Curds and Whey - Milk Protein Fibre - All Fiber Arts

	Spinning Curds and Whey - - All Fiber Arts
	Handspinng with Milk Protein Fibre

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Spinning Curds and Whey - Milk Protein Fibre

I bought a new spinning wheel recently-
A Kromski Polonaise from Wingham Woolwork. This is a Ferrari of spinning wheels.

polonaise wheel

In order to give this new wheel a true test of what it can do, I then went to London's local weaving centre - located in North London - Handweavers Studio and Gallery where they have a sumptious selection of handspinning fibres.

There I discovered milk protein fibre top. I had heard of it but had never had the opportunity to test it out. What fun!

Innovative fibres such as milk casein and soya fibre were developed during the early 40's as a substitute for wool, which was needed by the men on the front line. These virtually faded from existence as other synthetic yarns such as nylon were developed. Some of these fibres are now making a comeback as there is more emphasis on environmentally safe products and eco-friendly textiles.

Milk casein fibre is made by separating the oils and fats from the protein. The curd is rinsed, dried and dissolved to form a 'dope' that is pushed through spinnerets into an acid bath that forms the fibre. The fibre goes through further salt and formaldehyde processing to soften and improve the quality.

Because milk casein is a protein fiber it can be dyed with CIBA acid dyes.

I did find the milk fibre very soft and silky to spin.

milk casein

This spun up very quickly. I used the smallest whorl on my Kromski Polonaise wheel, using the 20:1 ratio. When using the smaller whorl on the Kromski wheel, don't forget to turn the bobbin around so that you are using the smaller end of the bobbin

kromski

The Kromski Polonaise also has two adjustment screws on either side of the wheel. These can be turned to adjust the alignment of the wheel to the bobbin whorl. This needs to be adjusted whenever you change the whorl size.

spinning milk casein

I am going to leave this yarn as a single spun because I think it would be quite nice to use it as weft in a future silk scarf project.

More about Milk Fiber

Forgotten Fibres, University of Southampton

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