Hemp!
Normally the word "hemp" would make me think of rope. Recently (in the last few years) I've been seeing hemp fabrics and yarns offered for sale. Some fit with the rope idea, and are more like burlap or jute, while others are much closer to linen in texture and weight.
Seeing that Toni had hemp roving available, I thought I'd try some while we are looking at vegetable fibers. It does seem to have some nice potential.
The spinning technique turns out to be very much the same as that used for linen, and particularly for tow, which often comes as a roving. In order to spin a fine, even thread you need to keep your fingertips moist by dipping them regularly in water or flaxseed dressing. You also need, at least occasionally, to use the flax spinner's technique of winding the twist in and out by rolling the thread through the fingers of your controlling hand.
The resulting thread I've been getting is very similar to what I get from tow. It is not quite as strong (at least to my subjective judgement) but it is even and appears to be strong enough. Linen thread is extremely tough. Hemp is more in the same realm as cotton, I'd say. The color is even similar, though hemp is not quite as shiny.
I'm guessing that the finishing techniques to set twist will be like linen. That is, you boil the thread for a few minutes in clear water. With linen I often cheat and just wet it with a mister while it is on the niddy-noddy, then let it dry before skeining it off, but I'm not sure that will be enough with hemp. I may try each to see.
In any case, I have samples of tow linen and hemp for comparison on Thursday. Hope to see you all there.
Seeing that Toni had hemp roving available, I thought I'd try some while we are looking at vegetable fibers. It does seem to have some nice potential.
The spinning technique turns out to be very much the same as that used for linen, and particularly for tow, which often comes as a roving. In order to spin a fine, even thread you need to keep your fingertips moist by dipping them regularly in water or flaxseed dressing. You also need, at least occasionally, to use the flax spinner's technique of winding the twist in and out by rolling the thread through the fingers of your controlling hand.
The resulting thread I've been getting is very similar to what I get from tow. It is not quite as strong (at least to my subjective judgement) but it is even and appears to be strong enough. Linen thread is extremely tough. Hemp is more in the same realm as cotton, I'd say. The color is even similar, though hemp is not quite as shiny.
I'm guessing that the finishing techniques to set twist will be like linen. That is, you boil the thread for a few minutes in clear water. With linen I often cheat and just wet it with a mister while it is on the niddy-noddy, then let it dry before skeining it off, but I'm not sure that will be enough with hemp. I may try each to see.
In any case, I have samples of tow linen and hemp for comparison on Thursday. Hope to see you all there.
posted by Gary Lee Phillips at 5:41 PM
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