folktale's Profile

Bio

I've loved working with fiber for most of my life. I learned to crochet and sew at a very young age from my mother and grandmother, and later on I taught myself how to knit and then to spin on both a drop spindle and wheel. I love to process my own fiber from raw wool, and am always amazed by the sometimes magical transformation from fiber to yarn.

I've begun to be more and more conscious about the fibers I use in my yarns. I currently avoid most silk (except for recycled sari silk threads), superwash wool, and most commercially processed wool.

I try to buy as much wool from small local farms as possible -local sheep & wool festivals are my best friend! I like supporting small local businesses, and when I buy directly from the farmers, they get a much fairer price for their wool than if they sold it to a large company.

My processed Falkland/merino cross wool top comes from the DHF farm in the Falkland islands. They don't use any herbicides, pesticides, dips, footbaths or regular injections on their sheep, and no bleach or other chemicals in the processing of the wool - so it is, according to them, some of the purest, cleanest wool you will find on the planet. It's also extremely soft and fine, with the loftiness of merino.

I also use mill end fibers, which are leftovers from large spinning mills. They end up with lots of 'waste' fibers that don't make it all the way through the carding & spinning process that would otherwise go to waste if they didn't sell them to handspinners. The fibers are top-quality, they just tend to take a little more prep time as they often need to be re-carded.

I've discovered the joys of spinning plant fibers as well - organic cotton (I only buy organic cotton, due to the crazy amounts of pesticides used on conventional cotton), bamboo, soysilk, tencel, hemp, and I'm always discovering more. I plan on spinning plenty of veggie yarns. They take more time to spin, and the fibers can be costly, but I enjoy providing wool-free options for those with allergies or vegan lifestyles.

Born on April 8

Favorite Materials

wool, bamboo, organic, cotton, mohair, sparkle, recycled, wheel, dye