ANSC 1400: Wool and Fiber Production

wool

• finer fiber with large overlapping scales, has crimp, continous growth, no medullar canal

• A modified haird protein fiber

• A natural textile fiber obtained from sheep and other animals;

• From sheep, it’s called “greasy” because it contains high levels of lenolin, dead skin, pesticide, and vegetable matter

hair

coarser fiber with smaler scales, no crimp, continuous growth, moderate meduallar canal

kemp

coarsest fiber, shorter, brittle, chalky white color, intermittent growth, sheds, large medullar canal, does not dye well

epicuticle

thin outer membrane of natural animal fibers, water repellent

cuticle

the scales on natural animal fibers, overlapping flattened cells, edges point towards tip; spinning and felting

cortex

spindle shaped cells in natural animal fibers, 100 um long and 5 um wide; elasticity, resiliency/durability, ability to dye

medulla

central spongy core of natural animal fibers found in medium and long wool; hollow fibers, extreme weather like Scottish tweed

yield

one factor of wool quality; the ratio of wool’s clean weight to the grease weight, ratio of usable wool weight; range from 50% (fine wool) to 70% (long wool)

fiber diameter

• one factor of wool quality; how fine the fiber is, correlated with crimp

• fine wool - more felting, more breakage/pilling

• long wool - less felting and pilling, but more harshness

staple length

• one factor of wool quality; how long a fiber is

• finer wool → 2 inch minimum

• “woolen” spin, carded prep → 3-4 inches

• “worsted” spin, combed prep → >5 inches

staple strength

one factor of wool quality; how strong the wool is, Newtons/kilotex; “tender” wool, develops from environmental stress factors, fever/disease, changes in nutrition, weather, and reproduction

vegetable matter (VM)

one factor of wool quality; material like hay, leaves, twigs, waste, etc. that gets stuck in the wool

color

one factor of wool quality; the visible characteristic of wool, can be changed naturally from urine/manure stains, sweat and oil combination, or bacteria stains; change be changed articfically from dyeing

condition

one factor of wool quality; the correlation of crimp to grease; determines whether the fleeces are considered cotted, felted, or matted

fine

• describes type of wool fiber/quality

• secondary / primary ratio of 20:1

• 18-24 um + 60-70 follicies/mm² → 120,000,000/sheep

• 14-22 CPI

• ex. Merino, Cormo, Corriedale, Romdale/California Variegated Mutant (CVM)

medium

• describes type of wool fiber/quality

• secondary / primary ratio of 10:1

• 25-30 um + 20-30 follicies/mm² → 60,000,000/sheep

• 8-14 CPI

• ex. Dorset, Suffolk, Hampshire

long

• describes type of wool fiber/quality

• secondary / primary ratio of 5:1

• 30-40 um + 15-20 follicies/mm² → 30,000,000/sheep

• 3-8 CPI

• ex. Leicester breeds, Romney, Lincoln, Cotswolds

Merino

sheep breed with fine wool, more common in Australia and South Africa, 16-22u

Cormo

sheep breed with fine wool, cross between Corriedale rams and Merino ewes, from Tasmania, Australia, imported to the U.S. in 1976

Corriedale

sheep breed with ½ fine wool, Merino x Lincoln, Australia 1880s to US 1914, 24-30u

Romeldale/California variegated mutant (CVM)

sheep breed with fine wool, NZ Romney rams x Rambouillet ewes, colored lambs selected for mutants

Dorset

sheep breed with medium wool, England 1200s to US 1860s, 27-33u

Suffolk

sheep breed with medium wool, lowland breed from central and eastern England, rotation with crops, 26-33u

Hampshire

sheep breed with medium wool, lowland breed from central and eastern England, rotation with crops, 25-33u

Leicester

sheep breed group of 3 with long wool, upland breed from less harsh weather and slightly better soil/grass production, 30-38u

Romney

sheep breed with long wool, lowland breed from central and eastern England, rotaion with crops, 32-39u

Lincoln

sheed breed with long wool, 34-41u

Cotswolds

sheep breed with long wool,

Icelandic

sheep breed that’s multi-coated, introduced to Iceland by Vikings in 900, long outer coat and fine inner coat

Karakul

Ssheep breed that’s multi-coated, originated from central Asia, very hardy, lambs born black then lighten to gray, silver, brown, and red

Shetland

sheep breed that’s multi-coated, originated from Shetland Isles of Scotland, hardy thrifty, and easy lambers, several shades and patterns

Cashmere

a type of fiber goat, produces fiber of the same name, high valley in the Himalayas

Angora

a type of fiber goat, produces Mohair fiber, from Turkey

Huacaya

type of alpaca, “wooly”, about 92% are this type

Suri

type of alpaca, long sleek necks, 8% are this type

second cuts

small stubby wool fibers created when a shear passes their clippers over the exact same area of the sheep twice

combed top

processed from combing prepped wool

roving

processed from carding prepped wool

rolag

processed from making the strands parallel but not linear/spiral, from hand carder

English

comb type with rows of long teeth, used in pairs

Viking

comb type with two rows of curved teeth, used in pairs

Wool

basic type of comb with one row of straight or slightly curved teeth, used in pairs

Hackle

stationary comb with one or multiple rows of straight teeth

box

a type of picker to clean fleece that slides teeth over each other in a parallel fashion

swinging

a type of picker to clean fleece that swings an arm of teeth over a stationary set

hand

a type of carder to detangle, clean, and align raw wool fibers, used in pairs, can be flat or curved, higher TPI (~108) used for cotton and other short staple fibers, lower TPI (~72) used for wool and other long staple fibers

drum

a type of carder to detangle, clean, and align raw wool fibers, spins with a crank

blending board

a type of carding board where you brush and combine different colors of wool with a smaller hand comb on a single board that has teeth

diz

used to make roving/comb top

niddy noddy

used to wind yard into skeins

nostepinne

tool used to wind loose yarn into a neat ball

swift

used to wind skeins into balls/cakes

center pull ball winder

used to wind loose yarn into a ball

saxony

traditional wheel, single slanted wooden bench, traditional has single treadle but more modern ones can have double treadle, flyer next to the wheel

castle

verticle wheel, double treadle, flyer above the wheel

electric

scotch

type of drive system, single drive, flyer driven/lead, pulley/whorl and drive band on the the flyer/same side of the orifice

Irish

type of drive system, single drive, bobbin driven, pully/whorl and driver band on the bobbin/opposite side of the orifice

double drive

type of drive system, uses a single band looped twice around the wheel and flyer, pulley/whorl and driver bands on the bobbin/opposite side of the orifice

top whirl

type of drop spindle

bottom whirl

type of drop spindle

Turkish

type of drop spindle

scottish

type of drop spindle

neps and noils

tangled fiber clusters that create bumps