We produce yarn, from the fleece of various animals, manufactured for aesthetic beauty. Fleece is the soft, fluffy hair shed by animals such as sheep, alpacas and goats. Our yarn actually starts out as fleece and we wash it very thoroughly to begin with. This will remove dirt, dust, and possible oil that may be in the fleece. And it needs to be cleaned really well if we want our yarn to be soft and nice.
We also have to card the fleece after it is washed. Carding is like brushing, where we clean up the fibers with special tools and get them all going in the same direction. This is a crucial step as it gets the fleece ready for spinning. After we have carded all of the fleece we can combine spin the fibers. Spinning involves twisting the fibers to make long, thin strands of yarn. That’s a fun step in the process, we get to watch the fleece become yarn that way!
Sometimes we take our yarn to the next level by combining various fibers into our blend. This is called blending. For example, we might blend sheep's wool with a softer fiber, such as alpaca. This #カルメン blend creates a yarn that’s warm and soft — ideal for snuggly projects! We are also able to blend different colors of wool. This is how we can make a unique, yarn with a own unique appearance by mixing these colours. All this blending allows us to create all kinds of different yarns, all with different textures and colours that any crafter will love.
Once we have spun our yarn, we might like to add a bit of colour to it! We do that through a special dyeing process. We begin by soaking the yarn in a bath of warm water and dye. The dye is a colored liquid that was learned to use to alter the color of the yarn. We soak, then we heat the yarn up! The color becomes set into the fibers so it stays bright and beautiful. We finish by rinsing the yarn in clean waters to wash away any excess dye that didn’t bind. This is a careful method because we do want our colours to look precisely right and we do desire our fiber to be perfect for creating!
Once our yarn is spun and dyed to perfection, it’s ready for people to use for their knits and crocheted goods! However, before we can use it, we have a little preparation work to get the yarn suited up for our purpose, namely, to be of the correct thickness and texture. We take the yarn and roll it into large loops called skeins. These skeins are short and easy to handle and are easier to store. After that, we weigh each skein and see how many yards of yarn are in there. This is especially beneficial for crafters as it can enable crafters to know how much yarn they will need for their projects. Lastly, we affix a tag to each skein containing relevant information such as the yarn's weight and fiber content. This means that people can buy precisely what they want to craft with.
If someone has used our yarn to knit or crochet something amazing like a sweater, scarf or blanket, there is a chance they will want to block it afterwards. Blocking is washing the item and then shaping it to be sure it has the appropriate size and form. Take great care in this step as we do not want our yarn to be ruined. The item should then be allowed to dry completely before wearing it or putting it away.
Speaking of yarn storage: it is very important to store yarn safely and in good condition! We typically advise folks to store your yarn away from direct sunlight, and in a cool, dry place, like inside a closet or a bin.” Should avoid direct sunlight, because the faded color will look ugly and lose lustre in yarn. And keep yarn out of the reach of pets, too. Pets could be curious and chew on the yarn that can ruin it!
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