Three Fates Spinning & Fibre

For more fibre-related pages see: this page and this page.  Enjoy! 

Engraving: 'The Three Fates' Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos by Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, Mantua ca. 1520–1582)

Spinning and weaving are ancient arts that encompass the globe, the tools hardly changed over the centuries.

The Greeks told of the Moirai, the Three Fates, sisters who managed the destiny of humans and gods alike. Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured how long it would be, and Atropos cut it in death. Often the sisters were illustrated as a maiden, mother and and crone.
Here we see Clotho the spinner taking fibre from her distaff and spinning it onto a hand held spindle. Lachesis, the measurer or the 'allotter' has a ball of spun yarn which she is winding onto a reel, and Atropos, the fearsome cutter takes the thread of life and cuts it at a certain time and a certain way.

SPINNING

My first wheel. I bought this from a friend who had purchased it in Saskatchewan. It is a handmade Doukhabor wheel and still works, although it would need a couple of adjustments to use on a regular basis.

Hand spun 2 ply Blue-Faced Leicester hand dyed soft greens and grays

100% Cotswold sheep fibre, hand spun and hand dyed. This fleece was purchased from a farm in Alberta.

Hand spun skeins

A number of years ago, a friend was coincidentally selling the hand made spinning wheel above.  I had no idea how to use it, I just knew that someday I wanted to use a tool with so much history and power behind the act of doing what my ancestors had likely done. In addition, it is a craft that is intricately enshrined within the changing seasons, as is the garden work that we do here at Bee Glade. I put it away for a couple of years and carried on with the business of growing our nursery plant business. 

Then a neighbour in Glade started building a straw bale house and part of the process to finish the exterior walls involves a sand mixture... her house is in a rocky area, and ours is on sand, so I said she could help herself.  We decided to trade and I found out that thirty years previous she had taught spinning and weaving!  I couldn't believe my luck, especially when she hauled over her Ashford Traditional wheel and generously lent it to me for a year and was 'on call' when I got stuck and frustrated in the learning process.  And that was the start of a wonderful, creative exploration that is only contained by what can be imagined!

hand dyed felting wool

colourful batt off the carder

COLOUR !

cones, shuttle and wool

hand dyed hand spun cheviot, 2 ply

hand dyed locks of wool

At Bee Glade Farm I spin wool into yarn and weave blankets, rugs and scarves. Fibres are silk, bamboo, cotton,  wool, some acrylic, silk, alpaca, mohair...  I also hand dye many of the fibres...

hand dyed hand spun mohair, 2 ply

handspun Falkland sheep wool

natural mohair locks

HAND DYED FIBRE

Today hand dying wool, rayon, silk and cottons can be safely accomplished with acid exhaust dyes to quickly achieve colourfast fibres in the home studio.
Acid exhaust dyes require hot water and time to process, are safe to use and don't produce any noxious smells. 

When used on sheep's fleeces and locks these dyes produce some wonderful variations.  Additionally, commercially purchased wools can be dyed or overdyed, and fleeces and locks that are naturally grey or silver produce different results.  If the fibre has been presoaked or not makes a difference, and if the dye is added to the dye pot before or after the fibre is put in,  produces different results.  Although mostly consistent, some of the acid exhaust dyes like 'chestnut' and 'clay' can produce variations in the dyed fibre that are a result of the dye itself.

I have done some dyeing with natural plant dyes. Some of the natural dyeing processes use urea, aluminum salts and metallic salts as mordants for a colourfast product which require extra safety measures.  Of course, a person could choose to simply use the safer alum as the mordant but that would likely limit the palette of colours available to the dyer.  There are pros and cons to both acid exhaust dyeing and natural dyeing, and there are many options available.  

Hand dyed Cotswold sheep's locks

This was sable (dark gray) mohair locks that was dyed 'brilliant blue'. It came out with more depth due to the dark undertones of the original locks.

This roving, a naturally gray Masham sheep's wool was dyed blue, which came out with more depth of colour than it would on a cream or white fleece.

This fleece was put in the pot without presoaking and then the dye 'Chestnut' was added, resulting in a number of hues showing up. The knitted swatch is a result of spinning that fibre.

Wonderful colours to spin up!

Hand dyed merino roving

Hand dyed Mohair locks

Natural Dyes

Natural dyes can be purchased in powder or liquid form.  Natural dyes usually require mordants and more processes to produce colourfast fibre. The Maiwa website says this about natural dyes:

Natural dyes are more than an ecologically smart way to add colour to yarns and cloth. Natural dyes embody the idea that there is a relationship between creativity, skill, what we make, what we wear, and the natural world.  ... natural dyes are evidence that colour can be a cultural force linking individuals to history and tradition.

There are many local plants,  garden plants, kitchen edibles and lichens that can be used for dyeing. For example: walnut, chamomile tinctoria, weld, sumac, onion skins, marigold, broom, chestnut, buckthorn, and golden rod. 

And there are excellent references out there for more information.  One of the best is here in BC: https://maiwa.com/pages/natural-dyes

Natural dyes often require different steeping times, different temperatures, different preparation of the fibre etc.

Some of the dyes used on these samples: Golden Dock, Sandalwood, Lac, Himalayan Rhubarb, Pomegranate etc.

These are examples of some natural dyeing we did in a workshop at our local Guild in 2017. We worked with one mordant only; alum, but there are others that are available.