With us, the more prep work done on the fiber before it is sent
to us, the cheaper the processing costs will be.
Also the turn
around time may be quicker.
We assume that all fiber coming in has
been skirted and gleaned of vegetation to the customer's
satisfaction.
If the customer wants us to prep the fiber for washing
and carding, you'll have to tell us in your cover letter.
We tend to work with artisans who have specific ideas they want us
to help them in achieving.
All of them have standards different from
the one before them. So we need some input from you.
Give us a
call if there is anything other than a simple run of fiber.
We can
give natural and dyed fibers all sorts of looks in the roving.
The
way that a roving's color patterns look affects the look of
the spun yarn.
Tell us in your letter what you are looking for.
If
we have any questions or doubts, we'll call.
Wool and Camelid fiber tends to be our mainstay. We also run
other popular fibers like mohair and angora.
Chiengora tends to be
the third most added fiber. That's dog hair for those who don't
know the term, and yes it makes great yarn! Now we can't run
angora, dog or silk by itself, it's just too fly-away. These we'll
have to be blended with some other fiber like wool or camelid.
We
can run 100% cotton. This will have to be sent to us partially
processed.
You know...... ginned and scoured, versus wined and
bathed. The forms we can process from are loose or roved cotton.
We haven't tried carding roving from a batt yet. I'd think this
would be mostly noils and lint, but hey, if yer willin we are!
Each type of fiber has it's own nature to it.
Each fiber also
has different requirements, limitations, and effects that it gives
to the finished blend.
If you have doubts about adding something to
a blend, again, give us a call.
Jamie and I (Matt) have a wide
experience in processing and crafting fiber.
I actually teach Fiber
Arts as a fine art at the University of St. Francis School of Art in
Fort Wayne Indiana.
Believe me when I say I have seen a lot of
experiments students have tried in trying to get a specific effects
in their pieces.
A teacher really does learn from their
students!!!!
I don't recall any fiber type we haven't been able to run,
but
give us a call and surprise us with your new find.
Just to be on
the safe side.