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Fibre and Yarn ideas

Main PagePosted by John Hewitt Sat, July 24, 2010 14:16:18

Fibre and Yarn background

We have tried this year to continue to introduce new yarn and new materials; I will try to explain some of the ideas and work that goes behind our unique yarn types.

Explanation of our Worsted Spun Angora and Cashmere types

Our worsted spun Angora types follow the same idea and process route as our Cashmere type.

We have used longer staple fibre, the vast majority (99%) of Angora and Cashmere sold is short staple having a fibre length of around 35/40mm at best. By special purchase and selection we have used fibre that is around 50mm in average fibre length in top silver form. A combed top is the basis of worsted spinning and the combing process involved removes short fibre and combs the fibres so that they lie parallel to each other. The yarn produced thus locking in the fibres significantly reducing fibre los through pilling and producing a softer, leaner and most of all stronger yarn.

Traditional Woollen spun yarns are made from the shorter fibres are more prone to pilling as they are merely carded (rather than carded and then combed) and are much weaker.

Given that the vast majority of our customers are hand dyers we have designed these yarns to be sturdy and yet super soft with a better fitness for purpose.

Explanation of our Worsted Baby Alpaca types

Our worsted spun Alpaca types are all produced from Baby Alpaca, all of Peruvian origin.

Baby Alpaca represents the most fine material commercially produced, representing less than 20% of all Alpaca production and having the softest characteristics. The micron range is between 21.5 and 22.5 micron average fibre diameter, the average length being between 65/70mm. The combing process before spinning removes much of the short fibres to reduce fibre loss in the form of pilling.

Clearly most Alpaca production is coarser and harsher than the Baby Alpaca types we use and it is important that buyers are aware of the critical difference in fibre quality between our types and those of many other suppliers.

Explanation of our Worsted Merino Wool types

We use two types of Merino as a basis of the two ranges we sell.

We use a spongy soft standard merino wool of South American origin for our normal Merino wool types, These are worsted spun for strength and softness and to reduce pilling and we believe represent real value.

Our Organic Merino types have a full Australian pedigree and have been selected and processed under the GOTS programme of Organic certification. They are much softer than the standard merino and we believe are amongst the best quality of Merino commercially available, again these are worsted spun and so have all the attributes that that system of spinning provides in reduced pilling and better strength.

I will try to continue to develop the information on this blog and to provide help where I can

Many thanks!

John

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First Post!

Main PagePosted by John Hewitt Tue, March 09, 2010 19:46:20

About time I would say!

We have been thinking about the idea of a blog for some time and feel it is a good way to discuss some of the issues surrounding our web sales.

We hope that you will participate and whilst I cannot promise that this will be updated every week we will try and post news and ideas as often as we can.

Right now we are preparing for Handarbeit in Germany at the end of the month, we will be showing all of our full range of undyed yarns as well as launching our Soul Yarn range of handspun and handyed yarns.

We will also have examples of the Kitglobal knitting kits produced in association with Jeanette Sloan

Our stand number is IG02 - AC Wood Ltd

The biggest issue we have right now is the large increases in the cost of materials, most of the natural fibre markets have been moving upwards in price over the last few months and at some point this is bound to force us to increase our pricing as stock is replaced!

We will try to keep any increase to a minimum and are still determined to extend further the range and scope of our undyed yarns this year with pure Silk and Angora yarns

Well this is our first posting and we hope to keep you updated with news and events though the year!

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