Your miniature questions are welcome here!

The original Miniatures Question and Answer Blog was the brain child of Nikki Rowe from Witch and Wizards Miniatures. Lately, she realized that she was spreading herself way too thin to continue doing all the things she's involved with well.

Since we all wait in anticipation of what awesome item she'll create next and we all want her to concentrate on making those fabulous mini's that we love, I have agreed to take over the responsiblity of the Miniature Question and Answer blog.

Format is the same. Once a week, on Sunday or Monday, a new question will be posted, researched and, with any luck, answered. You are all welcomed and encouraged to comment with your own answers and suggestions.

If you have a miniature related question you'd like investigated, the best way is to send me an e-mail.

tabithacorsica@gmail.com

But you can also put it in the comments section as a suggestion for the following week and, hopefully, I'll find it.

Nikki will be deleting the original blog so you will have to "re-follow" here, but I have saved all the questions...and answers and comments and they will be the subject of the first post.

Sounds like fun, eh?

Tabitha

Followers

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Fiber....it's not just for breakfast...

heheheh....  No, I'm talking about yarn.  :-)

Several weeks ago, Kristy, from Mini Menagerie had a question (and I have been quite remiss in responding to her...sorry, Kristy).

As many of you know, Kristy makes fabulous furred mini critters.  Here's her question:

"For furring my animals, I use mostly combed out yarn (usually alpaca, but sometimes wool, or blends, etc).  Anyway, I cram all my balls of yarn in a drawer and maybe it's just my imagination, but it seems likes after a while, the yarn starts getting, hmmm, how do I put it...sort of "frizzy", a lot of fly-away hairs sticking out all over.  It's a pain to fur with because I swear I keep trimming the frizzy fly-aways off but they keep re-appearing.
So I guess my question is, does yarn get like this after a while or am I just losing my marbles?  And if so, is there a proper way to store it (or any other tips) to keep it from getting like this?"

I hardly ever work with yarn...I don't knit or felt or do any sort of yarn related needlecraft so I haven't a clue but I know there are several followers who do this work. 

My first thought was to use fibers before they are spun into yarn so she wouldn't have to comb them out, though I haven't any idea where to get such a thing.  Perhaps the storage is part of the problem or maybe it is just hte nature of the yarn....

Doll artists often use liquid fabric softener to keep the fibers they use for hair in control....but not being a doll artist, I could begin to even advise how to do this.

Does anyone know of a source for bamboo fiber for this use?  Or even for bamboo yarn?  Frankly, this is the first I'm hearing about bamboo in this form but Kristy is in the market for some to try for furring.

I am afraid Tabitha has few answers for this conumdrum but hopefully someone out there in Blogland can enlighten us all!

Tabitha

4 comments:

Glenda said...

Bamboo fibre is available - if you do a Google search of 'spinners bamboo fiber' or similar you'll see suppliers :)
It's a fabulous tactile fibre - yum!! :)

Glenda

Fiver said...

Hey thanks Tabitha! You don't need to apologize at all, I'm glad you have this little blog because I'm sure I'll have more stupid questions for you, LOL. It seems to be the 100% alpaca yarn that tends to get more and more fly-aways, and I now wonder if it's just that the yarn gets "looser" the more I use it.

Ooooh, hey thanks Glenda. I didn't even think to include "spinners" in my google searching. And now I've realized it makes a big difference. In fact I'm able to find all sorts of different fibers - YIPPEE!!

nikkinikkinikki72 said...

I dont have a clue. It could be caused by the fibres rubbing against each other in storage and wanting to bite and grip onto each other, like the reaction that happens during wet feltig, or even needle felting. I suppose they are all in storage thinking oh i want to grip onto you, that one etc, lol.
Maybe storage them in dividers could be the answer.
I have noticed this happens to my merino roving if i chuck them all in oe box. Thos that have been stored loose in a bag dont go all frizzy.

nikkinikkinikki72 said...

It may also be a reaction to temp and any moisture in the air. Like with felting heat and moisture make natural fibres such as this want to grip and bite onto each other. Mixed be being squashed together in a drawer and all touching the change in heat, mositure levels and picking and rummaging through the drawer could be a kind of mini felting, pnly slighlty but its what it sounds like to me.