I had to laugh out loud @ the bichon frise ... because as i was reading i was thinking of my lil chucky..(Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) ... he has a wonderful undercoat that spins between my fingers like cotton... PLUS i think black would look really cool on the strings.
keep me posted on the bichon frise test results.... i have a neighbor with one and i have an electric clipper and i know how to use it ... *L* cali silk and cotton? how do you mix it? where would one get silk fiber? Grey Aengus (aka Jim)http://www.greyaengus.com often in error, never in doubt --- On Wed, 2/18/09, K S ROE <[email protected]> wrote: From: K S ROE <[email protected]> Subject: [HG-new] Re: Curious about Cotton To: [email protected] Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 4:47 AM #yiv250424788 .hmmessage P { margin:0px;padding:0px;} #yiv250424788 { font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;} My Friend Joanne and I have been trying as many fibers as we can find. Last year for the Over the Water HG Festival we put together bags of all kinds of fiber. Prior to trying any of the new odd fibers we did burn tests. Fibers made of milk, soy, tencel and corn are not heat resistant at all. They flashed and melted just like nylon, rayon and polyester. I would not recommend their use as the friction of the wheel can cause a bit of heat. Personally, I would not want to melt anything onto my wheel. We also tried: bamboo, baby camel down, superwashed merino wool, cotton mixed with silk, cotton mixed with flax, linen, silk and yak. I would be very careful with animal fibers and make sure they are washed, just as Cali recommended. If it is a questionable fiber like the milk fiber I would recommend doing a burn test. If it burns, okay, but if it melts stay away. As for the Middle Ages, I would suspect that they would have used animal fiber, parchment, silk or linen/flax. Medieval linen was far more refined than what we think of as linen today. I have not found any that is fine enough, but back then it was the common fiber of the masses. Silk was available, but extremely expensive and by law not available for the common person's use. Cotton was not readily available, though it was used in the Middle East so some came back with the Crusaders. However it was not plentiful and was extremely expensive. One fiber I have not tried, but want to, is my Bichon Frise's hair. The hair on his belly is very soft. I am told that it would spin well and as it is hair and not fur it may work well. Unfortunately I keep forgetting to ask my groomer to save it for me. Katie Roe > Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:31:34 -0800 > Subject: [HG-new] Re: Curious about Cotton > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > > > Hi Fi, > > There are many different fibers you can try on your HG. Silk works well, even > ground up blue jeans :-) I might be a bit careful with wool because of the > lanolin content which might give you some grief, but if the wool has been > prewashed it may work as well. > > If you really want to have fun go into a weaving store and get some small > hanks of several different fibers and try them out. Mixing them together can > work as well. My favorite is a blend of cotton and silk. Easier to put on > than silk, lasts longer than cotton and winds on tightly. > > I've heard rumors that parchment (finely scraped animal skin) was once used > but I have no documentation for that. > > Cali Hackmann > > > > I was just over on Neil Brooks site and he poses the question as to what was > > used on the strings before cotton was available. Has anyone researched > > this? I guess they could have had access to cotton through trade in > > medieval times but it would have been expensive even in later renaissance > > times. Has anyone tried wool fibres? > > > > Fi > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Cali and Alden Hackmann > Olympic Musical Instruments - hurdy-gurdies > A & C Embroidery - boutique embroidery > Bois de Mallorne - audio production > stained glass, laser art > > "I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else." > > - Winston Churchill > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
