Did you all know that Ewethful has a Monthly Fiber Club? That's right, fiber in the mail! The Fiber Club has been going strong for almost two years now with lots of happy members. I have been saying that the yarn club is just around the corner for awhile now and for whatever reason I never seem to turn that corner. So this it. 2020 you've pushed me over the edge and I'm announcing that Ewethful Yarn Club is coming! In fact pre-Sale for December is now available in our online shop. First a little about the Monthly Fiber Club. If you are a spinner this club is for you. Every month you get 3-4oz of fiber that has been washed, carded and comes to you fresh off the machines. Generally this is fiber I find in the PNW straight from the shepherds and shearers caring for these animals. The amount generally depends on how much I could source. In addition to the fiber you also get a specialty item in each box. It's like Christmas every month! It's amazing how many members not only spin the fiber every month but also complete a finished project. So inspiring! Now to introduce the Ewethful Yarn Club! I am so excited to finally make the time and get this Club up and running. So here is how it will work. This will be a quarterly mailing with different membership levels allowing you to spend a little or a little more than a little! Each mailing is of course a surprise! I know there are a lot of yarn subscription clubs out there but this one will be very different! You will not just be getting the same or similar yarn each month in different colors. Instead the yarn I create for the Club will made specially for members and just like the Fiber Club the focus will be using wools and animal fibers that we grow here in the PNW. Your yarn will be coming to you from the barn, to the Mill and then to your home. You'll literally "Know Your Wool." If you have mostly knit with commercially processed yarns, this will be a new experience for you! The different breeds of sheep and blends of fibers that I create will feel different, look different and definitely work up with its own unique character each quarter. The weights of the yarn will change dependent on how I think the finished yarn will work up. There will also be a mix between natural colored and dyed up yarns. So basically you never quite know what will be in the box. So fun! The levels of membership available are as follows and include shipping... One Sheep Level (click here to sign up): Single skein of yarn (generally 210 yards). $29/quarter Two Sheep Level (click here to sign up): Two skeins of yarn (totaling 420 yards). $55/quarter Black Sheep Level (click here to sign up): Two skeins of yarn (totaling 420 yards), a pattern and a specialty item. $65/quarter Membership in the Club will be limited simply because I need to source and make all the yarn! The first yarn will go out in December, making it a great gift for any yarnie person in your life (including yourself of course)! Because this will be all new to me, and space is limited, I have opened up some pre-sale spots that are now available in our online shop so please run and reserve your spot! You will be charged for your first month now and the next charge will happen automatically on your card in February 2021 (I will manually go in and adjust this charge date for you). After that you will be charged quarterly. So there you have it. 2020 has thrown so many curve balls our way I finally realized there will never be that perfect time to start the Club. Or maybe the perfect time is now! There are also a couple spots open in the Monthly Fiber Club so if you are a spinner and that is calling your name, now is the time! Sign up for Fiber Club here What a week it has been for those of us on the West coast. I hope all of you were and are able to stay home, stay safe and healthy, and craft on! Thank you for reading and commenting.
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I realize that when I talk about wool a lot of the terms I am using make no sense to the average person. So I thought I would do a couple posts talking specifically about wool and some of the most common terms and their meanings. One of the most important for making yarn is staple length so we'll start there. Staple length refers to the measured length of the wool coming off of any fiber animal. Depending on the animal, they get shorn every 3 - 12 months on average. Once the fleece is off the animal it is time to measure. Generally measuring starts at the shorn end - the part closest to the animal - following the fiber to the tip as shown in the picture. As you can see above the darkest wool on the left side of the ruler measures in at about 7 inches. Staple lengths vary not only from species, but between breeds, animals within the same breed and even the fiber on an individual animal can vary greatly. The picture labelled "same breed, different sheep" shows two locks of fiber from two different Ewethful Shetland sheep! They are the same breed, but one is almost 7" and the other is only just over 3". Generally specific species and breeds have a common reference point for staple lengths. Some examples: Alpaca tends to have an average staple length of 2-4inches if they are shorn once per year. Mohair is the fiber off of Angora goats. It has an average length of 4-6 inches when shorn twice per year. Angora is the fiber off of angora rabbits. It tends to have a staple length of 2-5 inches when shorn every 3 months. Sheep are all over the board because there are so many different breeds of sheep. 2-8 inches is a good range of where sheep's wool staple lengths tend to fall when shorn once per year to twice per year depending on the breed. So why is staple length important to know? Well for the average person, let's face it, it's not! But if you are a handspinner, it can make the difference between an easy and a challenging spin. There are two main reasons it helps spinners to know the staple length. 1. The shorter the fiber the more twist it will require to stay together when making yarn. Remember putting twist into a fiber is basically all it takes to make yarn (pictured below)! as you are drafting the ends of the fibers need to overlap each other while the twist is going in for the yarn to stay together. So shorter fibers need more twist per inch simply because otherwise the twist between those fibers may not be strong enough to keep those ends together. So while a 3" staple length fiber may need 6 twists per inch, a longer 7" fiber may only need 3 twists per inch as those fibers will overlap each other at a further difference as the twist goes in. This is a simplified way to try to explain this and only one way twist impacts your yarn. The thickness of your yarn also plays into twist, but we'll leave that for another day. 2. The shorter the staple length, the closer together you may need your hands to be when spinning. A longer staple length requires you to have your hands farther apart. This is pretty simple! If you're hands are only 2" apart but the fiber is 7" long, you run the risk of pinching your fiber so hard between your working fingers that the wheel can not take the fiber from you. Remember that in spinning the goal is the let the wheel take the fiber from you, not for you to be feeding it to the wheel. I think this happens a lot with beginning spinners because our grip on the fiber is a lot tighter as we are terrified the wheel is going to rip all the fiber out of our hands. Knowing staple length will help you better figure out how far apart or how close to have those two working hands. There are other reasons knowing staple length is important such as how are you going to process the wool? Handcard, comb or maybe a mill? And which mills process the staple length you have? At Ewethful for example I ask for a staple length between 2 - 6 inches, but other mills can process much longer or shorter fibers. The long and short of it (hahaha) is that the more you know about your wool the better your end yarn game is going to be! Ok you all. I hope that helped some of you spinners and non-spinners alike? Please please please feel free to ask questions. If I don't know the answer I know a lot of smart spinners out there that can help us out. As always thank you for reading! Stay healthy, wear your masks, be kind to all your neighbors and craft on!!! |
AuthorI am Kim Biegler, the owner and operator of Ewethful Fiber Farm & Mill. I create hand spinning fibers from locally sourced wool and teach others online how to hand spin their own yarn. Archives
August 2023
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