How to make yarn by hand. How to make yarn from dog or cat hair with your own hands Do-it-yourself threads from dog hair

A. Saponenko U. Saponenko

The transformation of wool into yarn consists of the following operations: washing, drying, combing, spinning, twisting.

Wash

Initially, the sheep's wool must be washed, since a lot of dirt accumulates in it during the time the animal spends grazing and in the barn.

It is not forbidden to wash the wool after shearing, but it is better to wash an unshorn sheep with soap (in this case it will be easier to process the wool in the future). Washing a sheep warm water in a bathtub or trough. They don't skimp on soap. If the wool is very dirty, change the water several times. Finish bathing with rinsing. This procedure is carried out on a warm sunny day so that the sheep does not catch a cold. Afterwards, the animal is thoroughly dried and allowed to dry. Then they start cutting. If the sheep was not bathed before, the wool must be washed with laundry soap after finishing the work, preferably after soaking it first. During the washing process, the water has to be changed frequently, so wool may “leak” along with the drained liquid. To prevent this from happening, “throw” the wool into a sieve or willow basket. Finally, rinse the wool, let the water drain and dry.

Drying

It is necessary to dry the wool well. In summer this is done in the sun, and in winter on a stove or steam heating radiators.

Combing

Combing is necessary so that the wool becomes uniform, without clumps, then it will be easier to spin and the yarn will become of higher quality, and they comb it immediately after drying, since wool absorbs moisture well.

For combing, two basket brushes are used, each of which is a board equipped with a handle and metal teeth curved towards the handle (Fig. 1). Take wool (about a handful), distribute it evenly over the entire toothed surface of the brush and comb it while sitting, placing the basket with wool on your knee with the teeth up, moving the other brush as shown in Fig. 2. Remove hair from brushes in the following way. The brushes are turned so that their handles are one above the other (Fig. 3) and the wool is “combed” with the upper brush from the lower one.

Spinning

Spinning is the process of forming thread from wool. This is done using a spindle (Fig. 4), a self-spinning wheel with a foot drive or an electric spinning wheel.

The spindle spinning method is the most difficult to perform. And it’s good if, in addition to the spindle, the grandmother’s house also preserved a comb on a leg (for yarn). The wool is attached to the comb at the level of the head of a sitting person. Take the spindle in your right hand and begin to rotate it clockwise between the thumb and forefinger, while pinching off and feeding the wool onto the spindle, which will then be twisted into a thread.

Rice. 4. Spindle for spinning wool

Rice. 5. Spindle for twisting (twisting) threads

For convenience, you can hang the spindle on a thread 20...30 cm long. The thickness of the thread depends on the amount of wool plucked off - the more you pinch off, the thicker the thread will be. For greater strength, a bobbin thread is inserted into the yarn and the wool is wound around it.

When spinning on a spinning wheel, the work consists of uniformly feeding wool into the hole in the flyer.

Twisting (knotting) is the weaving of several threads together. This operation is performed again using a spindle or spinning wheel. Moreover, a special spindle is needed here (Fig. 5) and rotate it counterclockwise, holding it in right hand, and holding the thread with the left. On a self-spinning wheel, knotting is much easier: connect two threads, fasten them to a spool and “start” the self-spinning wheel into operation.

V. Cook

First of all, the sheared wool must be sorted into clean (without burrs, foreign debris and dirt), clogged and contaminated. Wool in need of cleaning is sorted, removing impurities, mats and other “substandard” materials manually.

Wool shorn from a sheep is washed in an enamel basin in warm water 30...35 °C (without soap, otherwise it will dry out), and washed in several waters. The wool is not rubbed, but only squeezed out with your hands, slowly going through layer by layer. No detergents chemicals cannot be used! The most convenient way to squeeze out wool during final rinsing is in a centrifuge. washing machine. Dry it indoors, spreading it in a thin layer on a cloth or tarpaulin.

The washed and dried wool is plucked and combed using a long-toothed metal comb.

It is good to comb the wool with the same basket brushes that are used in wool spinning factories to clean the rollers and drums of carding machines. The brush is a small rectangular board (block) with a handle.

The board is covered with rubberized fabric with wire hooks.

Rice. 1.

Electric spinning wheel assembly:

1 — “spinning” drive; 4 — starting unit; 3 — intermediate rheostat;

2 - main drive; 5 - engine

Rice. 2.

"Spinning" unit:

a - spindle;

b - flyer;

c - coil

When spinning, the combed wool is collected into bundles and tied to a convenient rack, from where the wool can be easily plucked in the required portion and threaded.

In the Moscow region 10 years ago it was possible to purchase electric spinning wheels in Svet stores. But these spinning wheels, to the shame of the designers, were only suitable for joining and twisting yarn, as well as for decorating shop windows.

Therefore, to spin sheep wool, rabbit and dog fluff, I had to invent my own electric spinning wheel, which I offer to readers.

The spinning wheel (Fig. 1) consists of a base made of 10 mm plywood, on which an electric motor (from a sewing machine), intermediate and main drives and a spinning unit (spindle with flyer and reel) are mounted. The motor is connected to the network through a rheostat, which makes it possible to smoothly regulate the rotation speed of the spinning unit. Between the engine and the intermediate drive, as between the intermediate and main drives, rotation is transmitted by V-belts, and from the main drive to the reel and spindle - by a belt made of twisted linen thread. Nylon thread is also suitable, but it breaks more often. The thread is stretched with a cross for spinning, and for twisting the threads - by crossing the threads in a horizontal plane. The belt tension is produced by shifting the spindle. When making a spindle, flyer and reel, adhere to the dimensions shown in Fig. 2.

Sometimes dry wool does not spin well, then it needs to be combed again, lightly lubricating it with oil. sewing machines. (The oil is applied with a feather.)

Before dyeing, in order to obtain an even, shiny tone, the yarn is thoroughly washed - otherwise the paint will lie unevenly. But first, the yarn intended for dyeing is spun into threads of the thickness that will be required for further knitting work. Then the resulting threads are wound (100 g each, no more) like a lasso, which is loosely tied with woolen threads in four to six places in a circle.

To wash 1 kg of yarn you will need one piece of laundry soap. Washing powder It's better not to use it. For some reason it changes the structure of the coat and it becomes brittle. Finely chopped or planed soap is diluted in warm water until foamy. All pieces of it should dissolve. The threads are washed by lightly squeezing and stirring, but without twisting. You shouldn’t rub it sharply, squeeze it hard, or twist it too hard—the threads will flatten and lose their fluffiness. The water is changed several times during the “washing” process, dissolving new portions of soap.

If the threads retain a grayish tint even after washing, then they are bleached before dyeing, otherwise the acquired color will not be pure and bright. To do this, gently boil the skeins for 20...30 minutes in a solution of baby soap, and make sure that the water completely covers the yarn. After washing and boiling, the threads are rinsed in warm water so that the soap comes off completely. Wash and dye the threads in an enamel container.

P.S. Woolen items are indispensable in our cold weather. And to make the room warm and cozy, you can choose excellent inexpensive carpets and hang them over the bed, as our grandmothers did; now it’s fashionable and practical.

The art of spinning is back again modern society. People are rediscovering unique properties threads of wool that are obtained by spinning the fiber. Wool is waterproof and keeps you warm even when wet. See step 1 to get started.

Steps

Part 1

1. Select equipment. You must decide whether you prefer a spindle or a spinning wheel. Both devices have their advantages and disadvantages. Spinning with a spindle is considered in a good way when you're just starting out, but the spinning wheel is usually more quick way spin.

   • Use a spindle to get started, you can easily create your own teardrop spindle. Once you have mastered the spindle, you will have mastered all the possible steps for spinning (stretching the fiber, twisting the fiber into yarn, disposing and storing the formed yarn).
   • The best type of spindle is teardrop shaped with a hook at the top. The hook must be strong enough so that it does not fall to the floor when spinning.
   • The spinning wheel is more difficult to learn than the spindle because the spinning wheel has a speed pedal to move the wheel and has more details than the spindle drop. However, once you learn how to control a spinning wheel, you will be able to spin faster than with a spindle.
   • The spinning wheel works by rotating a reel and uses a wheel. As you spin the wheel, the reel spins. Twist the fiber in your hand and wind it onto the spool. You have to change the speed of the bobbin to wind the yarn onto the bobbin. Various types spinning wheels can make it easier to wrap the thread around the bobbin in different ways.

2. Learn the terminology of the spinning process. There are many words you should know when you first start spinning. You need to learn the terms for various aspects of the spinning process before you can start working.

   • A roving is a continuous rope of fibers that have already been combed and ready to be spun.
   • Comb the raw wool by hand or with a carder. The carder is a mechanical device, manually cranked or electric, that combs the fibers for spinning. The device is used for manual cleaning and typically has a large drum with 1/4 inch curved metal teeth.
   • Niddy - A Noddy is a two-headed tool used to twist thread into a skein. The thread from the spool is wound into a skein.
   • A skein is a length of yarn or thread that is loosely wound and knotted. When you spin, you create threads for skeins.

3. Understand your equipment. Spinning wheels have essentially the same basic components. Some have more components than others, but generally the basic components are the same. You must keep an eye on the parts of the spinning wheel when working with it.

   • The flying wheel is the part that rotates when you pedal, causing the rest of the wheel to move. Not all wheels look the same (may look like a typical fairy wheel), but all spinning wheels have some type of wheel.
   • The wheel turns around flywheel rotation(A pulley is attached to the rotation part and powers the wheel drive.) Flywheel(A U-shaped piece of wood that has hooks; these hooks are designed to hold the yarn on the spool). When the wheel rotates, the yarn is spun onto the spool.
   • Handle tension adjusts the tension of the drive group by lowering and raising it.
   • Reels This is the part that works on the axis to store the yarn. It can work with or separately from the wheel. Hole this is the part at the end of the spindle where the yarn passes through and connects to the hook.
   • Pedal works on the wheel and is used by your feet. It determines the speed of the spinning wheel.

4. Choose a spinning wheel. If you have decided that you want to use a spinning wheel rather than a drop spindle, then you should know about various types spinning wheels. If you're just starting out, it may be better to rent or borrow a spinning wheel to decide if you need one. There are several different basic types of spinning wheels.

   • Saxony, a type of spinning wheel with a typical fairy type wheel at one end, a reel at the other, an inclined frame, and a triangular footrest. This spinning wheel is usually more expensive.
   • The wheel type which has a reel above the wheel. These spinning wheels usually have a 3.4 angle footrest and tend to be more compact than other types. They are good for those who have less work space. In terms of more traditional wheels, this one is the cheapest.
   • Norwegian wheels are similar to Saxony. They usually have a 3.4 carbon footrest, large wheel. They are generally in the same price range as Saxony.
   • Modern wheels can often have a strange appearance, as they are usually hybrids of other types of spinning wheels. Spinning wheels can be pre-designed and some can even be folded! As for the price, it all depends on the wheel.
   • The good thing about electric spinning wheels is that you don't have to worry about a pedal or wheel (they don't have any). They can be placed on the table and used by hand, and are easy to carry and store. They also tend to be less expensive than typical spinning wheels.
   • The spindle does not have a spool. Instead, there is a pointed lance that accumulates thread. They are also less expensive than typical spinning wheels.

5. Learn how to choose a spinning wheel. There are certain things that you will need to consider when you are choosing a spinning wheel. Determine the type of thread you will spin, the speed of the wheel, and how easy the pedals can be used.

   • The speed of your wheel determines how fast the bobbin spins your yarn. Fine short fibers such as merino wool and angora cotton require more high speed. For coarser fibers such as Romney or Border, reduce the speed. It's best to find a spinning wheel that has a range of speeds.
   • On idle drive wheels, the drive group moves around the wheel simultaneously. Drive wheels also use one drive group, but go around the wheel twice. The single wheel is easier to use for beginners because it has a separate braking system. Changing the speed of the reel is easier on one drive wheel. On a double drive wheel, you need to accelerate.
   • The ability of the coil depends on the manufacturer. The coils have different sizes. The best way to measure a bobbin is to calculate the volume of bobbin available to be wound onto the yarn. Many manufacturers have a variety of reel sizes to choose from.

6. Rotate the fiber. Take the spindle in your right hand and the yarn in left hand. Turn the spindle from the dowel (or shaft) clockwise.

   • Repeat this process in the same direction, making turns with the spindle.
   • Practice turning the spindle in the desired direction to make yarn.

7. Develop a new fiber. Keep repeating the process and make sure enough rotation is done before moving on. If the thread has been spinning long enough so that the shaft almost touches the ground, unhook it and wrap it around the base of the spindle near the whorl.

   • It is called idling. You should not allow the yarn to unwind.
   • If you find that the thread is stretching or is too weak, spin your spindle again to maintain a large number of twists.

8. Attach more fiber. Overlay the wool with a few inches of fluff from the developed fibers so that you can twist more into the yarn. Add more wool to the spindle, watch the connection of the yarn.

   • To check the connection, give the spindle another turn and place your right hand where your left hand holds the yarn. Move your left hand back about three inches, insert more fibers of wool and allow the spindle to turn several times.
   • Release the yarn with your right hand and allow the fiber to move and turn upward as you did earlier. Now, gently pull away from the fiber mass, back on the left side, and allow the fibers to move on.

Part 4

1. When you draw fibers from a material, you form the size of the yarn you want to spin. If you develop more fibers, your yarn will be thicker; fewer fibers - it will be thinner.

   • If the fiber is in the form of a long, continuous narrow strip, this form of fiber processing is called roving. If the wide, rolled bundles are unrolled into a wide rectangle, this form of fiber processing is called baht.
   • Select a strip that is about 12 inches long and about the thickness of your finger (doesn't have to be exact).
   • Hold the strip of fiber in one hand (it doesn't matter which). Pull a few fibers from one end of your strip with your other hand. Prepare the desired thickness of fiber for your yarn.
   • During the spinning process, the fibers will spin. As you develop and spin, you will be able to judge the size of your wool.

2. Set up the wool on the spinning wheel. The starting thread should be attached to the shaft of your spool. Cut a piece of thread about 36 inches and tie it to the shaft of your reel. Make sure you tie it tightly.

   • Pull the thread through the hole on your spinning wheel. Once you've done this, you'll be ready to start the actual spinning!
   • If you are just starting to spin, practice spinning with only the starting thread so that you can better feel how the spinning wheel works, how the wheel rotates using the pedal.

During the cold season, we like to wrap ourselves in soft and warm blankets, sweaters, shawls, muffs, and buy hats and mittens made of sheep or cashmere thread. But yarn made from dog hair is much warmer and can be obtained for free if you are not lazy in combing, processing the finished raw materials and knitting.

We are ready to buy warm clothes at the market or in a store. But we completely overlook the fact that we have dogs and cats, after which we simply throw away a large amount of fluff and wool. Having such a fluffy dog ​​at home, every day we comb out the excess fur, which we then take to the trash. But the quality of this natural fiber is in no way inferior to wool obtained from a sheep, rabbit or camel.

Medicinal properties

Of course, collecting a bag of wool after your pet is not difficult, and the main problem lies in spinning the thread. But if you find a skilled spinner or learn to spin yourself, you will get an almost inexhaustible source of not just warm, but also medicinal wool.

As a rule, children are susceptible to colds, and a scarf made from such medicinal fiber will help prevent sore throats or alleviate them. A real scourge of our time is joint pain, which affects not only older people. And here items of clothing made from dog hair come to the rescue: belts, knee pads, bandages.

Often they choose products made from coarse wool, which “bites”, because it simultaneously produces the effects of acupuncture, micro massage and stimulates nerve endings, which is very important for some chronic ailments.

And if you add to the qualities described above the energy of your favorite dog or cat, who loves you very much, makes you happy, lives for you, you will get a truly magical ball of thread, destined to become your amulet.

Collection and spinning

To twist the thread, it is better to use combed wool rather than shorn wool. If the spinner has great experience, then the sheared dog fleece will go into use. But unless you have extensive practice, it is better to start learning from those downy fibers that remain on the animal’s brush.

To avoid the strong odor that dogs sometimes have, you should bathe your dog thoroughly with an appropriate shampoo. But still, the smell can be removed later, when washing the thread or finished product.

Cat hair is harder to spin and looks more like rabbit fur. Therefore, only experienced specialists will undertake such work. But, as they say, nothing is impossible.

The process of using wool consists of several stages:

1. Collection of material (combing, picking up shreds, cutting).
2. Preparation for spinning. It should be taken into account that the color of the animal may be heterogeneous or there may be a difference in shades of the undercoat and the coat itself. Therefore, this includes: a) sorting, b) washing, c) dyeing.
3. Spinning wool fiber into thread with or without a spinning wheel.
4. Knitting the required product.

Wallow

If the process of spinning and knitting is too difficult for you, you can practice felting. The resulting felt will be successfully used for toys, jewelry or stylish designer models. After all, over the past few years, famous world couturiers have often used felt models in their collections - this is a special chic.

Such a creation, made by your own hands from the wool of your favorite pet, will become healing, energetic and simply stylish accessory, which will make a splash in your environment.

Products made from natural wool have a number of advantages, because they are able to retain heat better than other materials and not allow moisture to pass through, which is very important. In addition, the lightness of products made from this material is also pleasantly surprising, which is why it is used not only to create clothing, but also for the manufacture of various kinds decorative elements, because there is absolutely nothing complicated or supernatural about how to spin wool at home. And what is noteworthy is that there are several ways to learn how to spin wool, and it is not at all necessary to purchase a special installation for this, called a spinning wheel, because in this matter you can easily get by with just a spindle, which, by the way, is also quite possible to make with my own hands using available means.

Yes, of course, on a professional spinning wheel the work goes much faster, however, for beginners it is still difficult to come up with something more convenient than a spindle, even a homemade one. To make it you will need one wooden dowel, acting as a rotating shaft, a hook, two disks for the whorl, as well as rubber bushings with a diameter equal to the diameter dowel used. The assembly diagram of a homemade spindle is also not complicated, because for this it is enough to simply insert a hook into a dowel pre-cut using a saw or a sharp knife and insert two bushings with disks so that they are sufficiently firmly fixed. It is noteworthy that the dimensions of such a spindle, called a drop spindle, can be changed using conventional winding of adhesive insulating tape. As for the process of work itself, in order to understand how to spin wool on a spindle, you should first of all learn how to prepare it.

And the first thing to understand is that it is better for a beginner not to start spinning using a whole piece of wool, called a roving, and it is best to divide it into 10-12 equal parts, gradually using each of them. In addition, it is recommended to wash and dry raw wool in order to partially remove its natural gloss (oil), otherwise spinning will be extremely difficult, especially if we're talking about about a person who is not sufficiently prepared. To do this, the fleece is washed by hand in hot water, adding powder or shampoo (it is important not to overdo it, so as not to subject the wool to repeated rinsing) and left soaked for an average of 45 minutes. The next step involves thorough rinsing soft water, gently spin using a long-pile terry towel and dry. Ideally, wool should dry in an open space in sunny, windy weather, because then all these processes take place as naturally as possible.

Particular attention should be paid to combing the wool, for which it is advisable to fix it on a special machine using a professional comb (carder) or more a budget option in the form of a regular dog comb. It is recommended to comb the coat only in one direction, doing this until it becomes smooth and fluffy. In addition, you should make sure that it is completely dry, because this material has the ability to retain moisture for a long time, while having an absolutely dry appearance. After the end of the preparatory period, you can safely begin the process of spinning on a drop-type spindle, for which you must first secure the edge of the yarn on a metal hook mounted on a dowel. It is recommended to hold the spindle itself in the right hand, and the yarn in the left (vice versa for a left-handed person), because then it will be easy to twist the fiber.

The number of fibers drawn from the fleece during the spinning process is responsible for the thickness of the yarn being made, so the more there are, the more voluminous the wool thread will be. Typically, during spinning, the roving fibers tend to twist, so only during the working process will it be possible to evaluate how thick and dense the working thread becomes. If desired, its diameter can be adjusted in one direction or another by adding or, conversely, removing an excess number of fibers.

How to make yarn?

If you have an animal at home with thick fluffy fur, you can make the knitting material yourself. These can be not only sheep or rabbits, which are the main supplier of wool for their owners. Excellent yarn can also be made from dog and even cat fluff.

Things knitted from dog or cat hair not only have excellent thermal insulation, but also healing properties. The techniques of hand spinning have undergone virtually no changes over the millennia of their existence. You can learn the basics and make yarn for the same socks in two weeks.

Adaptations

As before, only a spindle and a spindle (weight for a spinning wheel) are used for this task. At the same time, the whorl can be simplified. To make the process more convenient, it is worth making a special pendant for tow (combed fluff). It could be simple board, tied to a chair in such a way that the tow attached to it is at face level.

In the early stages of training, it is unlikely that you will be able to immediately control both the uniform pulling of fluff from the tow and the unwinding of the yarn. It is better to prepare a shallow enamel cup in which you can place the spinning wheel for rotation.

Spinning process

First of all, you should prepare the wool. For this:

1. we go through it with our hands, throw out knots and garbage;
2. we brush it with a special brush or a hard comb with a “massage” until it is fluffy.

Then you can begin the spinning itself. The yarn is made like this:

1. tie a bunch of fluff (tow) onto a stand;
2. carefully pull a strand out of it (about 4-5 centimeters wide and 8-10 centimeters long);
3. twist the strand into a thread until it begins to gather into a ring;
4. fix this end on the spinning wheel (in the upper part);
5. pull out another strand;
6. rotate the spinning wheel until a new piece of thread begins to gather into a ring;
7. repeat steps 5-6 until a segment 50-60 centimeters long is formed;
8. put the spinning wheel in a cup (so it will not roll away when dropped);
9. pull out another strand;
10. rotate the spinning wheel, holding the thread in tension and evenly feeding the wool from the tow;
11. Gradually wind the excess thread onto the spinning wheel.

After quite a lot of thread has been wound onto the spinning wheel, it is rewound into a ball and the spinning of a new one continues. If the thread breaks, moisten its ends, add a pinch of fluff to them and twist them.