Spinner's Treat

All of us as spinners learn to spin with fiber of some sort.  As we get more consistent and more confident we usually broaden our view and look for other fibers to try.  Here is the perfect gift for that new spinner - eight different fibers to play with.  There is a generous ounce of each so the spinner can get a feel for the fiber.  Do you love it or hate it?  If you hate it you haven't wasted a bunch of money buying a huge amount.  But if you love it you have one more fun fiber to play with.  We have more of each of these so just let us know if you want more.

 

This is a good gift for more advanced spinners, too.  Most of us get rut bound at some point - spinning what we love but not tasting other things that we might love.  Here is a real treat for any spinner.

 

Here is what is included in the Treat:

BFL Wool - Blue-Faced Leicester, or BFL, is a long wool breed of sheep from the British Isles.  The skin of the face is dark blue/black and shows through the facial hair making the face look blue.  The wool is very soft for a long wool breed and has some luster.  The fleece forms fine curly locks that are soft and silky.  (Staple length 3 to 6”).

Gotland Wool - Gotland sheep hale from Gotland Island in Sweden but are now found all over the world.  Gotland wool was used to weave the elfin cloaks for the Lord of the Ring movies made in New Zealand.  The wool is long, fine, dense and lustrous with distinctive curls.  (Staple length 3 to 7"). 

Polwarth/Silk Blend - This blend is 85% Polwarth wool and 15% Silk.  The Polwarth sheep was developed in Australia in the late 1800's.  The wool is slightly coarser than the Merino but of longer staple length.  It is still next-to-the-skin soft and is often blended with silk.  Spun worsted it will give a strong durable yarn and when spun woolen makes a lofty knitting yarn.  (Staple length 4 to 5.5”).

19 Micron Merino Wool - The Merino sheep is an old breed of sheep originally from Spain that spread across Europe and the world in the 1800's.  It was the first sheep introduced to New Zealand.  The wool is wonderfully soft being fine to very fine.  (Staple length 2.5 to 4”).  At 19 microns in diameter, this Merino is the finest of the fine.

Portee - Super Wash Merino - This blend is 85% Super Wash Merino Wool and 15% Nylon.  The Merino wool has been treated to remove the scales that allow the wool fibers to felt.  As a result, yarn made with this fiber is perfect for finished items that may need to be washed often.  These scarves or hats or blankets or socks can be washed in the washing machine on delicate settings and still keep their shape and size.

Phantom - This wool comes from an animal that is cross between a CVM sheep and a Wensleydale sheep.  The CVM is very similar to Merino having short but very soft fiber.  The Wensleydale is a long wool breed with much luster.  This particular cross gives us a fiber that is long and lustrous like the Wensleydale but still soft like the CVM.  (Staple length is 8").

Raw Supima Cotton - This particular Supima Cotton was grown here at Sky Loom Weavers.  We used llama poo from my llamas as fertilizer.  No pesticides were used on the plants.  The cotton bolls were hand picked so there is only a limited amount of leaf debris in the fiber.  This is raw so it still contains the seeds.

Flax Roving - This flax was grown in Belgium and was water retted rather than dew retted.  The color is a softer brown as a result.  The natural fiber length is nearly 36" so the fibers have been cut to offer easier spinning.   This can be wet or dry spun.  Wet spinning will produce a smoother yarn.

The Spinner's Treat is going up on the website right now.  It is included in our current sale so you can get 15% off until day's end on Monday.