Nettle-A-Long, harvesting stinging nettle yarn

Nancy Reading wrote:...I'm happy that Inge says that this can be processed later so I don't have to do all the steps in a tight time frame.

I still haven't done anything else with my partly-processed nettles after the photos I showed here. But I know from last year's experience, as well as from Sally Pointer's videos, that I can wait until I have more time.

When we moved here three months ago, I was elated to find a tiny stand of nettles growing where we plan to put the house. “No problem,” I thought, “they’re hardy and I can just move them to a better location that isn’t in the middle of what will be the garage.”

Then I found a bigger stand in another location on the property. That was also pretty exciting.

Two days ago, I found this mother lode on my in-laws’ place (we’re sectioning off a few acres from their place, and they’ve been clear we can use their land for growing and harvesting and such). A couple more weeks and I’ll be up to my elbows harvesting and retting!

Finally the next step in the processing of the nettles. First I soaked the half-processed fibers, then I scraped them.

Because this time I only wanted some string to bind things together, this was all the scraping needed.
(to be continued ...)

And here is the string. And more fibers waiting ...

Regarding the question about daisies, I have the same issue and the same question.  I saw on another video...was it Sally Pointer? They took a plant fresh picked.andushed it all up to see if it separated into fibrous threads to see if it would be good for textiles or cordage. I haven't gotten my daisies.to.do that to an amount.t I want to pursue, anyways. I have woven baskets with them. Nothing fancy, just basket to pick blackberries with.

I found this thread in my search for nettle processing and blackberry vine processing, since I have a few.  It would be great if I could find a way to soften blackberry enough to be wearable. And find a way to give my hands some.relief in making.all.this cordage.  Just spent two or three days nonstop.spinning.wool on a road trip with a drop spindle.and I had to go find my copper bracelets.for some pain relief.  I also put my hands in the nettles.😁.  That actually works,.and yes it hurts. But in arthritis type.pain.it.hurts (hard to explain)....differently....  Short term.... than when it did to me as a kid.

Further up in the thread someone mentioned.big welts on their skin and plantain to relieve it.  I got those as a kid,.and was.taugnt to use.the dots on the underside.of a sword.fern rubbed on it.  Then later on I learned bracken fern works.as well. I don't get those welts anymore.and welcome the two or three days of pain relief.

Regarding the question about daisies, I have the same issue and the same question.  I saw on another video...was it Sally Pointer? They took a plant fresh picked.andushed it all up to see if it separated into fibrous threads to see if it would be good for textiles or cordage. I haven't gotten my daisies.to.do that to an amount.t I want to pursue, anyways. I have woven baskets with them. Nothing fancy, just basket to pick blackberries with.

I found this thread in my search for nettle processing and blackberry vine processing, since I have a few.  It would be great if I could find a way to soften blackberry enough to be wearable. And find a way to give my hands some.relief in making.all.this cordage.  Just spent two or three days nonstop.spinning.wool on a road trip with a drop spindle.and I had to go find my copper bracelets.for some pain relief.  I also put my hands in the nettles.😁.  That actually works,.and yes it hurts. But in arthritis type.pain.it.hurts (hard to explain)....differently....  Short term.... than when it did to me as a kid.

Further up in the thread someone mentioned.big welts on their skin and plantain to relieve it.  I got those as a kid,.and was.taugnt to use.the dots on the underside.of a sword.fern rubbed on it.  Then later on I learned bracken fern works.as well. I don't get those welts anymore.and welcome the two or three days of pain relief.

Below is pictured:

1- Nettle.fiber split when first.picked.and hung.to.dry, rubbed by hand remove the rough bits.  Then on to carding.  Per Sally Pointer.on YouTube.

2 and 3-  Blackberry vine fiber stripped down at picking and then twisted into cordage. It's pretty rough, but rubbing the cordage on the edge of a table seems to soften it a little.

Sally Pointer's Youtube channel, that's the place to be when you want to know about 'wild' fiber plants! I follow her method of processing Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica) into 'thread' (no retting, no carding or spinning!).

The season for harvesting the Nettles is starting ...

I haven't found any sizeable patch of stinging nettle this year, but I have found a large patch of a related plant called wood nettle (Laportea canadensis) that can be used like stinging nettle. I'm in the process of collecting the plant stalks right now before I ret and scutch them. I plan on sharing some photographs as I continue processing the fibers from the plant stalks.

I decided to get rid of the 'nettle patch' in my allotment garden. The nettles growing between the dog-walk-path and the canal/stream in my neighbourhood are of much better quality! Probably the allotment is higher and dryer.

I have finished harvesting and drying my wood nettle stalks before preparing to ret them in a tank of water. The large bundle of stalks at the bottom of the photographs has about 268 plant stems. Given how nettles spread, I'm wondering if I harvested from as few as twelve plants. I seem to have been lucky to catch this plant right before the stage when it should be harvested since the period in which it flowers seems very short. As with any wild plant, make sure you don't overharvest a plant. There should be some foraging guidelines available on other parts of the Permies forum.

Ryan M Miller wrote:I haven't found any sizeable patch of stinging nettle this year, but I have found a large patch of a related plant called wood nettle (Laportea canadensis) that can be used like stinging nettle. I'm in the process of collecting the plant stalks right now before I ret and scutch them. I plan on sharing some photographs as I continue processing the fibers from the plant stalks.

If you collect them shortly after the frost they are very easy and only require a little peeling and rubbing to turn into excellent fiber. They are one of my favorite fiber plants. They are abundant here too and I gathered more than enough to make a shirt last year (but no shirt yet to show!)

I may try collecting the nettle after the first frost the next time I find a patch of nettle. I just remember reading that the best time to harvest fiber was right after the flowers fall off the plant and the seed pods begin to form. I will set aside some of the fiber from this year to compare with future harvests picked after the first frost.

I think they are the longest/strongest while green but the fall harvest is easier, less stings and no retting and a lot less weight in water to carry back home which is why I have moved in that direction. I also read that it was the more ancient way to harvest wood nettles. It’s interesting that in Asia, ramie harvests are of the green plants, and even happen twice a year, allowing a second, finer harvest. I have a feeling that wild wood nettle plants might not withstand such an intensive harvest, but it’s possible that in certain areas they could tolerate it (sunnier, moist, fertile clearings).

As of yesterday, I have finished retting, braking, scutching and hackling the nettle fiber. The total fiber yield was 7.9 ounces. Of that, 1.2 ounces was long line fiber; 2.2 ounces was long tow fiber; 2.1 ounces was medium length tow prepared into combed top; and the remaining 2.4 ounces was short tow fiber still yet to be drum carded. The yield of long line and long tow for this wood nettle was significantly smaller by percentage than the yield of long fiber from my adam's needle yucca leaves earlier this year (43% long tow and long line fiber from the nettle as opposed to 67% long line and long tow fiber from the yucca). I'm wondering if this is due to the nettle fibers being weaker than the yucca fibers, the stem nodes creating weak points in the nettle fiber, or just due to me under-retting the fibers.

What beautiful fiber, Ryan!

Ryan M Miller wrote:As of yesterday, I have finished retting, braking, scutching and hackling the nettle fiber. The total fiber yield was 7.9 ounces. Of that, 1.2 ounces was long line fiber; 2.2 ounces was long tow fiber; 2.1 ounces was medium length tow prepared into combed top; and the remaining 2.4 ounces was short tow fiber still yet to be drum carded. The yield of long line and long tow for this wood nettle was significantly smaller by percentage than the yield of long fiber from my adam's needle yucca leaves earlier this year (43% long tow and long line fiber from the nettle as opposed to 67% long line and long tow fiber from the yucca). I'm wondering if this is due to the nettle fibers being weaker than the yucca fibers, the stem nodes creating weak points in the nettle fiber, or just due to me under-retting the fibers.

Different plants have different fibers with different characteristics. I don't think there's a specific reason for the difference between wood-nettle and yucca fibers. They are two very different plants.

I learn about processing yucca fiber by watching videos from India or Bangladesh about jute fibers. How different are the bast fibers from dicot stalks and yucca or sisal fibers from the leaves of monocots? The yucca fibers are long and strong, taking plant based dyes very well. I am not sure if we need to start a yucca-a-long thread or not.

May Lotito wrote:I learn about processing yucca fiber by watching videos from India or Bangladesh about jute fibers. How different are the bast fibers from dicot stalks and yucca or sisal fibers from the leaves of monocots? The yucca fibers are long and strong, taking plant based dyes very well. I am not sure if we need to start a yucca-a-long thread or not.

I don't have much experience with the monocot fiber plants. I think the Sansevieria (houseplant) is a monocot, from that plant I found out it was very easy to get the fibers out of the leaf (just scrape away the other stuff and the fibers will stay). Getting fibers from stinging nettles and flax took a lot more work, and then the fibers were much shorter.
I never tried dyeing my plant fibers, but it's told that linen and nettle do not take plant dyes very well (compared to dyeing wool, or to dyeing with synthetic dyes).

The yucca fibers feel wiry when dry.  Since these fibers have a higher lignin content than cotton, they dye more easily with pigments with aromatic rings, although they are still not as reactive as animal fibers. Tannin overdyed with iron is my favorite to get a dark color. Many patterns can be created with just black and tan. My youngest made the last minute decision last night he wanted to be a cowboy for Halloween so I turned the yucca cord into a lasso. Glad to find some use for my crafts.

May Lotito wrote:I learn about processing yucca fiber by watching videos from India or Bangladesh about jute fibers. How different are the bast fibers from dicot stalks and yucca or sisal fibers from the leaves of monocots? The yucca fibers are long and strong, taking plant based dyes very well. I am not sure if we need to start a yucca-a-long thread or not.

I'm not so sure about the structure of yucca fibers, but the Adam's Needle yucca leaves that I processed earlier this year have some pretty coarse fiber that feels almost like horse main and tail hair in its raw state. Yucca fiber will be more likely to require an alkaline treatment before using it to make clothing compared with nettle fiber. My wood nettle fiber, compared with the yucca fiber, has a texture closer to hemp fiber; especially the tow fiber.

Ryan M Miller wrote:

May Lotito wrote:I learn about processing yucca fiber by watching videos from India or Bangladesh about jute fibers. How different are the bast fibers from dicot stalks and yucca or sisal fibers from the leaves of monocots? The yucca fibers are long and strong, taking plant based dyes very well. I am not sure if we need to start a yucca-a-long thread or not.

I'm not so sure about the structure of yucca fibers, but the Adam's Needle yucca leaves that I processed earlier this year have some pretty coarse fiber that feels almost like horse main and tail hair in its raw state. Yucca fiber will be more likely to require an alkaline treatment before using it to make clothing compared with nettle fiber. My wood nettle fiber, compared with the yucca fiber, has a texture closer to hemp fiber; especially the tow fiber.

The Sansevieria fibers are also more like the hairs in a horse's tail, or like nylon fishing thread. Nettle and linen are much softer.

In jute processing, an oil and water emulsion is sprayed to soften the raw fibers before breaking and carding. I don't mind it to be a bit stiff. Sally Pointer has a video on the looped and twisted basket with nettle twines. Yucca fibers should be suitable for such a project. The singles can be woven into ribbons.