Info you might want to know...About our Spinning Fibre::
Felting: We do our best to be as gentle to our fibres as possible whilst dyeing, washing and fixing. To avoid felting we pat and squeeze (never twist!) while wet. We avoid 'shocking' our fibres by not changing the temperate rapidly (i.e. hot water to cold water) or running water directly onto roving. If there is a tiny bit of felting, please forgive us. A great way to open up your fibres if you're finding it hard to 'pull apart' like normal is to separate the roving out sideways and then try again. This always works for me and makes it a dream to spin!
Colour Fastness: All Art Equals Happy wool and fibre has been washed and fixed naturally and washed again to insure colour fastness. However, because of the natural dye process, there may be a small bit of residual dyestuff left hidden inside the fibres, that as you spin will come off on your fingers. If this happens, don't panic. When you're done spinning just give your wool and fingers a wash with room temperate water. It's also not advisable to eat anything with your bare hands if they are purple (for instance), just to be on the safe side.
Info you might want to know...About our Handspun Wool::
Process: For most of our wools, the fibre is spun on an Ashford Traditional Wheel by Kim Smith in her studio home, currently located in South London. We start with the most organic un-dyed wool from British sheep breeds that we can find. At the moment we only stock Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) with superwash. The spinning wheel is completely foot-powered (so that means no electricity is used!) and our drum carder is also hand-powered. We spin a variety of weights and techniques, including the basic Sock yarn to Navajo Ply, Core-spun and other art yarns- though we love a good plain 2-ply Chunky too! We then weigh the wool and dye the wool using Natural Dyes. You might find your skein comes tied with string that we use in the dying process, just give that a snip and you're on your way! Because it's all handspun, you may find a break in your skein. This just means it was at the end or beginning of a bobbin. Just add it in to your project, like you would a new colour.
Using our wool in a project: A lot of people ask us "What can you do with 50g of yarn!?!". We sell our handspun in small skeins so you can mix and match to your hearts delight. It's also not the cheapest thing out there, so if you want to treat yourself to something special and unique- you can! And without committing to a big skein. They make great presents or accents in a project. A lot of Art Equals Happy customers use our yarn for colour work or in striped patterns. Also, for reference 100g (2 skeins) of 'Skinny' is the perfect amount for a pair of socks! And 100g (2 skeins) of Worsted or DK make nice hats or cowls.
**All wool comes from a smoke free but cat-friendly home. Negs love to help out in the studio, Just in case you've got allergies, it's better to know. :] **
