The Corriedale Conundrum Part 3: Three Day Soak

I am blown away… I can’t believe how white and silky the locks are! Wow! The tips are no longer glued together with urine and most bits of VM should comb out easily. I see a cloud- spun boucle yarn in my future!

The dung tags were open and the dung was unattached for the picking- which made me extremely pleased.

Oh, the possibilities!

The Rinse Water; Yuck!

… After scouring, of course. These locks will need scoured. I enjoy spinning in the grease- and I don’t mind flicking bits of VM from my fiber as I soinn- but I don’t enjoy pulling poop out of my yarn as I spin; I have to draw the line somewhere.

After the one night soak, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel but now, I am out of the tunnel!

One observation worth noting, though, is that the fleece and it’s water bath stank horribly. My husband avoided me the entire time I was rinsing and drying as a result… Yes, it was that bad!

I honestly didn’t mind it, though, because I have always loved the small of barn.

I used four- instead of three rinses- as the fleece was that filthy (as was the rinse water in the buckets). I gently removed the fleece and plopped them into filled buckets. I let the fleece soak a while in each rinse bucket prior to removing it.

After the fourth rinse, the water ran clean and so I gently squeezed the fleece and spread it out on screens to dry. It looks like it may rain today, but as I see it- a little rain will only clean it more.

Looking back, I wish that I’d used a mesh bag for the fleece; it would have made things much easier!

I have to say, too, that I love Corriedale. It seems like I could spin a lot of different textured yarns with just one Corriedale fleece- and I love the silky, soft texture of the locks.

I will keep Corriedale on my list of possible sheep to acquire when I am ready to take that next leap… I mean, step.

I am especially in love with the little ringlets- which gave rise to the boucle idea…

I love when a fleece or fiber speaks to me; it almost always has a mind and plan of its own- if only we  just listen. It will never do what it doesn’t want to do but will always cooperate when the spinner is willing to do the same.

Moving on… I am not sure whether or not I will scour all of this fleece. Some of it actually looks nice enough to spin- as is. Yes, it’s greasy- but I love the feel of sheep grease. I also love the smell.

Some bits will need scouring, combing/ flicking, etc.- but that’s OK with me. I will accept ant opportunities afforded to me by a fleece. I welcome these opportunities with open arms, as I learn so much from them. I also get better acquainted with the fleece I plan to spin- which affords me plenty of time to listen to its subtle demands and desires.

As for the suint vat, I removed the bricks and the fleece remained emerged. It was very stinky, though, and my arms (the vat is deep) and hands stunk until I washed them with Dawn soap.

The skin on my hands was nice and soft all day, though- that’s lanolin for you!

After witnessing the results of the 3- day soak, I expect great things from the suint vat- soaked fleece!

Addendum: I checked the temperature of the suint vat, as it has been chilly at night (around 50 degrees F) and hasn’t been warmer than 70 during the day. I am under the impression that the suint (fermentation) method works best at room temperature (70 degrees) and so I am a bit concerned. As with my other (nettle) experiment, the recent dip in temperature is causing some concern. I am hoping that the lower temperatures will mean a longer fermentation time rather than total failure…

Sometimes, one can only hope…

Addendum: the fleece has been drying on a wire rack but has been gently rinsed several times over by rain. Large pieces of VM (mostly hay) were easily removed; however quite a bit of the equine pine is still trapped in the locks. I have since attempted combing, flicking and carding the bits out. Combing did very little, while carding and flicking showed promise- however this method meant compromising on my desire to keep the integrity of the lock structure. It also made a mess of my cards, as the fleece has not yet been scoured.

Moreover, the dung is still very much trapped in the tips of the locks; these locks will have to be cut in order to remove the dung tags- resulting in shorter fibers.

Thus, the fleece is still un- spinnable after the soak- which was what I expected.

I have since attempted to scour the fleece twice using water (from the tap), Dawn dish soap and Borax. After scouring, I was able to easily flick 99% of the debris from the locks; however, much of the lanolin remained.

I flicked and then spun up some yarn and found that, due to the (still) high lanolin content, drafting smoothly was extremely difficult. Also, the greasy fiber picked up every minute bit of filth from my hands, table, and flicker. In the end, the yarn was a dingy grayish- blue color- not lovely at all.

While I could continue to spin up the resulting fleece and then scour it, chances are, it would be harder to remove the grease from spun yarn- thus making dyeing impossible (dye won’t adhere well to greasy fibers).

Conclusion: After a 3- day soak with Dawn dish soap and two scours, the fleece is still too greasy for my liking. I am wondering if, perhaps, my tap water isn’t hot enough to effectively remove the grease. Also, being that my water is hard, I am thinking that the mineral content may be having an effect on stripping the grease from the fleece.

Tug Bunny Nettle Success!

Day 5: August 26

The temperature has been lower than I’d like and so I decided to make note of the water bath temperature (62.2*): a bit too low for my taste.

However, the retting seems to be coming along- despite the low temperature. My hope is that the retting process will simply take a longer time, rather than have the process not happen at all. Sometimes certain “good” microbes (ie. the microbes I want) only flourish at certain temperatures (and conditions) and have a harder time living (well) in others. Sometimes this allows for the bad guys (ie. the microbes I don’t want) to gain control of things. I hope that this doesn’t happen.

I derive comfort from the fact that flax is often grown and retted in conditions as cool- or cooler- than those currently being experienced in my area.

The water really doesn’t smell bad… I have heard horror stories about the smell of retting but, so far, I haven’t had an issue with the smell.

I have been thinking for some time about method of gathering and processing and which might be better- with the use of better used subjectively- as better is always dependent on situation and personal beliefs and desires.

In Yarn From Nettles- A Practical Guide, Birta Ford lists several ways to process nettles. Her favorite method, though (root retting) seems to yield smallish fibers that are carded and spun using short draw on a wheel (or with a lightweight, supported spindle). Using Ford’s method, it seems like the finished fiber is more like tow than line… I wonder if the resulting yarn is softer like that spun from tow?

NettleJen expressed a bit of frustration with the fact that her (still) water retting experiment yielded short fibers. She maintained that, while they were certainly spinnable, they were a bit short.

I have always thought that the longer the bast fiber (as in flax line), the stronger the yarn and yarn spun from tow- although softer- was not nearly as strong.

August 30

The nettles were removed and put on a rock pathway (as suggested by Ford) to dry. They were turned once during the drying process.

Once dry enough to stand up without bending or breaking, they were leaned up against a structure to dry. Because of an impending storm, they were brought inside to dry fully.

A few days later, we attempted to prep the stalks in order to release the fiber; however, we found that the nettles were not retted enough.

I can only guess that temperature played a role in the lack of retting, as it had been in the low 50s (F) at night and only around 70F during the day- meaning that the average daily temperature was only around 60F.

The stalks were- once again- submerged for 8 days- after which it was clear that the retting process had been successful.

The stalks were dried as before.

Processing

I have read conflicting information regarding the processing of nettles for use as fiber. I have read that, at some point, in some cultures, nettles were prepared/ processed like flax- using scutchers, hackles, etc. I have also read that nettles were processed using completely different methods.

After processing nettles myself, I believe the latter is more realistic than the former.

The spinnable product that results after processing has an incredibly short staple length and, moreovoer, the raw fibers lack the tensile strength of flax. The resulting fibers are more fuzzy and with a staple length of about 1.5- 2”.

It was, at first, necessary to remove the pith from the fibers. This was done by simply breaking the pith away from the bast fibers and then using a fingernail to scrape the spinnable fibers from the remaining pith.

Next time, I will wrap the stalks in a towel and use a rubber mallet to break apart the stalk a bit before further separating pith from fiber.

Birte Ford uses a kind of improvised scutcher but, since we lack this kind of device, we must figure out how to more effectively remove pith chaff from spinnable, solt fibers. I will look into making an improvised scutcher so that we may have one available for processing our root- retted stalks in the spring.

In any case, after liberating most of the spinning fibers from the pith, I attempted to use my drum carder in the pursuit of better carding out pith from fiber. I also wanted to see if I could come up with a spinable fiber by using the drum carder- as Birte Ford suggests.

I found that the soft, thin fibers just got embedded in the tines of the drum- but it did effectively help with further separation of fiber from pith. I believe that- had I had more fiber- the drum carder would have worked well. However, because I was just carding a small sample, the drum carder proved ineffective.

Instead, I used coarse hand cards and was able to separate almost all of the remaining chaff from the fiber. I carded for quite some time, though- until I saw that most of the chaff had been released and that the fibers were looking smooth and spinnable. At this point, I switched to universal hand cards just to smooth out the fibers a bit more.

Fiber Preparation for Spinning

Once the fibers were carded to the point at which my brain deemed them ready to spin, I rolled the fiber into a puni.

The short staple length and lack of a good amount of fiber dictated that the fiber be put into puni form. I suppose I could have spun off the cards but I like to keep things as simple as possible when I am testing a new fiber or spinning method. Also, I really like to know the nature (spin- wise) of a fiber before I spin it from cards; I find that really knowing the qualities of my fiber gives me the knowledge and confidence to spin it from cards with confidence.

The puni form worked well. Very well, in fact. I was surprised how easy the fiber was to spin. I expected at least one break due to over- or under- twisting- but it all went rather smoothly.

Spinning

I began using high twist (6:1) pulley and medium take- up. I found that the initial tension was too high and so I lowered it a bit. I also found that the small pulley was giving me too much twist and so I switched to a larger one (8:1) . It was really a lot of fun to spin!

I used my Lendrum Original DT; you may find that these ratios don’t work for you on your wheel of choice.

By the time I had the tension and take- up figured out, I had run out of fiber :-( .

The resulting yarn was stronger than I thought it would be- and it was extremely soft and fluffy. While linen takes a quite a few washes to soften up, the nettle yarn was instantly soft.

I should mention that the final yarn is a lovely light brown/ mint green color; lovely!

The good news is that I have more stalks to process- which means more experimentation- which means more fun!

Next time, I will use a mallet (as was discussed) to initially break up the stalks.

Also, I am going to be harvesting more nettle to day for dew- retting, as there is now plenty of dew on the ground in the morning.

References:

Yarn From Wild Nettles: a Practical Guide, Ford, Birte. Nettlecraft, Tulliemet, Perthshire, UK; 2014

NettleJen, YouTube

Tug Bunny Stinging Nettle Experiment; Part 2, Day 2

Day 2; August 23 (2017)

Temperature high: 71 ; low 51

NB: This post is the second in a series; please click here to read the first in the series.

This morning I noticed a copious amount of dew on the grass in the orchard. Naturally, my mind wandered to the subject of dew retting; perhaps it’s time to revisit my dew retting experiment?

This evening, approximately 25 hours after the Chemist and I began our wet retting experiment, we took the stalks out of their original rain water bath and immersed them into a new one. Being that the bins were too heavy to lift, we could not drain the original bin and add new water.

We noted that the rotting/ retting process had already begun, as the water was a darker color and a bit slimey. The stalks were much softer and more plyable and it was already possible to easily scratch away a bit of the stalk’s outer layer.

Above: Nettles after a 24- hour soak (still in first water bath)

The water from the first soak is being applied to my apple trees (over mulch).

It smelled a bit like rotting vegetation but only faintly; it was entirely tolerable.

On another note, I started to re- read a book I purchased long ago by Judith MacKenzie McCuin called The Intentional Spinner- A Holistic Approach to Making Yarn. It had been so long since I looked at the book that I forgot that there is a small- but extremely detailed- section on nettles (Chapter 1, “Cellulose;” subsection “Bast: The First Fibers.”

Judith MacKenzie McCuin writes that “the transition from hunter- gatherer to a more agrarian culture” most likely contributed to the increasing popularity of flax over nettle (The Intentional Spinner, 15), whereas our hunter- gatherer ancestors most likely harvested and used a good amount of nettle.

She also noted that nettle is still used in cultures in which gathering wild plants is still a part of the culture and economy.

McKenzie McCuin maintains that nettle is easy to process into “exceptionally long, strong, long- wearing threads” that are “impervious to ultraviolet light, mold, mildew, and bacteria” and, “other than iron contamination, only fire will destroy it” (The Intentional Spinner, 15; emphasis mine; follow this link to find out more about iron in well water).  

Isn’t nettle cool?

Reference:

The Intentional Spinner- A Holistic Approach to Making Yarn, MacKenzie McCuin, Judith, Interweave Press; 2009

NB: This book will fill your brain to full capacity- it will blow your mind; get it!

The Corriedale Conundrum; Part 2: Overnight Rainwater Soak

This is part two of a series; please click here to read first post.

I have to say that I was pleasantly impressed to see what progress had been made after a simple, no- fuss, overnight soak. While the ends are still a bit attached, the fleece is noticeably whiter and it is now a fleece I can at least process further.

From the picture, one can see that there is improved separation in the lock structure and that the water bath is filthy.

I removed the fleece from the bucket and spread it out to dry on a wire rack. At this point, I could have wrapped it in a towel and gently pressed it dry a bit or spun it in a salad spinner (I don't own a washing machine; I use bins and a 100- year old wringer) but I opted to just spread it out to dry. I didn't have a towel to donate to the cause and I was not willing to put sheep poop in my salad spinner. In any case, it dried just fine.

See? Much better!

Corriedale in the Anchor brand wringer might be an experiment for another day... I'll have to add it to my list of things to do.

The dung tags have begun to soften to the point where the dung could easily be combed or teased out. I know… most people discard the dung- crusted locks but I am in no position to throw anything out. Even the hopelessly matted bits will be used for something.

I can see more lock definition and separation and will most likely comb and/ or flick any VM out prior to scouring.

In short, I see a glimmer of hope ahead… a light at the end of the tunnel… you get the picture.

One thing I should have done was a rinse… I didn’t… my bad...

I think- had the fleece been cleaner- the end result would have been just that- an end result- at which point the locks could be spun in the grease or scoured.

I used the suint/ lanolin bath on my herbs; I think I heard a quiet “thank you” coming from the Basil.

Tug Bunny Stinging Nettle Fiber Experiment

I have been in awe of stinging nettles ever since I grabbed one in Ireland after being warned not to (after having become accustomed to the “play jokes on the yank” game). Surely a plant could not cause the sort of injury my relatives were telling me about! In any case, I can admire a plant that packs such a punch!

This experience started an obsession that is indescribable. I love living things that are able to say what they mean without being mealy- mouthed. Nettles say what they mean and don’t mince words; I can appreciate that.

Above: Stinging Nettle (Urtica Dioica)

Nettles are tasty and nutritious; they make a wonderful tea, soup and vegetable. They are earthy and soothing- which compliments their biting qualities. They are highly medicinal and good for whatever ails you.

They can also be used to make fiber. Now, to a hand spinner who is known to try spinning anything and everything, this is extremely appealing. To the hand spinner who has several patches on her property, the appeal- factor is taken to a new level.

Add to this the fact that I love to tinker and make things “from scratch” and you have a lethal, I mean lovable, combination.

So, I looked at the nettles and a thought bubble occurred… For once, my husband is on board and so harvesting and preparing my nettles must be a good thought, indeed!

There isn’t much out there on making nettle fiber- and most of what is out there is highly contradictory in nature. It leaves one with lots of options that work well for some but are ill- advised by others… but I like a good mystery!

It helps that my husband the chemist is on board because he is able to understand the scientific behind process known as retting- whereas I am an intuitive kind of person.

Before I go on, I must give credit where credit is due. Some inspirational people who deserve credit in that they have inspired and educated me are: NettleJen, Beagle Ben, and Birte Ford.

Birte Ford has written a book titled “Yarn From Wild Nettles- A Practical Guide”- detailing her experiences with harvesting and preparing nettles and nettle fibers. It is a beautiful book with lovely pictures and detailed examples of her experiences; I highly recommend it.

However, it didn’t give me THE instructions I was looking for… So, I have decided to do my own research/ experiments and share my findings with you in hopes that you, too, will come to love and appreciate nettles as much as I do.

The Chemist and I have decided to test several methods.

One bundle will be dew retted and another will be water retted. Last, we plan to collect a “root retted” bundle in early spring and try this method as well.

It is my understanding that nettles can be harvested in a similar manner to flax and also that it can be broken into shorter bits- yielding shorter fibers that should be carded. We plan to use flax- type methods for the wet and dew retted bundles and the carding method for the root retted stalks, as Birta Ford suggests (Yarn from Wild Nettles, 25, 27).

One interesting fact about Birte Ford’s book that I haven’t seen or heard of anywhere else is that she bakes her (root- retted) stalks prior to processing. She writes the baking the stalks better enables one to beat the boon (waste material) from the fiber (Yarn from Wild Nettles, 21). I am not sure if this method is feasible for me but it is something I’d like to try.

The Basics

Nettle, like flax and hemp, is a bast fiber. This means that it comes from a plant in which the vascular materials (xylem and phloem) are long, fibrous material arranged around a stalk.

It contains various gums and substances that must be removed before the fibers can be used. While there are various chemical processes that can do this quickly and easily, I am going to rely on the plant’s ability to rot (ie. ret) in order to do away with the gum and liberate the fibers.

This can be done in quite a few ways but I am going to do what is easiest and feasible for me and my situation. That’s all we can do with anything in life…

We will be still water retting one bundle. Essentially, what this means is that we will be allowing the stalks to ret in a plastic bin full of rain water. Rain water will be used in place of well water because our well water is hard and contains iron- which can damage the nettle fibers. After a 24- hour soak, the water will be emptied and replaced. Our hope is that we will be able to witness signs of fermentation and that the fibers will be retted in 4-6 days. Again, this is our hope; hoping isn’t getting. I will monitor the temperature of the water in the morning, at noon, and at night (at the same time each day) and report my results. In theory, the higher the temperature, the quicker the retting process. I will check the nettles daily to check whether or not the stalks have been retted enough.

The rate (ie. speed) of any fermentation is dependent upon temperature so, if it doesn’t work out the way we’d like, we can go back and look at temperature as a possible issue. We can also use our data from this run and compare it to future findings; thus enabling us to perfect our process.

The dew retting bundle will be laid on the ground and turned twice a day. We will ensure that it is kept damp by sprinkling it with rain water when necessary.

Again, an average daily temperature, as well as daily highs and lows will be documented. Also, length of daylight will be noted.

I expect the dew retting process to take weeks- at least 5 but, possibly, as much as 8.

We will, of course, have to wait until late winter/ early spring to try out Birte Ford’s “root retting” process- which uses dried stalks from the previous season (Yarn from Wild Nettles, (18). Also, Birte Ford stores her stalks for a year (or more) prior to beating/ carding the fibers. We plan on processing some of the stalks this spring and letting the rest mellow until the following spring. Needless to say, the results of our root retting experiment will take years to manifest and thus publish.

I’d like to point out that the stalks will be stripped of all leaves prior to retting. The leaves will be dried and fed to our ducks and rabbits over the winter.

Above: Nettle leaves and off- shoots drying for winter use

I’d also like to point out that the water used in retting is often referred to as “poison” and/ or toxic. It is the case that the fermentation process produces byproducts that can be smelly and unhealthy to aquatic (and terrestrial) life. I plan on covering my experiment at all times in order to ensure that my ducks are not able to drink the water and that my children will not be able to play in it. I am also not using my stream to ret- out of concern and respect for my local ecosystem and nature itself.

This being said, the stinky nettle “brew” is good for plants. I will use the liquid as a nutrient- dense, autumn food for my apple trees and the drip line below them.

The pith, or boon (ie. the leftover “waste”) will be made into paper, as is suggested by Beagle Ben and Birte Ford (Yarn from Wild Nettles, 46-7).

Nothing will go to waste.

 Methods

A. Drying

I began my nettle experiment on August 17 (2017). I harvested a small bundle of nettles and stood them against a set of stairs in an outbuilding to dry. It is now August 22 and so far, so good. One thing I would do differently next time is pull the leaves off of the stalks.

As is, I think I will use them for dye rather than for feed.

B. Dew Retting

On August 18, I harvested another small- ish bundle of nettles and left them to dry for a bit, per Birte Ford’s advice. I did find, as Birte Ford mentions, that the nettles had lost some of their sting after a few hours of drying. Some- but not all (Yarn from Wild Nettles, (35)!

Above: Nettles Drying

Once they were a bit dry, however, I found it easy to pull off their leaves by holding the stalk in one hand and, starting near the top of the stalk, I used my other hand (closed while grasping the stalk) to squeeze while quickly and smoothly moving down the stalk. I did find that starting to pull from the very top resulted in broken tips and so I did not begin de- leafing from the tip (top) of the stalk- instead, I began before the stalk got very thin and then went back and did a bit more above what I had done while being extremely gentle. The tippy- top was done in the opposite direction- towards the tip- I found that this was more gentle and thus the tips (where Birte Ford states the fibers are more concentrated) remained intact (Yarn from Wild Nettles, 34).

After I took the leaves off, I lay them on the ground next to- but not touching- each other.

Above: Stripped of leaves, the nettles are ready for dew retting.

The next day, I flipped the stalks over twice and watered them, as it had not rained.

The day after that (August 20; 3 days in), I decided to scrap the dew retting part of the experiment for the time being, as we are in the middle of a dry spell and, in addition, I hadn’t felt much dew when I flipped the stalks both mornings. Since some amount of water is needed to dew rett, I decided to wait until we’d get rain consistently and when the night temperature/ day temperature difference would result in more dew.

C. Still Water Retting

On August 21, I harvested a large bunch of nettles. I dried them and stripped them of leaves as described above. I leaned them against my house in a bundle and left them overnight.

Above: Bundle of Nettles; I apologize that the picture is on its side; hopefully the Chemist can fix it once he gets home. 

On August 22, I put the nettles in a large plastic bin of rainwater and covered them with a tarp. I used two rocks to weigh the nettles down and only broke one in the process. The bin I used was large- but not large enough to comfortably contain the long nettle stalks.

Above: Nettle stalks immersed in rainwater

As a result, I would use a trough or something as large next time.

While it has been great fun preparing the nettles, my favorite part of the experience thus far has been looking at a beautiful sunset while de- leafing.

To be continued...

Updates!

References:

Yarn From Wild Nettles; a Practical Guide, Ford, Birte; Nettlecraft, Tulliemet, Perthshire, UK; 2014

Beagle Ben: Harvesting and Retting Stinging Nettles; and Processing Stinging Nettle Fibres

NettleJen: The Great Nettle Experiment