Once upon a time, I spun my own yarn from the fiber of our sheep, dogs, Angora rabbits, and Angora goats. I would go to sheep and wool festivals and buy cashmere, silk, alpaca, llama, and have fun spinning with them. I don’t have the time or access to fiber like I used to, so now I buy commercially spun yarn, but I learned a lot about how fiber affects yarn and what properties and qualities are given to the finished yarn.
I would like to talk about the universal fiber, wool. Wool is a term that refers to many types of animal fibers. The best known is sheep fiber. Wool has very unique properties. It has a great insulating capacity that keeps you warm, or in hot weather, it keeps you warm. It is naturally fire retardant. Instead of turning to fire when a match is applied, it will smolder and often go out. Sheep’s wool is an excellent material for socks as it is absorbent and will keep the wearer warm even if it gets wet. Highland Scots would take off their kilts, soak them in streams, and put them back on to ward off the wind and keep warm. Not many man-made fibers can boast these attributes. It has three big drawbacks. Some people are allergic to the proteins in wool, the fiber is attractive to clothes moths that eat it and cause holes, and care must be taken when washing garments made from it to prevent felting and shrinkage. There are several treatments to avoid clothes moths, such as storing woolen clothes in the freezer, mothballs or many herbal remedies. There are no answers to allergies except not wearing wool. And below is how I wash woolen clothes.
The wool varies in texture and use depending on the breed of sheep from which it comes. There are sheep specially bred to produce the finest and softest wool. The best known breed is Merino. The incredibly soft yarn is made from Merino fiber. Ramboulet is another soft-coated breed. Yarn made from this type of fiber can be worn next to the skin with very little discomfort in the form of itchiness…unless one is allergic to wool. The finest and softest Merino is called Cashwool. It is as soft as cashmere. At the other end of the spectrum is the very coarse, coarse fiber used to make felt and carpet. All other types vary in softness and are what make up the bulk of knitting yarns. Of course, there are also a large number of blends that use wool as one of the components. Wool always adds its properties to the mix.
Wool of all types can be spun soft and airy, hard and strong. Soft spun yarn is the warmest because it traps air between the fibers and this helps keep the wearer warm. The tightly spun yarn is very strong and is not generally used for garments but for weaving carpets and other applications that require strength.
Sheep’s wool comes in natural colors of white, cream, black, shades of gray, and occasionally brown. It also dyes well with natural vegetable dyes or chemical dyes. As long as someone isn’t allergic to it, it’s a versatile choice of yarn for knitting.
As mentioned above, woolen garments must be washed very carefully. Unless the garment is made from yarn that specifically lists it as machine washable, do not machine wash wool items. Soap, agitation, and changing water temperatures will cause woolens to sit and shrink, damaging them. Machine washable wool is usually blended with at least 10 percent nylon to prevent shrinkage during machine washing. These are the only items that can go into a washing machine. Other products must be hand washed. Fill a basin or sink with lukewarm water. Add your favorite laundry soap… just enough to make a little lather. Gently submerge the item in the water avoiding agitating or rubbing the fabric as this will cause it to sit and shrink. Let it soak for a while and gently squeeze the soapy water through the fabric, being careful not to be too rough. If you treat the fiber roughly, it will shrink. Lift the garment out of the water, carefully trying to make it support the weight evenly. I usually put it in a colander to drain while I change the water. Take note, by touch, of the temperature of the water you are pulling. It doesn’t have to be exact, but the rinse water needs to be close to the same temperature or the wool will take a shock and shrink. Gently squeeze the soapy water out of the garment, do not wring it out, again this roughness will cause felting. Gently place it in the water and let it soak. Repeat this process until you are satisfied that the soap has been rinsed away. There are 2 ways to remove excess water to facilitate drying. One is to do something called “wuzzing” and the other is to use the spin cycle of your washing machine. Wuzzing is an old practice and is similar to what happens during the spin cycle. Put the item in a pillowcase, take it outside, and fairly quickly twirl it in the air over your head or to your side so that the water shoots out. Continue like this until no more water comes out. To use the spin cycle, place the item in a pillowcase and into the washer, add something to balance the machine, and turn on the spin cycle. When the cycle ends, remove the garment. It is now ready to dry.
Lay a towel or towels on the floor and place the garment on top of the towel(s). Shape it to the shape it’s meant to be, or in the case of a sweater, to the dimensions it was knitted. Smooth out wrinkles and let air dry. This is called blocking and must be done each time the garment is washed.
With proper care and protection against moths, woolen items can last quite a long time. It’s still one of my first choices for working with winter clothing, whether it’s wool or blends. If you’ve never worked with it, give it a try. Then it will become part of a wool working tradition that is thousands of years old.
