How to Make Bamboo Yarn
Bamboo yarn is strong, soft and has a beautiful sheen. It drapes well and can be blended with other fibers, including cotton, silk and wool. Spinning your own bamboo yarn poses some challenges as it is a fine, slippery fiber best suited to an experienced spinner. You can make bamboo yarns on a spinning wheel or drop spindle, as you prefer.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Challenging
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Bamboo roving or "silk" Procion fiber reactive dyes Soda ash Spinning wheel or drop spindle Coarse linen thread or yarn, approximately 2 feet
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How to Make Bamboo Yarn
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1
Prepare your bamboo roving for spinning. Many people prefer to dye rovings before they spin. Dye your bamboo roving by soaking in soda ash for 15 to 30 minutes, then applying dye. You can hand paint Procion dyes onto your fiber or opt to add dye to the water for a more even color (see references below). Rinse out excess dye and allow your bamboo roving to dry completely.
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2
Pre-draft your bamboo roving. Leave more roving available to draft from than you will need to avoid creating an overly thin yarn as you spin (see references below). Hold a length of fiber between your hands and pull the fiber until you feel the fiber loosening up and slipping apart. Avoid pulling too hard, especially with bamboo roving.
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3
Attach a fairly fine and relatively coarse linen string or yarn to your wheel or spindle. A coarse linen leader will help you start spinning the slippery bamboo fiber with more success.
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4
Spin your bamboo yarn with more twist than you would for animal fibers, and experiment with a longer than usual draft (see references below). To produce a finer bamboo yarn, you may find it helpful to treadle somewhat faster when using a spinning wheel and use higher drive ratio (see references below). If you are hand spinning with a drop spindle, choose the finest and lightest spindle you have available to spin delicate bamboo yarn.
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5
Ply your bamboo yarn if you do not want to use it as a single. Be careful to ply evenly and keep a snug hold on the bamboo yarn as you ply to avoid the plies slipping against one another (see references below).
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