fraud and technology

 Witchcraft to the ignorant, .... Simple science to the learned!

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

http://www.ngcproject.org/engaging-girls-stem

"Magic" dominates modern spinning.  Spinners of fine threads claim to be working with singles that are bundles of only 5 staples. This claim evaporates into fraud when the light of science and technology is turned on it. For example one of the spinners of Orenburg lace tells us that her singles contain only 5 fibers. However these singles have a grist of about 30,000 ypp, Orenburg fibers have a  spin count of about 60,000 ypp, so we know her singles are bundles of about 40 fibers. Such singles are then plied (or more precisely, core spun) with silk.

A beginner that attempts to spin singles that are only 5 staples thick will fail, because that is not how one makes such yarns. For one thing, a single of Orenburg fiber that is only 10 fibers thick has a grist of 120,000 ypp (240 meters/gram or 350 wpi). Even with plies of silk to stabilize it, it is too thin.  In a knit pattern, it just disappears.  And it is very fragile. A single with only 5 fibers would be much thinner and much more fragile.  The puff about 5 fibers is bluff trying to support a world of magic, where people do not do STEM.

Saying that there are only 5 fibers in Orenburg lace singles is a lie.  In particular, it is not fair to beginning spinners.  Such lies are one reason I am so resentful against the spinning establishment. 
In fact, an 80s single from a fine fiber such as Rambouillet is actually going to be thinner than an Orenburg lace single. The 80s will have a grist of about 45,000 ypp, while the Orenburg lace single has a grist of about 30,000 ypp.  The 80s single is worsted spun and has a compact nature, while the Orenburg is woolen with a soft halo around it.  Thus, both by grist and visual appearance, the the 80s single is thinner than the Orenburg lace single.

Granted that an 80s single is not as soft as an Orenburg lace single, but it is thinner, and with the right tools, it is faster and easier to spin.  In my world, "softness" is not the only virtue. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-davis-smith/get-your-girls-into-stem_b_5733976.html

The best fiber in the world

is clean (except for spinning oil) and freshly combed or carded.  Really!

Last night, a member of a local spinning guild was destashing fiber, and she brought in a big pile of very nice fiber.  I did not have my trusty twisty stick, with me, but without asking the price, I bought a couple big bags full.  One bag is white long wool, maybe 40 count, and I plan to spin it at maybe 10 count. It is just beautiful stuff, I know it will spin Fast and Easy.  Fiber Porn.

I get home and toss it on the distaff, put the 5,600 ypp bobbin on the wheel, and that fiber does not want to spin.  Yes, I can coax thread out of it, but it breaks off every couple of yards.  This is not what I wanted.  This is like work.   This is spinning purgatory.  I wanted something that was like a video game, where the fiber slides into to the hungry orifice, and the only question is, "How fast can one feed the monster?"

So, this afternoon,  I spray a handful of the fiber with spinning oil, and I comb enough to fill a distaff. It takes 5 minutes. Boom!  It spins like a dream - 6 yards a minute without any problem, because it is the best fiber in the world.