Shady Oak Ranch
OUR CALENDAR IS NOW FULL FOR THIS YEAR - We will be taking new orders after the 1st of the year 2020
THANK YOU
A Spinning Peddler's Fiber Mill
P.O. Box 4414
Auburn, CA 95604
United States
ph: (530) 367-2094
fax: (530) 367-2094
aspinnin
The following is a list of fiber products that we use at the mill.
This brief description of the products is to help you determine your choices when blending other fibers to your order and acheiving the desired results you want for your finished order or products.
Tencel, Tencel is a cellulose fiber made from wood pulp from trees grown specially on tree farms in the US where the trees are constantly replanted. Tencel offers a unique combination of the most desirable properties of man made natural fibers. Tencel is soft as silk, has a luster like silk, strong as polyester, cool to wear as linen, warm like wool and absorbent as cotton. It is a great spinning fiber and can be dyed or left as is in a natural brillant white color, or blended with other natural fibers. It is also known as the poor mans silk.
Bamboo, Bamboo is a wonderful renewable resource. Bamboo comes from the bamboo plant. It is biodegradable and has natural antibacterial properties. It can be dyed or spun as is ,and like the Tencel and Silk it has a great luster. It is strong, flexible and has a soft feel. It also adds great drape to a finished product.
Silk, comes from the cocoons of silkworms. There are different kinds of silkworms and different ways the fiber can be prepared. The two most popular silk forms are the combed tops of tussah and bombyx
. Bombyx silk is produced by feeding silkworms a diet of mulberry leaves only. This type of silk is white and very fine.
Tussah silk is honey-colored and the silk worms are fed a varity of leaves. Both tussah and bombyx are strong fibers that add strength, length to short fibers, dimension and sheen to fiber/wool products. Silk also creates a nice drape to a finished woven or knitted product and dyes easily.
Silk noils are the short bits and waste of leftovers from processing silk cocoons to combed tops.Silk noils are short clumps of silk about an inch long. The main use of noils is to add a nubby texture to a yarn or batt.Noils are not lustrous like combed top silk.
Wool, Merino wool is one of the finest sheeps wool with a micron of 12-23. Wool when blended adds volume,strength and elasticity to your fiber product(s). There are many different breeds of sheep which offers a wide range of wool qualities like fineness, sheen and natural color choices.
Nylon, Nylon is a synthic and man made. Added to your fiber it will help give your products elasticity,strength and shape.
Learn the different grades of fiber and sorting techniques. This is essential to producing a quality product. By grading your own fleeces you can obtain the full market value of your fleece(s) or finished product(s).
Alpaca Market Grading System
There are 6 Fiber grades for fineness (range of 3 micron)
Grade 1 - Ultra fine .< 20 microns
Grade 2 - Super fine 20- 22.9 microns
Grade 3 - Fine 23 - 25.9 microns
Grade 4 - Medium 26 - 28.9 microns
Grade 5 - Course 29 - 32.0 microns
Grade 6 - Robust 32.1 - 35 microns
A micron is 1/25,400 of an inch. This is based on the diameter of the fiber.
Other fiber grades based on micron for fineness includes:
Angora Rabbit 12 - 15 micron
Merino 12 - 23 micron
Cashmere 15 - 17 micron
Camel 16 - 23 micron
Yak 16 - 23 micron
Bombyx Silk 10 -14 micron
Tussah Silk 23 -30 micron
Llama High quality 15- 22 micron
Typical 23 -40 micron
There are two types of Alpacas:
The Huacaya and the Suri.
Both fleece type are very different. The Suri is a slicker feeling fleece with a long lock structure and sheen. The Huacaya has a dense fluffy look like a merino sheep that has some sheen but not the same type of luster that the suri has. However, both breeds produce the same color fleeces.
Alpaca fiber comes in 22 luxurious colors, more then any other natural fiber producing animal.
Alpaca fiber is organic, and no chemicals are needed in processing this fiber to a finished product. Like sheeps wool and plant fibers it is also biodegradable.
Alpaca is as strong as wool, lighter than wool, as resilient as wool and warmer then wool per oz./ weight.
Clothing or bedding made from alpaca can be a great alternative for those who have skin sensitivity or suffer from allergies.
Llamas, are a cousin to the alpaca and camel. Llama fiber is simular to Alpaca in processing and its properties. Like the Alpaca, There are two types of Llama fiber, Suri and Woolly. Processing Llama takes a little more time in processing to remove the large amounts of guard hair. Llamas are a double coat fiber animal with a downy under coat like its cousin the camel but its fiber must be shorn off. Due to the better breeding practices and the evolution of Llamas, the llamas shed very little if not at all. Llama fiber can be as fine as Alpaca but typically it is a little more coarser. However high quality Llama can be 15 -22 micron and spins, knits and wears like any other fiber producing animal.
Camel, Yak, and Cashmere, are all soft down undercoat fibers and are processed like Alpaca in a mill, except these fibers are not typically shorn off the animal. The fibers are brushed off the animal or collected in areas that the animal has brushed up against when it sheded its hair fibers.They are extremly fine short fibers. Normally These animals will only produce 1 to 8 oz of fiber in a year. That is why the price is so high for these products.
Down fibers like Camel and Yak have extremely short fibers and can be a little more challenging than wool or alpaca to spin.
Camel and Yak when blended with silk, alpaca or wool will enhance the down fibers and make it much easier to spin.
Copyright 2010 A Spinning Peddler's Fiber Mill. All rights reserved.
A Spinning Peddler's Fiber Mill
P.O. Box 4414
Auburn, CA 95604
United States
ph: (530) 367-2094
fax: (530) 367-2094
aspinnin