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Handspun Woolen Throws ~ Rodin's
"The Kiss" with handspun wool throw. |
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In natural fleeces of creams, whites, browns, greys, or black.Also with vegetable and fiber-reactive
dyes. |
| Handwoven
of handspun wools, this throw is heavily textured
& very fluffy with a thick/thin slub yarn. Throws are fringed on warp ends
with a selvedge on the longer sides. I use a combination of Cheviot(white &
soft),Shetland (white,silver,& black,-akin to Cashmere,), & Florida Native
(hardier in the South). Their fleeces are in a range of natural shades (creamy
white, eggshell, champagne, beige, soft greys, etc.). |
Handspun
wools are soft as new lambs and the colors from natural
dyes are soft too. Earth colors never clash, are permanent, and mellow
with age. By "earth colors", I mean pigments from natural sources, sometimes called
"vegetable dyes": leaves & barks, berries & flowers, vegies, or minerals
from the ground. Most are simmered with wools (or other natural fibers) and yield
a full range of rainbowed hues. Handspun yarns are
textured: thick/thin, nubby, curly, etc, and have character from the
touch of the spinner that a machine can never duplicate. Mine are fairly thick
and fluffy (why spin fine, even threads when a machine can do that?) and feel
wonderful on cool evenings.
The grade, or texture, of wool ranges from the finest Merino used for soft baby clothes, up through stiff, wiry rug wools from breeds such as the Hampshires, or Coltswolds. (Wearable grades of wool should
not itch, unless you have an alergy, but that's a different story.)
Wool is a natural insulator, lets your skin breathe, and keeps you warm even when wet. Yes, even in the South, I can sure use a nice fluffy, warm throw or scarf on the pan-handle's cold winter days.
Click
for more about WOOLs from my
sheep, general terminology and processes. |
Cotton Shawls
