Howdy from WV
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I'm using the aluminum sulfate as a tanning reagent. If I were going to mordant I would go cautiously with that as I have seen it reported to damage the fiber if you over treat--that said it is what most people are selling as mordant alum, and my finished furs are still nice and soft after weeks of soaking at cold temps. here is an article on different alum mordants https://www.suzannedekel.com/post/all-about-alum-based-mordants
@hotzcatz has lots, I just have 3, and I LOOOVE them. However they make a LOT of fiber for one casual fiber hobby person, and the fiber is best blended with wool as straight angora is sort of limp once you knit it, so you end up with double the amount! I am enjoying the experimentation process, but before you buy rabbits, buy yarn and decide if you love it, because you will end up with a LOT of it if you get rabbits. Also you may want to try spinning if you do not already, because that is its own thing as well! All that said, I am really enjoying mine.
Thank you. Do you spin your own
yep! I started on a drop spindle years ago, and just yesterday got an electric spinner...I have not yet even used it, but I have high hopes. I skipped right over a spinning wheel, which Ithink is a little sad, but I am time and space crunched, so this seemed like a logical solution at the moment.
Is there anything I can read that will give me the step by step from harvesting to spinning. I would love to spin it myself
Oh, with rabbits you just comb off the fleece (or clip it with scissors or clipper if a non-shedding breed) and the fluff is ready to spin. It is like grooming a cat or a dog, the fluff sheds on some breeds and you just collect it. If you want to mix it with wool you card the fibers together, but angora by itself doesn't need carding.
The cheapest way to learn to spin is to buy (or make) a drop spindle and a few ounces of prepared wool--there are lots of listings on etsy. Watch a few youtube videos and you are off!
When I first learned, I ordered a drop spindle and a full pound of wool bat from the back of a Mother Earth News magazine. I had to ask my mom to write check, and she thought I was crazy. The spindle came with a single sheet of instructions, with a few hand drawn diagrams. With trial and error I taught myself to spin at about 12 or 13.
Today it is much easier.
The cheapest way to learn to spin is to buy (or make) a drop spindle and a few ounces of prepared wool--there are lots of listings on etsy. Watch a few youtube videos and you are off!
When I first learned, I ordered a drop spindle and a full pound of wool bat from the back of a Mother Earth News magazine. I had to ask my mom to write check, and she thought I was crazy. The spindle came with a single sheet of instructions, with a few hand drawn diagrams. With trial and error I taught myself to spin at about 12 or 13.
Today it is much easier.
Oh that is so awesome. Thank you so muchOh, with rabbits you just comb off the fleece (or clip it with scissors or clipper if a non-shedding breed) and the fluff is ready to spin. It is like grooming a cat or a dog, the fluff sheds on some breeds and you just collect it. If you want to mix it with wool you card the fibers together, but angora by itself doesn't need carding.
The cheapest way to learn to spin is to buy (or make) a drop spindle and a few ounces of prepared wool--there are lots of listings on etsy. Watch a few youtube videos and you are off!
When I first learned, I ordered a drop spindle and a full pound of wool bat from the back of a Mother Earth News magazine. I had to ask my mom to write check, and she thought I was crazy. The spindle came with a single sheet of instructions, with a few hand drawn diagrams. With trial and error I taught myself to spin at about 12 or 13.
Today it is much easier.
can you use onion skins to colour wool? That would be free as well right?
Here's a resource about using onions to dye wool I found when I was using onions to dye other stuff. Dying wool is a little different than dying other materials. You do need a few other ingredients (cream of tartar, alum), so it's not totally free, but it does seem to produce pretty results.
https://www.knomadyarn.com/blog/natural-dyes-for-wool-onion-skins/
Hopefully @judymac chimes in on this thread - she's got years of experience with both raising wool rabbits and using wool.
https://www.knomadyarn.com/blog/natural-dyes-for-wool-onion-skins/
Hopefully @judymac chimes in on this thread - she's got years of experience with both raising wool rabbits and using wool.
@hotzcatz I have big plans to try marigolds and coreopsis, and I have been slowly collecting windfall lichen of 3 common species which may or may not work out...Avocado pits too! I ordered some japanese indigo seeds (non-tropical plant) and I can't wait to see if it will grow for me. The process of learning things is part of the fun, everything may go totally sideways, but worst case, I have yarn that is a slightly different than original color, and I can re-use it in an additional experiment! I would think there are numerous high quality dye plants that will grow in HI, after all many of the bright colors were developed in south asia or south america, which is warmer than I can support. For instance Logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum) grows in your climate as an invasive weed--it makes great purples, and I would have to order it...which is why I am faffing around with lichen, lol.
I recommend looking online to see if there is a livestock or animal swap near you! If they don't have one in person they probably at least have a facebook page where you could advertise when you are selling bunnies!
I looked for the Haematoxylum campechianum but I've not seen any around here. I can't grow it either, since it has stickers (thorns) and my SO doesn't like plants with stickers. But there are onion skins and lichens, so other colors are laying around, I'm sure. There's marigolds in the garden to get rid of slugs and some bugs, maybe I'll start saving the flower petals for dye. I'm assuming it's the flower petals, anyway?
We've got avocado pits up the wahzoo, tons of them since there's two huge avo trees here. It's beginning avo season, too, so I can save them. Hmm, mordant with alum and pits/peels and get pink? More of a mauve pink than a bright pink, but we've got loads of avos. Maybe add that to the indigo and get purple? Roadside weeds (indigo) with yard rubbish (avocado pits) and get purple ayrn would be fun.
We do have lichens, however I've heard to make the dye they have to be soaked in alcohol for six months?
We've got avocado pits up the wahzoo, tons of them since there's two huge avo trees here. It's beginning avo season, too, so I can save them. Hmm, mordant with alum and pits/peels and get pink? More of a mauve pink than a bright pink, but we've got loads of avos. Maybe add that to the indigo and get purple? Roadside weeds (indigo) with yard rubbish (avocado pits) and get purple ayrn would be fun.
We do have lichens, however I've heard to make the dye they have to be soaked in alcohol for six months?
1. Get an angora bunny.
2. Wait for it to become very fluffy - three or four months If it's a colored bunny, when you see the dark tips of the next coat coming in, that is a good time to clip since then you won't have short fibers cut off from the incoming coat
3. Clip the 'wool' off the bunny. I use barber's scissors and start at the top of the back and clip in about 1/2" strips so I can see where the bunny skin is at all times. I store the good wool in a jar and the rest goes into the compost heap or is saved for a nestbox.
4. Make or buy a drop spindle. If you're desperate, a crochet hook stabbed in a potato will work, although there's much more elegant solutions.
5. Tie a bit of string (leader) to the spindle with a knot that won't slip around and around on the shaft. A rolling hitch works well, a couple of half hitches would work. Or put it on with a small rubber band, just as long as it doesn't slip when the spindle turns. Tie a loop in the end of the leader.
6. take small handful of bunny fluff from the jar. Pull a bit out from the bundle and bend it over the loop at the end of the leader.
7. wrap paper around the shaft of the spindle. That will let you pull the whole thing off easier later.
8. Spin the spindle while holding the bit of fluff over the end of the loop, let a lot of twist build up in the leader.
9. Pull the spindle away from the fluff while letting a little bit of fluff out at the same time. The twist from the leader will move into the fluff.
10. Spin the spindle again while holding the end near the fluff. Let that twist move into the fluff while pulling more fluff out from the bundle of fluff.
11. When the spun fiber has enough twist in it that it wants to twist back up on itself, then wind that bit of fiber around the shaft of the spindle.
12. Keep doing that until the spindle is full, then pull it off along with the paper core.
13. Do it again so you end up with two of the bundles of spun fiber with the paper core.
14. get a box, stab two knitting needles through it. Put the knitting needles through the center of your bundles of spun fiber. Box, fiber, box so you have them in the inside of the box. (or drop each of them into a separate large jar)
15. Take the ends of each of the bundles, bend them over the loop on your leader
16. Spin them together in the OPPOSITE direction than you used when you spun them the first time.
Now you have yarn.
If you don't have a niddy noddy (easy to make, but not absolutely necessary) you can make it into a skein (loops of yarn like a coil of rope) by holding the end of the yarn in your hand and winding it under your elbow and through your hand around and round. Tie it in several places so the loops won't tangle. Now you have a 'skein' or 'hank' of yarn.
Wash the yarn to set the twist. Shampoo or mild soap works well. If you have a salad spinner, spin it in that to get a lot of the water out or roll it in a towel. Hang to dry. If you're going to dye it, now's a good time to dye.
When knitting, crocheting or weaving with pure angora yarn, it won't have a lot of 'sproing' (that's a technical term I just made up) to it. Great for scarves, shawls, etc., not so good for socks. It will also get fluffy after it's knit or crocheted, not quite as fluffy if it's woven. So if it's an intricate pattern that can get lost in the fluff. It's very soft and warm, though. Lovely stuff.
Thank you so very very much. I sincerely appreciate it.
Yes, the soil acidifier found at the garden center is usually just aluminum sulfate, alum. The alum found in the grocery store spice aisle used to make crisp pickles is ammonium aluminum sulfate. It is very expensive per ounce, but it does work, although it can tend to make the fiber sticky. Dyer's alum from places like PRO Chemical company or Dharma Trading is Potassium aluminum sulfate. It is a bit stronger in mordant action than the ammonium aluminum sulfate.
The biggest problem with the garden center alum is that it has not been purified, so there may be some impurities, such as iron, that can affect the color. That said, I have dyed hundreds of pounds of fiber using the garden store alum, when that was all I could get.
There are other options to try. Iron mordants tend to "sadden" the color--yellows become khaki green, reds can be purplish gray. Iron is usually a very good mordant for colorfastness. You don't need to use chemical iron sulfate. You can simply look for an old rusty iron pot, and use that to simmer the fiber in. It works amazingly well. If you have no access to an iron pot (we find them here in yard sales and thrift shops), you can gather up scrap iron like old nails, etc, put them into a jar and cover with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water, and let them sit until the water is rusty. I've also found that when I buy galvanized steel buckets for dyeing, they quickly start to rust. When they do, they also work as iron mordant.
In the same way, we use copper pots as a copper mordant, and old aluminum pots for an alum mordant. It's not as scientific as using carefully measured chemical alum, but it works for me. I used to dye truckloads of fiber each year, back when we raised a lot of sheep (and bought several truck loads of additional fleeces each year), so we've had lots of practice with this. Also, not all natural dyes need a mordant. Walnut leaves/bark/nut husks are 'substantive' dyes, they don't need a mordant. Neither do jewelweed tops or turmeric root.
Just a note, angora does not like getting wet. It's going to want to float on top of the dyebath, so be patient in poking it down and making sure it is thoroughly wet. It also tends to dye more of a pastel shade than wool.
I started dyeing by simply weeding the garden one "weed" at a time, and putting them in the dyepot. While most plants that do make a dye are a pale off-yellow, some made lovely surprises. Goldenrod blossoms (just the top 6" or so of the blooming plant) can be brilliant yellow. Coreopsis/calliopsis flowers, even though they are yellow, dye bright orange. Even the green foliage dyed orange. Marigolds are a common annual planted here, but the deep reddish flowers actually dyed a rich green. A common grass here called "poverty grass" or "broomsedge" that is a rusty orange color all fall on poor soil, actually dyed a rich yellow.
Your indigo is amazing for blues and greens. This is the first year I have dyed with fresh indigo. The leaves are put into a blender with ice, and blended into a slurry. Pour into a bowl. Dip unmordanted silk into the slurry and slosh it around for five minutes. Then let air for five minutes, and repeat until you achieve the desired color. It makes a soft robin-egg blue on unmordanted fiber, or a soft sea green on alum-mordanted fiber. I haven't tried it yet on angora.
Yes, I raise angora as well, have for over forty years. Some breeds of angora (like German, Giant, the Betty Chu line of show English Angoras. . .) do not molt. They will need to be sheared. I especially like the Fiskars brand scissors, as they hold their sharp edge well. They even have a spring loaded little 8" pair of scissors that is easy on sore hands.
The old style English Angoras, as well as French and Satin Angoras I have raised (and Jersey Wooly and Fuzzy Lops) all shed their coat every 3-4 months. Great for me, not so great for showing, as there is a tiny window of time when the rabbit is in full coat before it sheds. My old style English generally have three coats, the 3-5" coat that is shedding out, an intermediate coat 1-1/2 to 2-1/2" long, and often a third coat just emerging from the skin. This works well for me in a colder climate, as the rabbit still has more fur than a regular rabbit, even though shedding out the outer coat. When shearing is necessary in cold weather (rabbits are sheared every 3 months on average), try to leave a 1/2" or so stubble for warmth.
For rabbits that shed, I simply plan on removing the old coat every 3-4 months. If I see any fiber trailing, or fiber around the food/water bowls, I know it's time. I start on the center back, and pinch only the very tips of the long fiber. This prevents any of the shorter medium coat from being removed. The fiber should pop out with very little pressure, as molting fiber has already released from the base. It often pulls a bit of the surrounding molting fiber with it, which will stick up above the rest of the coat, making it easy to be the next pinch. Don't try to remove too much in one pinch, smaller pinches work easier.
As you continue working, you'll see that the medium coat is often darker than the one you are removing, making it easy to tell where you've plucked (doesn't work on white rabbits). I just continue around and around. If the rabbit gets bored and wants to shift position, I work wherever is convenient at the time. Don't forget to do ears, cheeks, legs, tail and underbelly as well.
I put the good spinning fiber into one bag, the short-but-clean fiber into another bag for felting, and any mats or dirty fiber into a third bag for garden mulch. I've often read that you should never put angora in plastic, but I have angora that has been stored in plastic for a decade with no loss of quality. I did, however, once separate my satin angora fiber into two bags--the coarser guard hairs in one bag and the downy fiber in the other. The coarse stuff was felted within months, the downy stuff never felted. That was sure a surprise.
When spinning on a drop spindle, a Ukrainian woman showed me a better way. She spun for all of her family, and she could spin as fast on a spindle as we could on our wheels. Instead of spinning while the spindle was twirling, she would twirl the spindle several times, and let the twist build up in the yarn. Then tuck the spindle under her arm, and just spin using the built up twist in the leader yarn, and then wind the new yarn on and re-twirl the spindle several times and repeat. Never a problem with the drop spindle dropping to the floor while you spin, or the weight of the spindle dragging down on fine spun yarn and breaking it (causing the spindle to drop to the floor again.) You can spin sitting in a chair, in a car, on the bus, while you walk. . .opens up a whole new field of opportunities.
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Thank you so much. I have a dumb question. What is felting?
Oh, where can I find the old style English that molt?
Mostly you will have to ask each English Angora breeder if their rabbits molt--unless they spin or show they may not know. I bought 2 girls from the same litter, one has molted...the other...not so much. She may require shearing. Betty Chu developed a line that does not shed and this is super desirable in a show rabbit. Unfortunately, that means they were crossed into many lines...my girls have a betty chu great grandmother, but it would appear that at least one still molts. fortunately most of those rabbits appear in the bloodline as "Betty Chu's (bunnyname)" or maybe just Chu's... You would want to avoid a rabbit that comes from multiple Chu bunnies, on both sides.
Never a dumb question. Felting is the process of interlocking fibers (usually wool, but you can felt angora and alpaca as well) in order to make a solid fabric or shape without spinning or weaving. Those dryer balls they advertise to help with static cling in the dryer are felted, as are some blankets. There are several ways to make felt, originally they involved heat, moisture, and movement. That's why a wool sweater stuck into a hot wash, cold rinse, and hot dryer can shrink several sizes smaller. The heat, moisture and movement allowed the microscopic scales on the fiber to intertwine and condense, shrinking the garment. I use that idea to make my felt balls. By wrapping up the carded fiber into a ball shape, putting it into an old piece of pantyhose to hold it in shape and tying it off at the top, and putting it through several hot wash, cold rinse & dry cycles before removing it from the nylon sock, the fibers will have enmeshed and condensed and made a solid ball. Another trip through the laundry without the sock will finish it off nicely.
You can make sheets of felt fabric by layering carded fiber on a piece of cotton sheeting with the fibers aligned up and down, then adding another layer on top of that with the fibers going side to side, and finally a last layer up and down again. This works like plywood, giving strength to the fabric. Place another piece of cotton sheeting on top, and baste the whole package together (that means sewing it with fairly large quick stitches). If you do the sewing in a pattern, the design will remain on the finished felt. Now do the same as you did with the felt balls, several hot wash, cold rinse & dry cycles before you remove the felt from the cotton sandwich by removing the stitching.
You can also card the fiber, and place it around a hand in order to make a felted-to size mitten, or on a foot for a slipper. Put a plastic bag over the hand/foot, then wrap the fiber in several layers around the hand, and spray the fiber with warm water. Rub with soap, then add another plastic on the top to hold the fiber in place. Start rubbing, the warmth of the water, and motion of the rubbing will begin to condense the fiber. Some fibers, like many breeds of wool, will start to felt rather quickly, although others, like Suffolk wool, may never felt. It's trial and error. Continue adding warm water and soap as needed until the fabric is becoming well formed. You can totally remove the top plastic at this point, and continue rubbing until the fabric is firm. If holes develop, add more fiber to those places and keep rubbing. It will take at least 20 minutes for a firm fabric to form, sometimes a lot more. The felt walls for yurt tents are made somewhat like this, but on a large, large scale.
The other popular option for felting are using felting needles. These are slim needles with barbs, that snag individual fibers and interlock them with other fibers as you punch the needle in and out of the fabric. Felt blankets are made with machines with an entire large bed full of these needles. For home use you can buy on eBay or Etsy single needles. Keep the needle perpendicular to the carded fiber, and punch up and down. Don't twist the needle or try odd angles, it may break the needle. Angora needs a very fine needle to felt, I use size 40 for angora. This is how those cute little felted animals are made, roll the carded fiber in the shape you want, and start stabbing the bundle of fiber with the needle. The fluffy fiber will begin to condense into a solid shape fairly quickly. I use this technique to make designs on the machine felted balls. Take a look at https://www.etsy.com/search?q=felted animal&ref=search_bar to see what you can do with a felting needle.
