95 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
95 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
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---
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title: spinning plants
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image:
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src: 2026/plant-handspun.jpg
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alt: "6 small skeins of handspun yarn, each made from a different plant fiber. from top, we have flax (medium brown, rough); what is probably lotus (golden, shiny and soft); banana (white and semi shiny); hemp (light brown, rough); tencel (white and very shiny); ramie (a particularly small skein, white and semi shiny)"
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tags:
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- reference
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- yarn
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---
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> work in progress! To be updated as I continue spinning.
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in picture, from top:
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1. flax
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1. (probably) lotus
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1. banana
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1. hemp
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1. tencel
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1. rose
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1. ramie
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notes on handspinning various plant fibers. Fibers were purchased as a [sample pack from Hearthside Fibers](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1141552359/plant-based-fiber-top-sampler-pack-vegan){target="_blank" rel="external"}. Unfortunately, I spun the first sample - flax - in 2023, so don't have thoughts on that left in my head. I also received a mystery sample along with the 12 named samples that *may* have been lotus - it's the smallest skein in the image. The lotus was also spun in 2023.
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- overall, these are broadly more slippery than wool
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- most if not all of these benefitted from pre-drafting moreso than I usually do for wool
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## ease of spinning
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- **easy:** flax, hemp
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- **middling:** banana, tencel
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- **hard:** rose
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- **worst:** ramie
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## texture (of final yarn)
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- **softest:** rose
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- **pleasant:** banana, tencel
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- **meh:** ramie
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- **itchy:** hemp, flax
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## density/thickness
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I am estimating this via yards per gram of fiber. Other than the flax and lotus (can't promise anything there), I aimed for my average spin with all of these and spun them on the same tool (Wheeliam, an Ashford Kiwi 3). Per-fiber notes mention whether they spun thick or thin if notable.
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| fiber | yards | grams | yds/g |
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|---|---|---|---|
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| banana | 33 | 22 | 1.50 |
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| flax | 33 | 27 | 1.22 |
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| hemp | 41 | 26 | 1.58 |
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| lotus | 16 | 12 | 1.33 |
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| rose | 60 | 29 | 2.07 |
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| tencel | 31 | 29 | 1.07 |
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| ramie | 7.5 | 5 | 1.5 |
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## per-fiber breakdown
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written up in order of spinning.
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### banana
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- felt a bit wear-y on the hands - that may have been the silk I spun earlier that day though
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- a bit hard to draft, quite liked to stick to itself and clump, but once moving was *quite* slippery
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### hemp
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- awful feeling. awful awful awful. hate.
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- easy to spin
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- quite grippy
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- easy joins
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- difficult to tell apart from stray plant matter
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### rose
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- incredibly soft; shiny and very pretty
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- quite difficult to spin
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- wanted to spin thin
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- joins were tough, it's quite slippery
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- needed slow and careful drafting because of the above - I brought my wheel down to a lower ratio which is rare
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### tencel
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- also felt a bit wear-y like banana
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- spun a bit thick and liked to clump
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- not as bad as rose on the slippery front
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- very shiny, almost glittery in spots
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- dense and spun up fast
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### ramie
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- hated this
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- slippery af
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- **constantly** splitting all over the place so I couldn't keep the fibers aligned in the slightest
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- stopped after 5g because it sucked and I didn't care to finish it
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