Haymarket in Whitewater

In last week's blog while telling you about the Lorna's Laces contest I talked a little about Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) wool as an introduction to protein fibers. Lorna's Laces Haymarket and 6 other yarns that we carry contain BFL specifically.

Yarns made from protein fibers are probably the most commonly used fibers by knitters in North America and Great Britain. Protein fibers are fibers harvested from animals, usually by shearing or plucking their coats. Sheep of course are what most people think of when they think of animals that give us fiber but there are many animals that humans have used for their fiber throughout the ages.

Most of the animals from which we obtain fiber have been domesticated for centuries and sometimes bred for certain characteristics. For instance; good muscling, wool/coat qualities, hardiness and docility. Many of the characteristics that we humans find desirable in a domestic animal are juvenile traits which tends to make an animal unsuited to life in the wild. Your typical sheep, for example, would not survive in the wild because it has been breed to continue to grow its softer undercoat and must be sheared periodically. Wild sheep shed this softer undercoat once or twice a year.  When left unshorn, a woolly, domestic sheep will eventually not be able to move and will eventually die.

Here are some of the animals from which fibers can be obtained:

Sheep:
There are hundreds of different sheep breeds the world over that produce all types of wool. Sheep are one of the oldest domesticated animals. I'll talk about specific breeds in various up coming posts but if you want to read about some you can at Sheep 101

Goats:
Just like sheep, goats have been domesticated for thousands of years and some are also dependent on humans because of the need to be sheared. The two main varieties of fiber goats are: Angora goats originated in the Ankara region of Turkey and yield mohair and Cashmere which yields cashmere fiber. Other common types of goats used for fiber are Cashgora (a cross of cashmere and angora) and Pashmina which is a breed of goat from high in the Himalayas of Nepal, Pakistan and Northern India from which a very fine fiber is harvested.

Rabbits:
Angora rabbits which been breed by humans for centuries are also from the Ankara region of Turkey and yield angora.
 
Camelids:
Camel
Llama
Alpaca (they come in two types)
     -huacaya (regular type of alpaca)
     -suri (these have long, silky coats that look a bit like dreadlocks)
Vicuna (likely wild ancestor of alpacas)
Guanaco (wild ancestor of llamas)

Various other animals:
Yak
Bison
Muskox - this is where Qiviut comes from
Brush tail possum
Mink
Cats
Dogs

Please let me know if I've missed an animal!  Fiber enthusiasts can be a creative lot, spinners in particular. I've known spinners to try to spin just about anything, including dryer lint!

Next week I'll spotlight one of these fibers.

Now to change gears a bit. It looks like we have quite a few people joining me to knit The Great American Aran Afghan! Anyone is welcome to join in, even if you've already started the afghan and just want a little company during your project. You can work at your own pace and knit as many or as few of the squares as you like. Beginners, don't be bashful, this is a great way to expand your skill without a big commitment.  Try the easier squares first, then try one that pushes you a little, you'll be surprised how much you improve.  Each square is knit one stitch at a time, one row at a time just like any other project.  Everything is composed of knits, purls, yarn overs, knitting 2 together, SSK, and some Make 1s, along with changing the order in which you knit stitches.  There is plenty of help if you join our Ravelry group thread. You can also come into the shop or email me your questions.

So far I've started with the square on page 22 of the book and I'll choose another square soon for September's choices.  So far, I've only had time to work a couple of inches of mine but the resulting fabirc is so soft and squooshy!  I'm using the new Cascade Longwood, in case you were wondering. :)

So come join us and we'll make this beautiful afghan together!


One little tidbit of good news if you're visiting us in Reno, the city has put up a new street sign at the intersection of McCarran and Capital Blvd!!!  This should make it easier to find the street where we are located. We love to meet our out-of-town customers and look forward to showing you around on your next visit!


Have fun, don't stress and enjoy!  I'm here to help as are many of our fellow knitters on Ravelry!

Please send your questions to askTerry (at) jimmybeanswool (dot) com.

Happy knitting!
Terry

As I ponder which fiber to write about next and how not to repeat information that has been repeated a thousand times in a thousand other blogs and articles, I'm wondering: What do you want to know? What is useful to you?  What is interesting to you? Which fiber would you like me to discuss next?  I'm very interested in making my posts about what YOU want!

I started with the plant based fibers because, in my perception, knitters in general tend to have the least experience with and knowledge about them.  Crocheters tend to understand a bit more about how cotton works since most crochet threads are made of cotton.  Sewists are usually very familiar with plant fibers since most commonly available fabrics and the easiest to learn with are cotton or cotton blends.

Protein fibers seem to be what knitters are most familiar with, since most yarns that have been available over the centuries for knitting have been some type of sheep's wool. Where sheep were not native or traditionally raised, other fur bearing animal fibers have been used instead.  Many of these lesser known fibers have been making their way into the yarn shops over the past couple of decades.  Today we have quite the selection of protein fibers available to us: wools from many different breeds of sheep, alpaca, llama, yak, mohair, angora, cashmere, bison, qiviut, possum, mink, dog, cat, camel, guanaco, vacuna, and of course silk! And, I'm sure there are some I missed!  So you see my dilemma?  What do I start with and how in depth should I go? I would love to hear from you!  Tell me your interests, questions, "I've always wondered....?"

The various protein fibers have a few things in common.  First let me say that when I say 'protein fibers' in this context, I mean naturally occurring fibers from animal sources.  I mention this because there are also man-made protein fibers sourced from food production wastes like soy and milk.  These fibers are made in a similar fashion as rayon and have properties that are more rayon-like than natural animal fibers.

As I mentioned in last weeks post 'Blooming Plant Fibers' Friday June 21st, animal based fibers, except for silk, all have scales.  These microscopic, overlapping scales help the fibers hang together, give the fibers some elasticity, and they allow air space within each fiber strand which helps to hold in warmth.  Just the thing an animal that lives in a cold climate needs to stay toasty warm!  And why humans learned to use these fibers to also stay warm.  Each fiber has different sized scales-- smaller scales refract the light and gives the fiber softer sheen, larger scales allow a more brilliant sheen.  So the finest merino wool has a soft, almost matte like sheen and adult mohair has an awesome shiny luster and takes dye vibrantly.

The other thing that most animal fibers (except silk) have is 'crimp'.  Crimp refers to the natural wave the fibers have.  In general, and especially with sheep's wool, the finer the diameter of a strand of fiber, the more crimps per inch it also has.  So, the finest merino wools have many crimps per inch and the coarsest have the fewest, like adult mohair.  More crimps give more springy-ness and elasticity to a yarn (of course how the yarn is constructed also contributes, more about that in a future post), fewer crimps give more drape and less stretch.

Another area that protein fibers differ from plant fibers is the pH range that is damaging to the fibers.  Plant fibers are generally tolerant of alkaline conditions, this is why we can use common household bleach on cottons and linens without a severe amount of damage, but they do not tolerate acids as well. Protein fibers tolerate acids much better but are damaged by alkali.  Household bleach is alkaline.  For those of you wondering, this is why it's very difficult to find bright white wool for that wedding shawl you want to make.  Again silk is the exception to these generalities.  The pH tolerance of fibers is important to know when dying fibers, as there are different types of dyes used on the different types of fibers.  In general you use what is called a fiber reactive dye, alkali (soda ash) and a cold process on plant fibers.  On animal fibers you use an acid dye, vinegar, and a heating process. Silk can be dyed with either type of dye.  Then there is a third type of dye called a Union dye that also works on both types of fibers but does do slight damage to animal fibers.  The Union dye that you will most likely be familiar with is Rite Dye.

Next I'll be discussing whichever fiber you help me choose so let me hear from you!  Either leave a comment or email me at askTerry (at) jimmybeanswool (dot) com.

Terry