A new article for a new year! My latest article “Mechanical Properties: Choosing the Perfect Fiber” was just published on the Farm & Fiber Knits’ website. It discusses how the mechanical properties of fibers change how yarns react and how to choose appropriate yarns for your knitting projects. I explain how the properties of tenacity, […]
Fibers
How To Transform A Raw Fleece Into Clean Wool
I recently attended the Connecticut Sheep, Wool, and Fiber Fest. I went thinking I would only buy washed and prepped wool, but walked away with a six pounds (2.7 kg) Corriedale/Cormo/Romney cross raw fleece. A raw fleece is any fleece that has not been washed or otherwise prepared for crafting. Raw fleeces have only been […]
Azlons: The Lost Regenerated Fibers
What are azlons? Azlons are regenerated protein fibers. Proteins are molecules made of long chains of amino acids found in plants and animals. Azlons are known as regenerated because proteins are taken from natural sources and reformed into usable fibers. Historically, many sources of animal and plant proteins were used such as eggs, gelatine, feathers, […]
Fabulous Fibers: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral (and Synthetic too)
As I discussed in my last post, textiles are all made out of fibers. But what are fibers? Fibers are the small units that make up textiles. If you pull out a single strand from a clump of wool, you’ve got yourself a wool fiber. Animal Fibers Fibers are categorized by their origin. Animal (also […]