Space Cadet

No sooner do I define and bound my world, than I spin off, and abandon it.

Pawing through the stash, I found a bin of worsted singles in the 2,500 to 3,000 ypp range left over from first learning to use DRS.  So, I wondered?

What would happen if I plied them up 10-ply?  The result is a finished 10- yarn in the 250 to 280 ypp range  (0.5 m/g).   On 3.5 mm needles and a (knitting sheath), it knits up at ~ 5 spi by ~ 7 rpi.

Over time, this fabric is warmer than what can be produced from any commercial yarn that I am aware of; and,  is much more durable than any commercial yarn of  similar grist.  The comparable yarn is my 14-ply worsted spun based on 5,600 ypp singles, which is far more durable.

However, at 5 tpi the singles are only half the work to spin as the 10s, and the knitting is only a third the work of 500 ypp 10-ply.  Thus, at this time this yarn/fabric offers much more warmth for less resources and budget than any other yarn/ fabric that I have ever tested.  In terms of more warmth , it far, far out-classes commercial 5-ply, 1,000 ypp  "gansey" yarn.   This is not really a problem, the objects that I have knit from commercial 5-ply "gansey" yarn are well suited to the climate of the greater SF Bay Area.   I need something for expeditions in to colder climates.  At this point, I have to move AA's dismissal of high-ply yarns from a gloss to an error.

Yarns like the MacAusland heavy 3-ply may approach this yarn in initial warmth, but this yarn/fabric far out-classes them for durability, and long-term warmth.  Since spinning is faster than knitting, objects made from this yarn are less expensive than just using MacAusland, and reknitting over a period of years.  Some of my MacAusland sweaters are long past "Used, but good!"

This is a craftsman's compromise between "budget" and "durability" 

made possible by a depth of resources (tools and skills.)

In the the past I have certainly praised commercial 5-ply gansey yarn and MacAusland's for their warmth, however, that was in the galaxy of commercial yarns on the retail market.  Now, we have escaped into the universe of possible yarns.  Here the commercial yarns make a poor showing, most  modern hand spun are pale imitations of the commercial yarns.

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More on Lanolin II

Sheep produce lanolin and suint, and together they keep the sheep's fleece oiled without the grooming required by animals like beaver.  Oiled fleece can repel water, so the fleece can trap the sheep's body heat and keep the sheep warm.

When we shear the fleece, everything changes.  The wool is soaked in cold water to remove the soap-like suint and hot water to remove the lanolin (and grit).

When we treat the wool to felt less, the wool become less water repellent. When we dye wool  (particularly deep blues and reds), the wool fibers become more water repellent. Long wool (e.g., Romney) dyed deep blue is fairly water repellent.  Fine, undyed wools are less water repellent.

Then, in the old days many mills used the lanolin produced in the scouring process as a cheap spinning oil.  It gave the wool water repellency and a certain aroma.  However, lanolin is a waxy material, and if you are wearing wool oiled with lanolin, the lanolin will come off (a little bit at a time) on everything it touches. If you go commando - it will come off on you. Pick up a child and some lanolin comes off on the child and the child's clothes.  Every time you go out in the rain, some small amount of lanolin will be washed out of the fabric.  Over time wool fabrics loose lanolin.

And, lanolin oxidizes, becomes sticky, becomes brittle, and flakes off.  The sticky lanolin attracts and holds dirt, meaning the garment must be washed more often, and the washing takes the lanolin out of the fabric.  And, lanolin attracts moths.  Lanolin is not magic.  It is goopy stuff that helps keep wool dry for a brief period.  Like everything on a sailing ship, it requires constant attention and maintenance.

I wear my woolens places where they get dirty, and I wash my woolens.  If you also wash your lanolin coated woolens, then soon, there will be much less lanolin on the wool.

Sea water contains plankton that is strained out of the water by well knit woolens.  In certain seasons, if you get doused by breaking waves, your sweater will pick up enough plankton that in a few hours it will smell like every dead thing that ever came out of the sea.  I do not care if you live in a sheep barn, sometimes your fisherman's sweater must be washed with soap before it can be taken into the house/barn.  At that time, any and all lanolin in the sweater will be scoured out.

(If it is a real fisherman's sweater, that must be waterproof, the lanolin can be replaced by melting some wool fat (lanolin) in a big pot of 125F water and raising the sweater through the film of lanolin on the surface of the water.  This will work for fisherman's garments (already stained) but is likely to stain other garments.)  And, garments firmly knit from worsted spun, long wools will tolerate this treatment,  but any fine wools, or loosely knit objects, or woolen spun objects, are likely to felt in the worst way. 

As I said, I wash my woolens on a regular basis, and reoil by putting a drop or two of baby oil in the rinse water.  It is not as good as lanolin for water repellency, but it is much less effort, and much better than nothing,   It keeps me from smelling like a wet sheep when I go into the yacht club for a pint.

Shackleton

Last night there was this thing on PBS about retracing Shackleton's open boat voyage.

They claimed to be using authentic period knit clothing. They were not.

Look at the photos from Shackleton's trip and the modern re-enactment.  Shackleton's knit clothing was knit using knitting sheaths that provided the leverage to knit much tighter and more weatherproof clothing.  The modern replicas were knit much more loosely, and were not as weatherproof and warm.

Likewise, Shackleton's knit clothing provided a great deal more padding between the sailor and points corners that attack the sailor in a small boat in rough weather.  This is something that one must experienced to appreciate.  A well knit gansey pads against against corners and blows to the body in ways that are qualitatively different from modern, looser knitting.  I had been wearing my Mustang Survival coat for reefing in foul weather.  Then, one day I wore my gansey.  That night - no bruises across my chest from the boom banging against me.  It was a revelation of the virtues of a well knit gansey.

The re-enactment expedition was poorly served by their textile consultants.  The knitters, who knit the modern garments did not know the craft of knitting for sailors in polar conditions.  Their stupidity and ignorance caused hypothermia that increased sea sickness and dehydration.  Hypothermia decreases mental judgement.  Hypothermia decreases physical dexterity.

Shackleton's knit clothing was much, much warmer than the clothing worn by the enactors.  This is what happens when knitters and textile historians do knot know their physics and do not do their math home work.

One can look at the photographs of Shackleton's men, and estimate fabric thickness and density.  From that one can calculate  the "warmth" of the fabric.  Then, one produces fabric of similar warmth. The responsible knitters then tests to fabric to ensure that it is warm enough.  Testing garments for warmth is easy.  Find a good polar vortex storm, put on the garment, and sit in storm while you knit. If the garment won't keep you warm as you sit on the quay knitting (watching for a boat carrying a loved one to come out of the storm), then it is not warm enough to sail the Southern Ocean.

When I replicated such sweaters, I used McAusland heavy 3-ply knit on US#3  long steel needles with a knitting sheath. It was about 200 hours of very hard work, and it was the single most difficult knitting project I ever did.  I later wore that sweater to prune an apple orchard during a week of snow, wind, and freezing rain - that included sustained gale winds - It was below freezing, raining, and the wind was blowing trees down. The only other people out were the rescue workers and linemen working on downed power lines. That gansey kept me warm and toasty all day, every day for more than a week's work in the storm.  I had ice climbing gear from Patagonia in my baggage, but the gansey was warmer and more comfortable in those  extreme conditions.  (These trees held my mother's collection of  300 antique apple grafts, and careful judgement was required to prune them. These were full sized trees, and everything was icy so physical dexterity was critical.)

When new, that sweater was as warm as the sweaters that Shackleton and his crew wore.  However, it was not as durable.   Shackleton's knit wear endured on the ice. I respect that greatly.  The kind of mill spun yarns used to knit Shackleton's clothing are no longer available.

That is why I took up hand spinning.