I bought a new spinning wheel recently-
A Kromski Polonaise from Wingham Woolwork.
This is a Ferrari of spinning wheels.
This post has been updated and moved to:
Spinning Curds and Whey
In order to give this new wheel a true test of what it can do, I then went to London’s local weaving centre – located in North London – Handweavers Studio and Gallery where they have a sumptious selection of handspinning fibres. There I discovered milk protein fibre top.
I had heard of milk fibre before but had never had the opportunity to test it out. What fun!Innovative fibres such as milk casein and soya fibre were developed during the early 40’s as a substitute for wool, which was needed by the men on the front line. These virtually faded from existence as other synthetic yarns such as nylon were developed. Some of these fibres are now making a comeback as there is more emphasis on environmentally safe products and eco-friendly textiles.Milk casein fibre is made by separating the oils and fats from the protein. The curd is rinsed, dried and dissolved to form a ‘dope’ that is pushed through spinnerets into an acid bath that forms the fibre. The fibre goes through further salt and formaldehyde processing to soften and improve the quality.Because milk casein is a protein fiber it can be dyed with CIBA acid dyes.I did find the milk fibre very soft and silky to spin.
This spun up very quickly. I used the smallest whorl on my Kromski Polonaise wheel, using the 20:1 ratio. When using the smaller whorl on the Kromski wheel, don’t forget to turn the bobbin around so that you are using the smaller end of the bobbin
The Kromski Polonaise also has two adjustment screws on either side of the wheel. These can be turned to adjust the alignment of the wheel to the bobbin whorl. This needs to be adjusted whenever you change the whorl size.
I am going to leave this yarn as a single spun because I think it would be quite nice to use it as weft in a future silk scarf project.
Handspinning
Spinning Wheel Pictures
How Your Spinning Wheel Spins
Angora Rabbits
Learn to Spin Workshops
Learn to Spin The workshop for the beginner hand spinner.
Learn to Use a Drum Carder How to use a drum carder to create new colours and Yarns.
Plied and Cabled Yarns How to spin plied and cabled yarns.
Simply Sumptuous Spinning A surprise selection of different fibres to spin.
Handspinning Books
The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook: More Than 200 Fibers, from Animal to Spun Yarn
The Whole Craft of Spinning: From the Raw Material to the Finished Yarn
The Practical Spinner’s Guide – Cotton, Flax, Hemp (Practical Spinner’s Guides)
Categories: HAND SPINNING, Spindles and Wheels