Handwoven rug from compost-worthy wool

The sad thing is, so much wool gets tossed on the compost pile every year, but for a short period, our local mill had a solution for that.  They got a core-spinner that could make yarn out of fibre that would otherwise get tossed.

Here's the results




If you like this video, give it a thumbs up on youtube.

So my brain immediately went to, "what is a core-spinner". I don't have time to follow the whole rabbit hole, but this link:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/core-spun-yarn
has excerpts from several books related to the concept. An example which I'm not convinced I like, is about how they use a spandex core in a cotton wrap to make clothing with a bit of "give". It seems finding cotton pants that *don't* have spandex in them is getting hard! Does anyone know whether spandex is biodegradable into basic and non-nasty chemicals?

However, clearly where I live, if we want "locally" produced core-spun wool, we're just going to have to learn to do it ourselves. I'm not there yet, but have you tried it, Raven?
https://coda.io/@susan-m-davis/spinning/tips-for-core-spinning-yarn-10

Core spinning is basically anything where the fluffy fibre is spun around a core yarn.  Cotton commercial core-spun is pretty neat because it gives the yarn qualities it wouldn't otherwise have and can be more durable (or not).  But as for eco-friendly... the first time I learned about commercial cotton corespun was when I found this ultra-fine net shaped like a t-shirt in my compost bin.  Very strong but very fine yarn and on it was a label saying that it was spandex and cotton.  Some research shows it was corespun and the cotton rotted away no problem, but spandex was well perserved.  

I've spun some corespun yarn on the wheel, usually wool on a wool or cotton core, but my wheel is set up for spinning much finer yarns so the corespun fills up the bobbin quickly.  It's a lot of fun on a wheel designed for bigger yarns.  

Your rug is beautiful! Thank you for sharing your video.

r ranson wrote: Cotton commercial core-spun is pretty neat because it gives the yarn qualities it wouldn't otherwise have and can be more durable (or not).  But as for eco-friendly... the first time I learned about commercial cotton corespun was when I found this ultra-fine net shaped like a t-shirt in my compost bin.  Very strong but very fine yarn and on it was a label saying that it was spandex and cotton.  Some research shows it was corespun and the cotton rotted away no problem, but spandex was well perserved.  

That was my concern. A friend gave me her old jeans for upcycling, but normally, I'd toss denim scraps in my compost. I'm going to have to be very wary about this sort of thing! They make it sound so good - only 1% spandex - but that's sort of like saying, "I only added 1% sewage to your cup of tea". How about no percent!

Cheryl Gallagher wrote:Your rug is beautiful! Thank you for sharing your video.

Thank you!

r ranson wrote:  They got a core-spinner that could make yarn out of fibre that would otherwise get tossed.

Here's the results
weaving a rug with core-spun yarn

So, in the video she was talking about farmers not having a market source to sell their wool. Why don't you start a business, buy their wool, have the core-spinning done by the local factory - then make a ton of money off of either selling the core-spun yarn or have a couple of little-old-neighbor-ladies learn how to make rugs for you to sell?

I know, I know, it is like me. It is all time, money, and effort to get all of my jobs done in my wood shop!   :-)

Oh my Jay, there are a MESS of spinners in the PNW, and yes corespinning is a great way to use short-staple fiber.  In my neck of the woods there are a few major spinning events yearly, and there are spinners guilds in just about every county.

The dark cloud:
That being said, the issue is 'small-batch' processors that will take your yarn.  There has been a steady increase in the number of boutique fiber mills but they are all pretty booked up.  (market opportunity anyone?)  Small-batch is anything that isn't delivered in the tall, compressed fiber sacks....with something like 1/4 ton being the minimum starting point.  Cost is another factor, since washing, picking, carding, roving, and then spinning all cost by the pound.

The silver lining:
All, or part, of this work can be done by the home hobbyist.  For example: washing can cost (or earn) $4/pound, and if you take a look at the Suint Scour method https://looseendsfibre.wordpress.com/2020/05/10/cleaning-wool-using-suint-fermentation/, it can be done without soap using the sheep's native microbiome to ferment the dirt and lanolin off of the fiber.  Carding can be done with some equipment, but is a bit time intensive without the expensive stuff.  Once it is carded, the cost of paying a mill to rove it and corespin it is pretty reasonable.

Fun side note: There is a lot more 'waste wool' than just stuff that is too short.  The belly and leg wool is usually thrown away by the shearer.  I collect it up and use it as weed block in my gardens.  Lay down a 2-3" inch thick layer in the fall, rain will compact and mat it.  Over winter it starts to decompose and release nutrients into the soil (and is a good Nitrogen source).  In the spring it's nicely matted down, but broken down enough that your trowel can easily cut through for seed planting.

Another fun side note: T-shirt rug weaving, or t-shirt hook and loop rugs are also a thing.  It could apply to any scrap fabric, but folks usually talk about doing it with t-shirts because of the ubiquity and cheapness.

Cheers,
Dave

Jesse Glessner wrote:

So, in the video she was talking about farmers not having a market source to sell their wool. Why don't you start a business, buy their wool, have the core-spinning done by the local factory - then make a ton of money off of either selling the core-spun yarn or have a couple of little-old-neighbor-ladies learn how to make rugs for you to sell?

I know, I know, it is like me. It is all time, money, and effort to get all of my jobs done in my wood shop!   :-)

I was working on it, but the mill closed and there is nowhere near enough to process the wool.  Quietly working behind the scenes to see if we can get someone else to open a mill.  

The profit margins weren't great for this, it would be more a proof of concept project.  Getting farmers to give the wool isn't something they want to do - takes too much time for not enough reward.  So they would need to be paid fairly to get them on board.  Then the labour to do the skirting (because most farmers don't know how), then the milling, then the weaving labour.  From there it's marketing.  The initial investment to get enough wool for the first run would be substantial - but worth it with something like a kickstarter where we pre-sell the rugs.  

David Lucey wrote:Oh my Jay, there are a MESS of spinners in the PNW, and yes corespinning is a great way to use short-staple fiber.  In my neck of the woods there are a few major spinning events yearly, and there are spinners guilds in just about every county.
The dark cloud:
That being said, the issue is 'small-batch' processors that will take your yarn.  There has been a steady increase in the number of boutique fiber mills but they are all pretty booked up.  (market opportunity anyone?)  Small-batch is anything that isn't delivered in the tall, compressed fiber sacks....with something like 1/4 ton being the minimum starting point.  Cost is another factor, since washing, picking, carding, roving, and then spinning all cost by the pound.e

    I read your post because I was curious about pkgs of wool and pricing. Some time back even the poor quality wool was going for $7.00 per pound. I know that is a pretty good bundle of wool, but the pricing went up rapidly from there.
    My interest was to see what it would cost me to use to insulate a Horizontal Hive if I built one myself. Check those bee hives out at   horizontalhive.com  as they use sheep's wool between two 1/2" plywood walls with a skeleton of 2" X 2" separating the walls and the hollows are stuffed with the wool. It keeps the bees warm in winter and cooler than normal hives in summer. It takes somewhere between 7 to 9 lbs of wool per hive.

One of the problems with washing wool at home is that the mill needs the washing to be done to a specific standard for the machines to work.  

Most home washings won't get enough grease and dirt out.  The wool I washed and sent to the mill had to have a lot of grease added back in.  It's much more efficient for them to be in control of the washing, plus they have larger washing equipment that means far less water and soap needed than at home.  Even the fermented method takes a lot of water to get it clean enough to run through the machines - about 10 times the water as a soap wash.

But sorting and skirting is labour intensive and is a big bottleneck in the mills.  Something as simple as taking the dung tags off hugely cuts down the cost of getting the fibre processed in these small mills.  

r ranson wrote:One of the problems with washing wool at home is that the mill needs the washing to be done to a specific standard for the machines to work.  

Most home washings won't get enough grease and dirt out.  The wool I washed and sent to the mill had to have a lot of grease added back in.  It's much more efficient for them to be in control of the washing, plus they have larger washing equipment that means far less water and soap needed than at home.  Even the fermented method takes a lot of water to get it clean enough to run through the machines - about 10 times the water as a soap wash.

But sorting and skirting is labour intensive and is a big bottleneck in the mills.  Something as simple as taking the dung tags off hugely cuts down the cost of getting the fibre processed in these small mills.  

Agreed in all counts...

As for washing, it's a cooperative thing with the mills you work with to understand what they need.  In Western Washington there is a shortage of washing, and most of the small-run mills don't do their own washing in house.  I do know of one in Olympia, and she's awesome.

Unskirted fleece in our small-run mills usually comes with a stiff 'cleaning' fee...more of a nuisance charge to incentivize folks to clean it up before sending.  No need to ship poop and vegetable matter after all.

We skirt and sort our own to save on cost at the mills, but agreed most of the larger fiber operations don't have time to skirt and sort.  We're running 60 head, not 600 or 6000.  10 minutes a fleece isn't a big deal.

Suint method cleaning *can* be easier, and is supposed to use less water, but I've got 4 tubs going right now, and I'm not really seeing the water savings. I'm going to try experimenting with some lifting aids and adding spigots to my tubs, because I use the same tubs, either way - but, I have to find ways to make the lifting easier(I'm going to commandeer hubby's deer-dressing gimble!). I've experienced the results, from a friend's fleeces, but I'm struggling just as much, physically, as when I wash them in soap. Either way is water and labor intensive. That said, I have a friend who loves doing corespinning, and does beautiful yarns.

The way I often wash wool is from The Big Book of Handspinning.  It assumes one wash tub and three rinses.  After the first batch, the wash water gets tossed in the garden and rinse 1 gets soap added to it and it becomes the wash tub for the next batch, with a fresh batch of water for rinse number three.  And so on, reusing the rinse water with each batch.  

It's hugely economical with water and many of the mills we've had locally use something like this.  Sometimes on a larger scale but one mill used to wash in batches smaller than mine.  But her wait time was about 4 years to get a fleece processed.  

I have a limited well in the summer, but in the winter when there's lots of water, there isn't a lot of space to dry the wool.  It's about finding a balance.  

R, it turned out perfect!  Looks soft and durable!

My favorite part of making most of the things I make is watching the colors unfold. I get bored doing a single color item. So I find I prefer to use yarns that have color changes,  or swap colors as I work through the item.

I hope to one day have a large loom like r has. Even if it were a table-sized rather than floor-sized! And there is so much more to do and equipment to have to do the job justice. Very unlike the pin-type looms I'm currently working with. These only use the tools I already have; besides the shaped loom (square, triangle, hexagon and a new jewel-shaped ) I only need a long yarn needle and/or a crochet hook.

The belly and leg wool is usually thrown away by the shearer.  I collect it up and use it as weed block in my gardens.  

David - I was recently gifted 6 feed bags of sheared alpaca fleece, straight off the alpacas after they had just rolled in all the weeds at their new home, no skirting.  There is alot of burclover burs in the fleece.  I've been pulling the burs and the fiber stuck to them.  Had thought of putting these 'discards' into my compost pile, but I don't want to introduce burclover to my urban oasis ecosystem.  I know my compost does not get hot as when I start seeds in the spring my compost pile soil sprouts all sorts of volunteer amaranth and tomato seeds in my starter trays.  How resilient is burclover?  Would it propagate in my compost soil easily?  If so, do you have ideas on ways I can repurpose these 'discards'?  This is my first workings with fleece.  Thanks for any suggestions.

carla murphy wrote:

The belly and leg wool is usually thrown away by the shearer.  I collect it up and use it as weed block in my gardens.  

David - I was recently gifted 6 feed bags of sheared alpaca fleece, straight off the alpacas after they had just rolled in all the weeds at their new home, no skirting.  There is alot of burclover burs in the fleece.  I've been pulling the burs and the fiber stuck to them.  Had thought of putting these 'discards' into my compost pile, but I don't want to introduce burclover to my urban oasis ecosystem.  I know my compost does not get hot as when I start seeds in the spring my compost pile soil sprouts all sorts of volunteer amaranth and tomato seeds in my starter trays.  How resilient is burclover?  Would it propagate in my compost soil easily?  If so, do you have ideas on ways I can repurpose these 'discards'?  This is my first workings with fleece.  Thanks for any suggestions.

If you have a way to effectively chop or grind them, they could be added to your compost, safely. You might try a food processor. It wouldn't take a lot of chopping, either - just enough to cut them into smaller pieces. Another option might be baking them.

carla murphy wrote:

I've been pulling the burs and the fiber stuck to them.  Had thought of putting these 'discards' into my compost pile, but I don't want to introduce burclover to my urban oasis ecosystem.  

I hear you! I'm battling several invasives and feel like I'm loosing!
This might be wild and crazy, but "the problem is the solution": 1. Find or make a low containment device - as much as I hate plastic, some bricks along the edge in a square or rectangle and covered with the plastic.
2. Put some light soil or finished compost in the bottom - and inch would be enough.
3. Spread the alpaca fleece on top in a 1-2 inch layer
4. Mist daily until the weed seeds germinate, then pluck the baby weeds.
5. When you think they've all germinated, add that fleece to your regular compost or use it as a mulch elsewhere and start again with the next feed bag/bags.
It's hard to judge the size of the problem - so this is just how I'm picturing it from a distance. I'm not *sure* you'd even need the soil, but I suspect it would help to keep the moisture levels more stable. I'm also not familiar with this particular plant, so I'm not sure how reliably its seeds germinate the first year. Some seeds like to wait around and surprise you!

Good luck with whatever you end up trying. Carla Burke's "baking them" idea could be done with a sun-solarization system, but I'm always concerned that the solarization system can kill all the good guys along with the bad, so I'd want to choose the location carefully.

Jay Angler wrote:
Carla Burke's "baking them" idea could be done with a sun-solarization system, but I'm always concerned that the solarization system can kill all the good guys along with the bad, so I'd want to choose the location carefully.

When I read about this just now I envisioned a solar oven set up for just the fleece to kill the weed seeds. Then you don't risk killing good soil critters etc.

My 2 cents. Wish someone would gift me some alpaca fleece! Have fun!

wool in black garbage bags plus a week of full sunlight will kill most weedseed (and damage the fibre).  

Beautiful rug!

And great that the wool was given life in a long term usable product rather than going into compost.

I recently acquired four fleeces which I was unable to use for spinning etc (I have kept a bit though - couldn't resist). The gifter had been at her wits' ends trying to get rid of the fleece, so at least my putting it round plants/as mulch on pots/in the compost, plus sharing it out with friends who will do the same, is better than the fleeces doing nothing apart from causing exasperation.

r ranson wrote:wool in black garbage bags plus a week of full sunlight will kill most weedseed (and damage the fibre).  

Ah, Okay!  Not concerned about damaging fiber as this will go to compost.  'This' being the really burr-y stuff I'm pulling out!  Had thought of solarizing it, but my solar oven is small.  Don't need an oven, just a black bag.  Thanks!

I would love to have a whole lot of wool to insulate. I doubt low quality would hurt anything, not even if it had burrs in it.

The hemming I chose didn't hold up to lots of use.  I plan to unweave the tangled bit and machine sew some bias tape,  then do a foldover hem.

What didn't hold up about it?  The cotton thread woven for hem or the cotton thread used to stitch the hem down?  I'm about to jump with both feet into some serious rug weaving as I was gifted a bunch of rug wool yarn (not core-spun).  I too don't like the idea of fringe on rugs and have no problem with folding over a cotton hem section and stitching down the edge with my sewing machine.

carla murphy wrote:What didn't hold up about it?  The cotton thread woven for hem or the cotton thread used to stitch the hem down?  I'm about to jump with both feet into some serious rug weaving as I was gifted a bunch of rug wool yarn (not core-spun).  I too don't like the idea of fringe on rugs and have no problem with folding over a cotton hem section and stitching down the edge with my sewing machine.

The stitches pulled on the cotton thread which unraveled some of the white edging.  I think an edging that holds the weaving together - like sewing that bit to a bias tape, and then hems it, would work better as this is what I do for other things.

Another option would be to choose wool for the start and stop and then full it before hemming.  This would keep it together better and help it felt/full to the rug with use.

A regular fringe hem would have been the easiest, but I just don't like them.