. During carding, I again removed any shortcuts that I found.

    The dirt pictured, is what I found underneath my carder after I was finished.Waste after carding

And that’s everything I did to prep the raw alpaca for spinning!

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national spinning day 2015

October 3rd it was the Dutch National Spinning Day again, also affectionately called LSD which is short for “Nationale Spin Dag”. Over 200 women and some men traveled to Conference center Mennorode with their spindles and spinning wheels to spend a day together. And yours truly was there as well for the very first time!

The national spinning day is organized annually by The Dutch National Spinning Group. The Spinning Group brings spinners in contact with one another since 1999 and also collects and provides information about spinning materials, techniques and the further processing of spun yarns.

Preparation

First, I had to think about which spinning wheel I would take with me. I first thought of my beautiful Saxony wheel Noortje. But Noortje does not quite fit in my car and is somewhat temperamental to spin on. So better to go for one of my trusty castle wheels “schippertje”.

Of course, a decision also had to be made on the spinning project to bring. After some deep digging into my stash, I found these gorgeous self-carded batts: A blend of gray and blue merino, blended with tussah silk.

It’s LSD time!

Because all the fun would start around 9.00 in the morning, the alarm was put on the usual weekday schedule. After a quick breakfast, I left my husband and children to dedicate my day to everything related to spinning. Of course my schippertje first had to be secured in my car. Then I went on my way to Mennorode in Elspeet!

After having installed myself in the main conference room, I took a good look around me: So many different spinning wheels! The hall was soon completely filled, with an amazing number of spinning people together, truly a sight to behold.

After the opening, there was first a market with all kinds of spinning supplies. I had not realized that it would only be possible to use cash there. That got me in somewhat of a pickle: so many things and no means to bring it home with me! Fortunately, the reception of Mennorode was able to help me out, so I could buy the things that made my spinners heart beat a little faster.

After lunch, which was very good indeed, there were workshops for those who had subscribed. I myself just decided to socialize and spin with the other ladies. I had loads of fun and managed to get quite a bit of spinning done.

All in all a very nice National Spinning Day, I’m going again next year for sure!

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types of spinning wheels

Types of spinning wheels - by La Visch Designs

I find spinning to be a very relaxing pastime. Do you think Queen Victoria (pictured below), also spun for relaxation? In my first post on the anatomy of spinning wheels, I told you about the various parts most spinning wheels have in common. Now that you know something about the different parts, I can also tell you about the various types of spinning wheels out there.

Mind you, this is not an exhaustive list, but rather a very rough classification based on the appearance of most common western spinning wheels. Wheels like the Indian Charkha (used to spin cotton) I left out of this overview.

Types of spinning wheels

Saxony wheel

Saxon spinning wheels are characterized by a horizontally oriented table with the wheel on one side and the spin head with the flyer on the other side. The table itself usually is placed a bit on an angle. The spinning wheel shown below is a typical example.

Types of spinning wheels

This particular wheel is indeed a very special one. Noortje (yes I have given my spinning wheel a name, a wheel with character deserves a name!) is in fact handmade by the grandfather of an acquaintance: Wim Vogel. He was a carpenter and made in the 70’s two spinning wheels in his spare time, based on plans by the Norske Husflidsforening. Noortje is one of those two wheels.

Castle wheel

This type of wheel has a vertical structure with first the table top, then the wheel and above this the flyer assembly. Because of this construction, this type of spinning wheel requires relatively little space. This was the feature that ensured that these spinning wheels were very popular with barge captain’s wives. On ships, room happens to be a scarce commodity. This is also the reason that this type of spinning wheel is in the Netherlands, also known as “schippertje.” This translates roughly to “little skipper”. Some modern castle type wheels can even be folded for compact storage or travel.

Types of spinning wheels

My schippertje picture here is Dutch-made: It was made by Jan Lobs from Oostvoorne. Lobs had in the 70’s a spinning wheel atelier where these wheels with their distinctive design were made. Being very robust, I encounter these wheels regularly on the Dutch version of Craigs List (Markplaats). I myself have two wheels of this model.

Norwegian spinning wheel

This type of wheel is very similar to the Saxony spinning wheels. Norwegian spinning wheels have usually also a big wheel, 3 to 4 legs in combination with a horizontal build-up with the flyer next to the wheel. The table is however entirely horizontally and is sometimes combined with a smaller upper table in which the flyer assembly can be found.

Types of spinning wheels

Modern spinning wheels

Besides the already mentioned types of spinning wheels, there are of course also the modern wheels. In these wheels, modern technology is combined with the traditional principles of spinning. Think for instance of foldable wheels to make them easier to carry and travel with them. Wheels fitted with modern (ball) bearings so they make for light treadling and hardly any noise. Wheels that automatically change the position of where the thread is wound on the bobbin. This is very handy because then you don’t need to stop to pass the thread through the next flight hook.

These wheels often have a very traditional look. Because of it, they usually fall in one of the aforementioned categories of the various types of spinning wheels. There are also spinning wheels with a totally different appearance. Spinning wheels made of plastic, or for example electrically powered wheels for those individuals who have less use of their legs. An overview of variations can be found in the picture below.

Types of spinning wheels

Modern spinning wheels come in so many variations, that there really is no common appearance. And that really makes it so much fun!

In a next post, I will consider the various working principles on which most spinning wheels operate. Stay tuned!

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the anatomy of a spinning wheel

 

Anatomy of a spinning wheel

Spinning wheels, who doesn’t know them? Even if it is just from fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty and Rumpelstiltskin. Because of the fairy tales spinning wheels are also the best-known method to make your own yarn for knitting, crochet or weaving. Spinning wheels come in lots of different shapes, sizes and also have many different components. With this post, I want to make you a bit more familiar with the latter.

The anatomy of a spinning wheel

Due to the large differences between wheels, the various parts are sometimes shaped differently or located in a slightly different spot. The following components can, however, be found in most spinning wheels, in one form or the other. Much of the information on spinning and spinning wheels online, is in English. Being Dutch I found that a lot of information is not available in my own language. Therefore I have I included both Dutch and English in the notes below about the various parts and components.

Anatomy of a spinning wheel

 

A. Wheel (aandrijfwiel): The wheel that spins around and doing so puts the other parts of the spinning wheel in motion.
B. Maidens (spilsteunen): The vertical supports that hold the flyer and bobbin.
C. Mother of all (spinhoofd): The horizontal bar on which the maidens, flyer, bobbin and tension screw are attached.
D. Treadle (trapper/voetpedaal): The treadle that lets you bring the drive wheel in motion. Some spinning wheels have one treadle (single treadle wheels), other versions have two to be used with both feet (double treadle).
E. Footman (aandrijfstok): The part that connects the treadle to the drive wheel, causing it to rotate when treadling.
F. Table (tafel): This is the central component of a spinning wheel, where everything is built upon which gives a wheel its structure.
G. Plying rack (twijnrek): Raised pins that are used to place bobbins filled with spun singles on, in order to ply them together in a plied yarn. They can of course also be used to store additional bobbins when not plying.

Anatomy of a spinning wheel

 

H. Flyer (vlucht): U-shaped component with hooks at one or both sides of the arm of the U. The hooks are used to divide the yarn neatly over the bobbin. The flyer is rotated by the drive belt, causing rotation (twist) to insert into the wool. The fibers themselves are relatively weak but combined in this manner, they are much stronger.
I. Bobbin (spoel/klos): The bobbin is placed on the flyer spindle and rotates, along with the flyer. Here, the yarn is wound up, when sufficient twist has entered the wool.
J. Whorl (spilschijf): A pulley which is placed on the spindle, is connected with the flyer, and is driven by the drive belt. The different dimensions of the grooves in the whorl determine how fast the wheel is spinning and have an important impact on the ratio of the spinning wheel. With ratio is meant how many times the flyer goes around with one turn of the wheel. The higher the number, the faster the wheel spins.
K. Drive belt (aandrijfsnaar): A cord placed around the wheel and whorl, which thus transfers the rotation of the wheel onto the other parts of the wheel. Modern spinning wheels typically have a flexible plastic drive belt, I use hemp packaging twine on mine.
L. Tension screw (stelschroef): This part is used to put tension on the drive belt by moving the Mother of All.
M. Orifice (spingat): The opening at the end of the flyer spindle, where the wool goes through before it is wound through the flyer hooks onto the bobbin.

In this post, I’ll tell you about the various types of spinning wheels.

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