Spinning Hand Carded Qiviut; Some Bling: Naturally Dyed Icicle

Over a foot of snow is predicted to fall in Southern Vermont tomorrow, but inside my dye studio it is Spring! Seeds have been sown and quite a few seedlings have already sprouted, stretching towards grow lights. Dye seeds such as woad, weld and dyer's cosmos join other old favorites, not necessarily chosen for dyeing qualities, like lobelia, snapdragons, violas, calendula and tomatoes. Other seeds will have to wait until the ground warms for direct planting, such as pumpkins and sunflowers...oh, and of course, potatoes.

Some folks wouldn't consider starting plants from seeds...too much bother. I've heard one person equate growing seedlings with a bad, long-term babysitting job. True, seeds need care and nurturing to nudge them into becoming strong plants. Maybe I need to sow seeds because my nest is almost empty. Maybe it's because I like tending to green things that don't have an attitude, unlike a 19-year-old that I know and love. Maybe I'm a control freak. Maybe I'm tired of Winter's seemingly never-ending grip. Whatever. Growing plants from seeds is satisfying to the spider. The above photo shows seed trays bursting with potential.

How 'bout this color to stand out in a snowstorm? The fiber is 100% nylon, originally brilliant white, and sold as "Icicle" by Louet. This batch was solar and naturally dyed using Lac extract from Earthues, with an assist of citric acid, plus the liquor from soaking, Vermont-grown, black walnut hulls. In my dye notes, I find no indication of a pre-mordant used. Perhaps I was counting on the tannins present in the black walnuts? Hmm...in any case, the unspun fiber dyed in a range from bright orangish-red to a darker maroon.

I spun the icicle on my Schacht "Matchless" wheel; set in Scotch-tension mode; 9:1 ratio; short backwards draw; repackaged on two empty bobbins (Louet fat-core, in this case).

And here's the final 2-ply icicle...soft and sitting pretty in a cup I bought on a trip to England and Wales a few years ago.

What's this spun bling to be for? It'll be used to put the final touches on my handspun cashmere/merino, Elizabeth Zimmermann designed, "German" shawl. For a peek, do see the past post, Winterlude. Yes, I know that I've never shown the entire knitted shawl. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for THE BOOK to be published for that! What's THE BOOK? Please see the past post, Silk, Silk Blends & THE BOOK. (Kind and Gentle Readers: Sorry for the rather frequent unabashed advertising of THE BOOK...the spider gets new readers to the blog all the time, so we can't leave them in the dark...now can we?!!)

From Judith, a wonderful reader of this blog, comes this recent comment:

I would love some tips on spinning raw qiviut, as I've come into a small quantity from a museum colleague. Most of it is off tundra bushes, and some is a bit sun-degraded, but most of it is lovely. It's just really difficult to draft into a consistent fine single. A consistent thick single is apparently impossible. Carding with hand-cards is also a bust as it rolls into little balls (although that is just as likely my inexperience!)

Glad to oblige, Judith! Thank you for your request. The following is a pictorial and typed account of some recent encounters with qiviut, which is none other than Musk Ox down. For further info, see Wikipedia's write-up on Qiviut.

One thing I'd like to address is qiviut in relation to Judith's comment: "A consistent thick single is apparently impossible." First of all, qiviut is bloody expensive. A finer yarn will have more yardage and be cheaper because it will weigh less than a thicker yarn. Consider a lace stitch when working with qiviut. Second of all, qiviut is amazingly warm. If one wants to make a thick yarn with qiviut, one should perhaps best live in the Arctic...qiviut is that toasty. And thirdly, qiviut is quite short. Though a thicker yarn needs less twist to make it stable, a thicker yarn also needs long enough fiber to even go around and hold the yarn together. A thinner yarn needs more twist to make it stable and the length of the qiviut fiber will easily go around enough to hold together.

In my stash I have two bags of qiviut. One bag I purchased several years ago when I lived in Canada. It is 50 grams from Banks Island, NWT and declares on the tag that "most guard hairs are removed." Well, if the guard hairs have mostly been taken out, I can only imagine how hairy the Musk Ox that this fiber came off of must be! The batch has got to be half hair; no less.

The other bag of qiviut was given to me as a prize after winning a spinning contest in Tasmania. For more on that story, please see Jazzy Blue Beaded Handspun Socks and Details, Details.....

This is the Tasmania-won qiviut. I'll explain the little brass comb in a moment... Can you see the white, dit-dots within the qiviut? They are skin flakes.

This is the hairy, NWT's qiviut. The photo shows how one's fingers become important tools to pick out the hairs from the down.

This little comb was purchased at a sporting goods store in the fishing department. I'm not quite sure how it's intended to be used in fly fishing, but it does make a dandy remover of icky, Musk Ox skin flakes and tiny, short bits of fibers.

I used my Louet cotton cards to make punis out of the qiviut. Please see the past posts, Making Punis and More on Punis, for how to make a puni.

I used my "Royale Hare" supported, brass spindle to spin the punis of qiviut. I bought mine years ago and it's nice to see that these spindles are still available. The spun yarn gets stored above the whorl, as in any low whorl spindle.

In order to spin on this spindle, you must "candy cane" up to the tip.

Like a Great or Walking Wheel, the twist gets inserted into the fiber as the yarn flicks off the turning tip. Obviously, on a Great Wheel, the spindle is horizontal...on the Royale Hare supported spindle, the spindle is vertical. One hand must turn the spindle of the Royale Hare...a flicking motion done between the thumb and other fingers. The spindle rotates freely in its own brass base.

And another view...What you don't see is how I can let go of the spindle with my right hand and use this hand to perform a two-handed draw, if I want...not unlike one would do with any drop spindle. The qiviut was not exactly sticky, but it resisted spinning nicely with a one-handed draw. It's good to have a second hand to tug against under these circumstances.

When ready to wind freshly spun yarn above the whorl, turn the spindle counter-clockwise (that is, if you spun clockwise to put twist into the yarn) until the just-spun yarn comes from near the base of the whorl; then reverse direction and and wind clockwise again into a cop. Candy-cane up the spindle (clockwise) to the tip in order to continue spinning. Be sure to leave enough "lead" yarn coming from the tip before you commence spinning.

Now I could pretend and say I spun up the bagful of qiviut in the above manner. That would be a bald-faced lie. It wasn't awful to spin the 100% qiviut or anything. It's just that I wanted something with a bit more zing in the end. So, I made rolags with a blend of qiviut and Silk Latte.

And spun it on my Bosworth purpleheart high whorl spindle, gifted to me by my friend, Lorry, in England. For more on that yarn and what it will be for, you'll have to wait until next week's post.

Lastly, I've received some lovely e-mails from a variety of folks requesting beginning spinning information. Hey you wonderful spinners out there, how about some suggestions on what YOU found useful to help YOU begin to make yarn? I'm looking for your favorite books, websites, videos, tools, etc. that aided YOU as a beginning spinner.

What I suggested was:
Book: "Hands On Spinning," by Lee Raven, Interweave Press.
Magazine: Spin-Off by Interweave Press and all the back issues of Spin-Off you can find.
Video/DVD: "Spinning Wool - Basics and Beyond," by Patsy Zawistoski.
Guild: Finding and joining a local spinning guild or starting one yourself.

New spinners: What topics would YOU like to see covered on this blog? Please don't be shy! It would be fantastic to address at least one beginning spinner's question each and every post. Thanks!!