Weird Fibers

I've been thinking about the fiber that I've got left for spinning, and it really isn't much, but I'm going to just go ahead and spin it. I've got four or five packages of roving, probably +/- 4 ounces each, I've got a a little more roving that is red and black, and I've got a whole fleece processed at Starcroft Fiber Mill -- it's a black fleece (Romney? I forget) that Tracy and I split, but in the end she let me buy her half back again, and that's four pounds. I think I can spin it all in about a year, maybe half a year if I keep on the way I have been. But then ... I won't have anything left to spin! Yikes!

That got me thinking about buying some cool fiber, and THAT got me looking on the internet, and I ultimately found that spinners are seriously whacked. Seriously. Whacked. They will spin anything that is even slightly animal, and any animal, wild animals included, just to try out the fiber. 

I knew that spinners will spin wool, any member of the camelid family (like llamas and alpacas and vicunas and, well, camels), bunnies, dogs, cats, buffalo, musk ox ... and several kinds of plant fibers, like cotton, linen, hemp, bamboo, and other stuff, like silk. But here are some of the more outrageous types of spinning fibers that people have actually tried:

1. Grizzly bear -- Fleegle has posted about this on her blog. 
2. Lion hair
3. Dust Bunnies (they're spinnable, but make truly yucky yarn)
4. Dandelion Fluff and Milkweed down and Cattails
5. Green nettle fiber and cedar fiber
6. Paper (including comic  books) and shredded soda bottles
7. Cotton balls, dryer lint, and kapok
8. Arctic Fox and red deer and timberwolf and elk
9. Highland cattle and pony fur
10. Owl pellets
11. Human hair

All in all, this stuff sounds like it's more trouble than it's worth, so I'm sticking to what I can find easily, preferably roving, preferably hand-dyed by someone else. What luxury!

 

Comments

[Brandi]

Send me your addy girl... I'll send ya something to spin:)

[Kristin]

Hi Beth,
I wanted to let you know that we have some roving from Purple Fleece and will be getting more from On The Round soon. And, we are having a book signing with Adrienne Martini, who wrote a book called "Sweater Quest". The theme of the book is about her deciding to knit an Alice Starmore project from an old book, with long discontinued yarns. Sound familiar? I thought you might be interested.
Kristin

[Beth Collins]

Thanks Brandi and Kristin! I have much to spin before venturing into new fiber :) I must say, I like the look of your fiber, Brandi!

Kristin, that quest sounds familiar!