At 03:24 PM 10/22/2005, you wrote:
1) Should a harvest by plucking have fibers of such varying length? The majority of guard and undercoat fibers were about 5 cm (a bit over 2 inches).
In my experience with my own rabbits, yes, you get a variance of length. Think of it like your own hair. Even if you cut it, some of it falls out periodically and is replaced (no matter the length). So at any given time there will be a variation of lengths in the coat - HOWEVER, plucking is by necessity a "selective" process. You tend to get ahold of the longer stuff first leaving behind the shorter (and yes, you can pluck a bunny so it's not naked). So, it should be more homogenous than if you mow the critter (used to do this for summer wear too..). Plucking (unless they're stripping the bun) should result in fiber that is more homogenous rather than less. If they strip out the critter, then the "shorter" pluck will also be in an area together (wherever they lay it as the pluck continues). If the plucker just stacks it up in a box (vs. sorting the lengths) then you could have areas of shorter stuff in "clumps" and areas with longer pluck. Keep in mind that 2" is pretty darned short too. I used to try to hold off until my stuff approached 6" if I could (season of course would dictate in our heat and humidity). And of course the closer you get to the long stuff, the more danger the bunny is healthwise (grooming the long stuff and impacting the digestive tract). You will pay accordingly (for the longer length as well as better sorted fibers at shorter length) but the longer the fiber, the less twist you have to have to "hold" it in. It goes without saying that the more "selective" (ie. more waste to a product) the process the more expensive and intensive the labor.
2) If I spin 2-3" angora carded with 4" wool locks, should I spin to accommodate the shortest fiber?
You have to. No choice. The rule of thumb for that (al la Mabel Ross) which has never led me astray is nothing more than 25% variance from short to long. Anything less and you are depending on locking in the short stuff without any appreciable twist in the short stuff (your fingers tend to skip the shorter stuff and you simply lay in tuffs without getting twist or appreciable drafting into it). You're pushing the outside edges of that 25% variation with anything shorter than 3" in your pluck. The more of it below the 3" area the more fiber there is that "pushes" the limits. The "rule" that goes along with it (governing tpi for stuff like this and also grist spun) is that each fiber should be able to bend around the single at least 2 1/2 times. Less than the 2 1/2 times and the same thing applies about shedding (even with good length). As noted above even with homogeneous length, if you spin it too loosely (remember the rule of diminishing returns though.. <LOL>) it falls out too. Too much twist binds it flat to the yarn with little or no halo (depending on end lengths sticking out to create). Yes you can create nice soft flat angora rope without perceptible halo too <LOL>. Sample, sample, sample.. but of course being the thinking, considering spinner you are, June, it's something you're already doing and would do in any case (also why you're obviously asking the questions to sidestep the inevitable pitfalls). Keep fine slippery, short fibers in fine grists with more twist for best results.
If I didn't spin it hard, would the shorter angora fibers shed out?
Yep. Depending on the circumstances and the amount of difference you could actually end up (with slippery fibers like angora) actually wearing/washing/abrading nearly all the fibers out eventually. If the variance were (for instance) 50% then the likelihood that any of the fibers would be spun at all in would be much less than if the variance were 25%. The likelihood would drop considerably if your overall lengths varied say, 10% because then only the extremes of the pluck would be a "problem child" (those really short things that would tend to creep in). In some cases the twist wouldn't even matter much (think of the extremes - putting very short fiber into a staple of 6-8" for instance). You could twist your brains out and you'll still have those fibers just laid in rather than spun in.
If the fiber were coarse the same would be true. The texture tends to make the wool stand up (think of it like soft steel wool) and shed more easily. You wouldn't want to mix a true carpet grade wool (like Lincoln for instance) with angora. It would have a hard time holding onto the included fibers even with good length match and high twist. Think of how hard the twist is applied to icelandic fleece to bind in the undercoat on a true Lopi yarn (style not brand). Even "caging" the undercoat in that hard twist (you can't even ply the stuff because you need as much twist as possible to keep it in place) the undercoat tends to "migrate" out until it "felts" up inside the "cage" (as it tends to do with a few washings). Of course with angora you want the halo so this isn't an option that most people would take.
The higher the variation in staple length, the more likely the angora (or any short slippery fine fiber) would tend to migrate out (by various means). Matter of fact when I spin in cashmere (the really short fine gorgeous stuff) I take the time to cut my superfine sharlea <*GASP*> into about 1/3 length just so this doesn't happen.. Alternatives - cut the longer length, use separate plies or buy longer "short" staple (method of harvest aside). And no, cutting a wool staple doesn't give you weird results, you won't even notice it when it's fine and shorter (you'd also want to pretty much match texture or as someone noted to me once, "spinning angora into steel wool the yarn will feel like angora in steel wool no matter what you do...").
Or might the wool help lock it into the yarn?
Absolutely! It does help. Even so some shedding is inevitable. You might want to consider different plies if the variation is too much. It's a quick simple make do that you won't notice in the final assembled yarn. It does inevitably use up more angora than simple blending, however. If you don't want 50/50 for instance you can always spin much finer wool plies and use 2 to one for an c. 30% blend, etc, etc..
Cj. Aberte Melbourne, FL USA To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
