How to Spin Cashmere Into Yarn
If you've already mastered spinning fine fibers with longer staple lengths like merino and alpaca, you should try spinning cashmere into yarn. Soft, short cashmere fiber presents a challenge to spinners, but the light, lofty yarn that results from successful spinning is worth the challenge. Cashmere, the delicate undercoat fibers that angora goats produce, is a difficult fiber to spin, but it's also one of the hardest to collect. One angora goat only yields a few ounces of fiber each year, and producers must separate it from the goat's inferior upper coat fibers.
Instructions
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1
Attach the smallest whorl to the end of your spinning wheel flyer.
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Adjust the bobbin tension so the yarn will take up slowly as you spin.
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Prepare cashmere for spinning. If you are using washed, uncarded fibers, use a pair of fine-tooth hand cards to prepare rolags for spinning (see Resources). Rolags are ideal for spinning short fibers like cashmere and cotton.
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Begin spinning from one side of your prepared cashmere rolag. Once you begin treadling, twist will build up in the leader yarn. Once you've accumulated a good amount of twist, begin drafting your fiber onto the leader. The cashmere will latch on, and the leader will pull it onto your bobbin.
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Continue spinning, drafting the fiber to the yarn thickness you want. Make sure you add plenty of twist, or your cashmere yarn will not hold together.
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Use plying to create a stronger cashmere yarn. Spin your rolags into thin yarn with extra twist (grab a length of spun yarn, fold it in half and let it twist around itself to determine whether you've added enough twist). Evenly distribute the fiber over two bobbins.
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Place the two filled bobbins on a lazy kate and add a new, empty bobbin to your spinning wheel. Begin spinning, making sure that your wheel moves in the opposite direction that it did when you spun your single-ply cashmere yarn.
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Grab the ends of your cashmere yarn and let them twist onto the leader. Allow the two strands to twist around each other as they feed onto the bobbin.
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Check periodically to see if you're plying the yarn tightly enough. Once you've plied a length of yarn, stop your spinning wheel and let the yarn hang slack. Bring the end of the plied section up to meet your wheel's orifice. If the plied section doesn't twist around itself, you've created a well-balanced yarn with just enough twist.
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