Spinning with bast

[dragonfly]

Does anyone do any spinning with plant fibers? I'm a novice (wool) spinner, but part of my interest in the craft is because of its ancient roots, including the fact that people have spun with hemp, flax and nettles. I know it sounds crazy, but I'd love to try spinning with some of the tall weeds in my garden. Is this a ridiculous idea?

Comments

[squirelawrence]

Not silly at all - in fact, at the SOAR retreat a couple of years back, Stephanie Gaustad taught a class on bast fibers, and a couple of folks went out into the woods surrounding the resort and brought back weeds to try and spin with. That said, most of the bast fibers require a fair bit of prep prior to spinning to separate the small cell, woody "bark" bits from the long-fiber, cellulose inner "threads." Try Googling "retting" for an idea of the process.

I think Stephanie is teaching the class again at this year's SOAR, and I would heartily recommend it (or any class you can find with her).

[dragonfly]

Ooh, thanks for the encouragement. My yard regularly becomes a field of rampion (aka creeping bellflower) and I'd LOVE to make lemonade with that lemon.

I've been reading Women's Work, The First 20,000 Years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber, and it's clear from her history that retting would be an important part of the process. But, compared to what it sounds like you have to do with just-sheared wool... !

[squirelawrence]

Rampion. . . I don't remember that one from the class. Stephanie did make it clear that there are a lot of fairly common plants that can be spun, that aren't all that well known because they aren't commercially raised. Sounds like a try it and see opportunity!

I don't think the preparation of bast fibers is much harder or easier than prepping wool. If I remember right, the hackling process of mechanically separating out the wooden bark bits from the inner fibers is very similar to combing wool. The retting process takes longer than washing wool, but it's also simpler - you just leave the plant fibers to sit in water for a long period.

Once prepped, I found spinning the bast fibers a little trickier than spinning wool, but not excessively so. And the finished fiber and cloth is very nice.

[dragonfly]

Thank you!!!

This is the stuff

[dragonfly]

http://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/creeping-bellflower

I'm looking for a picture of the stuff standing. It grows to around four feet high. It has a rather woody stem. I'm going to experiment with retting, and see what the inner fibers are like.