Felt Rainbow and Yak Sample
In my last post, I had a photo of a rainbow piece I’d laid out for felting, I reworked the green and yellow part a little bit then felted it.
I’d used a top layer of drum carded batts I’d made from texturey wool, so the surface has an interesting texture:
Supermacro showing one of the wool locks:
I got a World of Wool order last week. One of the things I ordered was de-haired Yak fibre. A while ago, Marilyn sent me some Yak fibre to try and I loved it before I even felted it, it was so soft! After felting it, I knew I had to get enough to make a scarf, so ordered some. That was before I spent three hours on my knees making a scarf and vowing never again! 🙂 I realised a few days ago though, I have an old door I can put over my table, which should do for scarf making until I find something better. So, I thought I should make a sample to work out shrinkage and see if my Yak feels as good as Marilyns. I laid out two fine layers, which is not as easy as laying out Merino. I added some of Marilyn’s fibre as surface decoration:
Sorry the pictures aren’t great again, but this is it after felting. I haven’t worked out the shrinkage rate yet (I had accounts to do this week and have had enough of maths!) but there wasn’t much, it started out 20cm x 66cm and ended up 18.5 x 61.5cm. This is after felting:
And this is a slightly better photo of it close up.
My girlfriend (who has never felted in her life, but has no idea just how much felting info she has absorbed) said the way it felted in soft ripples reminded her of Karakul. It feels so unbelievably soft, even softer than alpaca and cashmere! Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for another birthday giveaway 🙂
22 thoughts on “Felt Rainbow and Yak Sample”
The rainbow scarf turned out well.
I love yak, so incredibly soft, but it does take ages to lay out, probably because it has such a short staple.
I hadn’t heard of Karakul and hadn’t realised it is Astrakan or Persian lamb. I remember my aunt having such a coat when I was a child. It was beautiful, but I didn’t know this:- 🙁
http://www.infurmation.com/downloads/pdfs/karakul.pdf
Thanks, Judith 🙂
Yeah, I hadn’t heard about the skinning for coats and hats, but recognised them from when I was little too, and that Hamid Karzai wears one. You can get karakul wool the usual way from shearing though. Deborah from Felter’s Journey has used it. http://feltersjourney.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/february-fibre-of-month-karakul.html
Yak, even the name is statement enough! Will have to get my hands on some Yak and get yaking! Thanks Zed!
Enjoy yaking, Fleur 🙂
Just spent a lovely time at the Harrogate show with lots of felty goodness, including Yak wool! Nice scarf.
Thanks, Cathy 🙂
I’m jealous of your day out!
I see Marilyn also got you into the Yak! I fell in love with it, it’s sooooo soft! I bet your scarf is, too 😀 Well done! I’m glad you haven’t given up on scarf making, haha!
Thanks, Leonor 🙂
The real test will be if I can use my door as a table and cut the time and aches. Yak really is unbelievably soft, and not just fine Merino Soft or silky Alpaca soft, but even softer!
The rainbow piece came out really nicely and the yak scarf is great. I had the hardest time felting yak when I tried it. It took forever and just kept floating apart. It did finally felt but didn’t shrink hardly at all. Glad you thought of using the door for scarves, that should be helpful.
Thanks, Ruth 🙂
I expected it to be difficult the first time I tried it and thought it’d be like alpaca, but I was surprised just how easy and quick it was. It doesn’t shrink much does it? I made this sample because my other started at 17.8 cm and finished 17cm, not enough to be accurate, I thought.
The rainbow piece is scrummy – I like the addition of the locks.
Either you have a modern door (hollow and made of matchwood) to lift on and off your table or you have a solid wooden one and muscles like Atlas.
The scarf looks wonderful – it’s a shame we can’t stroke the monitor screen to get an idea of how soft it is.
Thanks, Lyn 🙂
A bit of both, I think, but yeah, it’s a modern door, not quite hollow, but has something resembling toilet roll tube slices in it!
That’d help the fibre buying process if we could touch through the screen!
Love the yak scarf as I do favor those neutral colors. I have a tiny bit of yak fiber and love the softness. That will be a dream around your neck!
I love neutral colours too, as much as I liked the blue/purple scarf, I think a brown yak one will suit me better 🙂
Hello Zed, your rainbow scarf is very pretty.. Your Yak scarf is also gorgeous… I have never touch Yak but it sounds heavenly soft. I think the softest fiber I have touch is Cormo wool,,
Thanks, Judy 🙂
The closest thing in softness I’ve felt is the kapok fibre I got recently, both are so soft it feels like you’re not touching anything, just have a soft, smooth sensation.
The rainbow turned out really well. The yak looks lovely. I like natural brown colours. I have some camel down I haven’t used . I am saving it for something special.
Thanks, Ann 🙂
Is the camel down soft too?
yes, very soft
Both pieces are beautiful Zed. The yak is so soft and shiny after felting, it’s really amazing. Looking at the animal you’d never guess it.
Would Yak be too soft to make a handbag with?. What if I added alpaca or merino to it?
Yes, definitely too soft. I made a scarf and after one winter’s wear it started to get a bit thin in places where it started to stretch. I personally wouldn’t recommend alpaca either-too hairy and loose. Merino can be fulled really firmly if you want a really sturdy bag, for anything softer I’d recommend nuno, I know from experience that bags pill/bobble a lot where they rub against the body.