Guest Author - Llyn Payne
K
Kemp: Coarse, hairlike, medulated fibers found in wool. These fibers are brittle, short, and weak and do not accept dyes well.
Keratin: The protein substance which makes up wool fibers.
Kick Spindle: A type of spindle operated by turning the whorl with the foot. These spindles may also be set on a table and turned by hand.
Knot: A knot of yarn equals 80 yards wound by making 40 trips around a 2 yard niddy noddy.
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Lambswool: Wool that has been shorn before a lamb is 8 months of age.
Lanolin: Wool fat or grease.
Lea: A count measuring system used for linen yarns. One lea equals 300 yards (275 meters).
Licker-in: The small drum on a drum carder. This refers specifically to the drum that pulls the fibers into the carder.
Line Flax: High quality long flax fibers. These fibers will have been hackled to remove any short or broken fibers. Line flax is most often sold in sticks.
Linen Tester: An inch glass.
Lint: Cotton fibers which have been removed from the seeds.
Llama: A member of the South American camelid family. Often double coated with coarse outer guard hairs and a fine undercoat. The undercoat averages around 27 microns.
Lock: A lock of wool is called a staple.
Loft: In spinning, the word loft applies to the airiness or sponginess of the yarn.
Long Draw: A drafting technique in which the twist is allowed into the drafting zone while the spinner drafts back to thin out the fibers in the draft.
Luster: The way the light reflects off the scales of the fibers. Fibers with small scales reflect less light and appear less lustrous than fibers with larger scales.
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Maidens: The two uprights mounted on the mother-of-all which are fitted with bearing to hold the bobbin & flyer unit.
Mawata: Silk spinning preparations made by expanding cocoons and stretching them over a frame. Hankies and caps are mawata preparations.]
McMorran Yarn Balance: A small scale used to determine yarn count.
Medulla: The central core structure of some hair fibers, it contains a network of air filled cells.
Micron: One millionth of a meter. Or one thousandth of a millimeter.
Minor’s Head: An accelerating device used on great wheels.
Mohair: The fiber produced by Angora goats.
Mother-of-all: The mother-of all is the part of the spinning wheel that holds the maidens.
Musk Ox: Large, shaggy beasts once thought to be related to oxen and sheep but now found to be more closely related to antelope and goats. These animals have a very fine undercoat and atheir fiber is known as qiviut.
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Navajo Plying: A method of making a 3-ply chained yarn by pulling loops of yarn while plyng. The method of making the loops is exactly like that of crocheting a chain.
Niddy-Noddy: A tool used to wind skeins of yarn by hand.
Noils: Short fibers which form little “balls” of fiber in carded and combed preparations. These are called “neps” when they occur in cottons.
