Guest Author - Llyn Payne
Traditionally, linsey-woolsey is cloth woven with a linen warp and a woolen weft. Assuming a balanced weave structure, the finished cloth would be 50% linen and 50% wool. As spinners, we are not limited to these percentages in a finished item as we have the option of creating different blends of fibers.
The easiest way of blending wool and flax fibers for a traditional 50/50 linsey- woolsey project would be to spin one bobbin of each fiber and simply ply the two different singles together. A yarn composed of two or more plies of different fibers is referred to as a union yarn. However blending the two fibers by carding gives a much wider range of possibilities in the finished yarn.
Tow flax is used for blending as long line flax has too great of staple length to card. Still, there is a great variation in length in commercially available tow flax top. The tow flax I had varied from 3 to 11 inches in length. This variation makes hand cards the best choice for blending.
Choice of wool for the blend is up to individual tastes. I chose some Dorset fibers because I liked the way the Dorset contrasted with the tow flax…the flax being inelastic with no loft but having a nice sheen and the Dorset being very elastic, lofty and having no sheen. These fibers worked well in the blend, each adding its best qualities to the other. For a blend with more sheen, a luster long wool would be a good choice.
To start, I decided to sample three different blends:
75% flax, 25% wool
50% flax, 50% wool
25% flax, 75% wool
Percentages of fibers in the blend were determined by weight.
To card, I carded the flax first, then the wool and made little sandwiches using the tow as “bread” and the wool as “meat”. I then recarded each “sandwich” several times to blend the fibers evenly.
I dry spun all three blends the same way from preparation of carded rolags. Spinning technique was point of contact supported long draw with the singles spun Z and plied S.
All of the skeins were finished the same way: washed in warm water with Dawn Dishwashing Detergent, rinsed with warm water, whacked against a counter top while still damp, then hung to dry and whacked again.
All the skeins came out nicely and actually exceeded expectations on softness handle and softness. The 75% flax skein feels much softer than a yarn of 100% tow linen and, while it still feels crisp it has a nice drape. The 50/50 blend actually feels the harshest of the three blends yet has a nice sheen to it. The skein with only 25% flax is, in my opinion, the nicest of the lot – it’s softer, loftier, has the most elasticity and has a nice sheen.
These sample skeins make a nice reference and provide a starting point for deciding on a good blend of flax and wool fibers to use to create your own linsey-woolsey yarns.
