Category Archives: Fiber Preparation

Prefelt

Posted on April 17, 2013 by

There are two kinds of prefelt. One is needled prefelt. Commercial prefelt is done this way. It is needled just enough to hold together.  I use this sometimes, it works very well. I get it in small pieces and by the yard … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Fiber Preparation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

Wool Gathering

Posted on March 20, 2013 by

This past weekend, my husband and I went to pick up 200# of wool and took it to the processing plant. This is the wool that I will be using to build a yurt this summer. It was really exciting … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiber Preparation, natural wools, Sheep Farming | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Felt bird houses are coming along and a fun demo.

Posted on March 14, 2013 by

Slowly the bird houses are coming along. They are now decorated, wet down. They have been rubbed and rolled and stuffed into the tops of pantyhose. They are ready to full. With some luck that will be tomorrows job. Two days … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Fairs and Shows, Fiber Preparation, Spinning, Wool | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Dyeing Silk with MX Dye

Posted on June 13, 2012 by

I dye my own silk and one of the ways I do that is with MX dye. MX Dye is a fiber reactive dye and works on cellulose or plant fibers like cotton , linen and hemp. It also works on silk. … Continue reading →

Posted in Dyeing, Fiber Preparation, Other Fibers, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Washing Some Wool

Posted on March 13, 2012 by

This weekend I decided to wash some of the masses of raw wool I have. This is a small piece from one of my sheep she is a mixed breed meat sheep. Here it is before washing. I put it … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiber Preparation, Sheep Farming, Wool | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

What To Do With All The Little Bits Or Fun Batts

Posted on February 16, 2012 by

Last week I sorted out my wool and put all the decent size pieces on the new shelves. this left me with a lot of little bits. I usually keep bins of little bits to use as accents. Now I … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiber Preparation, Uncategorized, Wool | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Stock Solutions for Accurate Dyeing

Posted on December 9, 2011 by

There is another way to do small or large amounts and get the same results each time.  The easiest and safest way is to make a stock solution.  It’s safest because dyes are most dangerous in there powder form, when the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dyeing, Fiber Preparation, Wool | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Direct Dyeing

Posted on December 8, 2011 by

Direct dyeing is a method where the dye is applied directly to the fibre. This can be done with very small or fairly large amounts of fibre depending on what utensils are available to you, but it is particularly good for … Continue reading →

Posted in Dyeing, Fiber Preparation, Tutorials, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Degumming Silk Throwsters Waste

Posted on December 6, 2011 by

A few years ago I was given some gorgeous multi-coloured Throwsters waste in a fibre swap. I’ve always used it sparingly, worried it’d run out and I’d have to begrudgingly pay a ridiculous amount of money for a tiny handful. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiber Preparation, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 13 Comments

A tutorial: how to make roving with a drum carder

Posted on November 30, 2011 by

After you have carded your wool and it is still on the drum you might like to have it as roving instead of a batt. This will show you how to use a simple diz to do that.  You can … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiber Preparation, Tutorials, Wool | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments