Advice on fibres please.

[koffipot]

I'm in the process of making up my order to WoW and would appreciate some advice.

I've just looked at the comments on angora and think I may delete that as it doesn't seem very popular.

Norwegian? Finnish? Polwarth?

I've already gone a bit mad, but with discount more is less

[Shepherdess]

I like Norwegian for non clothing items. I like blue faced Lester. their silk top is nice and so easy to dye. I have heard good and bad about polwarth. I think you love or hate it. Wensleydale and massum are very long and have great curls if you get it just washed. you end up with lots to card too. I have some of the merino silk and like it. Its not really blended. Ive been tempted by the multicoloured top too.

[koffipot]

Thanks Ann, I was thinking Norwegian for bags/ slippers and other items needing to be a bit more robust. I think I'll get some of that. It's not a bad price either.

I have a selection of blends and some luxury fibres on my list, just trying to think if there's anything obvious I've missed whilst the 15% discount and free postage are going.

By the way, have you done any nuno onto cashmere? A Nepalese friend gave me a huge pashmina, which is lovely, but since I'm quite small, it swamps me and I thought it might be an idea to make it into a jachet, perhaps leaving the fringing at the bottom. Any advice greatfully received

[Shepherdess]

If you want to add wool if its open enough weave or fussy enough it should stick. if you want o add silk then it would definitely need to be fuzzy. Why not just felt the pashmina down to a smaller size. then use it to make something. It will get stiffer as it shrinks no matter what.
doesn't WOW have some sample bags now? Lucky you to get free shipping. None of that for us overseas buyers.

[zed]

I don't see where it says 15% off and free postage?

I've tried the grey Norwegian, it felts well, 2 layers are really thick, but oddly it is still kind of cobwebby. I think it's because the wavy crimp reapperas during felting.
Suffolk pretty much refused to felt fully, very hairy. Their grey merino is absolutely gorgeous and their Bluefaced Leicesters. Manx Loaghtan is a lovely colour too. I like Massam.
Black jacob is very wiry and doesn't make a tight felt.
English 56s is great especially for vessels.
Their 18.5 mic merino is absolutely gorgeous.

I've wondered the same thing about a Pashmina, I have two, pashmina and silk blends.

[koffipot]

Thanks Ann and Zed

I've decided to go for the nowegian, amongst a lot of others!!! I have gone way over budget!

Zed - re. WoW:- www.worldofwool.co.uk/delivery.php

[Shepherdess]

zed the Suffolk will stay spongy no matter what you do. Dorset is the same way. They make great rugs or saddle pads for the same reason. It takes more felting but it keeps that nice sponginess under foot or saddle.

lucky you with the free delivery, I use their wholesale side to get the best price but it means I order 22 lbs to get the best postage.

[zed]

Oops, I should have said grey suffolk, it seems mor wiry, not spongy like the white meat breeds.

I don't know if I'm being really stupid, but the only thing I see is their usual 5kg+ free delivery and over £500 is 15% discount.

I can't even imagine being able to order that amount. Their prices are so low, I found it hard enough filling a £50 order for their 5% discount.

[Shepherdess]

Zed I do 22 pounds at a time on the whole sale side. I do have to order a pound of anything min. I use a lot of merino to make scarves and wraps and hats. a pound is nice though, lots of room to make something that doesn't work out and still try again.

[dcfrey]

My father breeds Polwarth at our farm and it's a nice wool actually. Not as soft and fine as merino but the staples are rather long. I use it mainly for spinning but I've made some felted items out of it as well. I'm not sure I'd use it for wearables, but for other things I like it a lot. I've read about people making scarves with Polwarth though. My father forgot to save fleece for me this year before selling it...... but I'll try it next year, if I can gather up enough patience to skirt it and wash it, lol.

[Karen]

I've only used polwarth once so far and found it pretty hard to felt but oh so nice and soft, i still have a huge bag so i'll have to give it another go, lucky you Daniela to have a farm at you finger tips lol
Zed with your new business you should be able to get wholesale now to, if you wanted 22 pounds at a time that is

[zed]

Ha, if it was free maybe, Kaz :)I think you can get wholesale prices whether you're a business or not if you order enough.

I just read down all the threads thinking it was a new post, then saw my reply and thought 'huh?'

I've only tried Kaz's Polwarth, and it did take a while to felt in, it's very slick like alpaca, I imagine processed tops which are much drier would be easier though. Maybe on my next WoW order, I'll try some

[Shepherdess]

I am using the fin right now and I really like it. My last order I did order about 5 pound for some friends too. that helps.

[dcfrey]

I am lucky! But this year my father sold all of it so no Polwarth for me until next december, lol.

I got curious about World Of Wool (I've never ordered wool online so I hadn't heard of it)... holy cow! I wonder how much the shipping to Chile would cost. The Nuno Felt kits look amazing! Here in Chile, 100g of merino-silk blend cost about 13 dollars, if you manage to find them. The Nuno kits include 200g plus a silk scarf, netting and olive oil soap for... 15.45 dollars! I have to give that a try sometime. Soon.

[zed]

Daniela, World of Wool is incredibly cheap. I was just looking at their tussah silk top yesterday, I couldn't remember how much it was, about US$7 for 100g, it's about US$ 13 - 16 in a lot of US stores/sites. All their fibres are cheap, especially the embellishment ones, they start around £1.50 for 100g

The shipping is very low too. upto 500g to Chile is £8.00 or US$12