Yesterday we ended with a fresh batch of singles loaded up onto bobbins. Because Shelter is a 2-ply yarn, the next step obviously involves plying, but before that can happen these babies get a trip to the Wool Sauna.
A proper steaming of the yarn in its current form is necessary before plying begins. Steaming saturates the fibers with moisture, causing them to relax and accept their new identity as twisted plies. Before steaming, the (newly given) tension in each ply is fighting to unravel. Much in the same way a good blocking makes everyone’s knitting look better *cough*, the same principle applies here. Wool always behaves better after a bit of moisture sets it straight.
The bobbins are placed in a metal rolling cart that is covered with small holes. These holes are necessary to allow steam to pass through the cart and effectively reach all the bobbins inside. Above you can see one of these “sauna” carts full of finished yarn. While the ‘Fossil’ yarn shown here is a few steps ahead of us at our current stage of the tour, I wanted to give you a good shot of the carts used for steaming.
After the wool’s trip through the sauna, the bobbins are ready to be loaded onto the twisting frame (more simply referred to as “the twister” at the mill) and plied into a final 2-ply yarn. The twister functions much in the same way as the spinning frame in that a flyer adds twist (in the opposite direction this time, to balance the direction of twist added by the spinning frame), moving the singles off of their current bobbins, plying them, and winding them onto new ones.
Pictured above on the left are all the bobbins with single plies being shuttled up and over the ‘tunnel’ and back down onto the twister (right). While this machine is running, it requires at least one worker to constantly monitor all the bobbins concurrently, passing up and down the tunnel between bobbin racks and twister. This is a nerve-wracking job that takes precision and timing when loading on empty bobbins or fixing an occasional break in a given ply. This part of the mill is Sarah’s domain, and watching her work is fascinating. The thought of keeping that many things under control while the machinery is running makes my blood pressure rise. The mill workers are a really talented and wonderful bunch of people! (A funny side note: the metal structures running overhead and shuttling the plies to the twister are adjusted based on the height of the worker running the machine.)
When the bobbins on this frame are filled, the yarn has completed the milling process and moves onto the finishing stages — it is now very close to the form you’ll see on your doorstep, or in a yarn shop, but a few more things need to happen to get it ready for the spotlight. It is with these finishing stages that we will conclude our tour tomorrow morning!
*The title of this post is a pun on New Hampshire’s state motto “Live Free or Die”, which I read and appreciate every time I cross the border on my way to the mill.
This is really fascinating! It’s so neat to see all the work that goes into the final product.
Thanks for these posts, they’re really interesting – I’ve visited Trefriw Woollen Mill in North Wales a couple of times, but I’ve had to guess at what was going on quite a lot of the time, this fills in the gaps nicely. And it’s interesting to see how similar the processes are, even on different continents.
There are some photos from my visits on my blog if you’re interested – http://minniemoll.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/trefriw-woollen-mill/
Enjoying following you and your yarn as it goes through the mill. I love their way of dyeing and am hoping to explore that method myself this year. And I’d love to work in a place like this.
Thanks for the tour!
Interesting about the steaming of the singles. As a handspinner I don’t do that till it’s plied. I think I will give that a shot to see how it affects the finished yarn.
Thanks for this peek into how yarn is made in a mill, Jared! I’m fascinated by this sort of thing! I hope to be able to visit a mill sometime myself (I’m only a few hours from Stonehedge Fiber Mill in East Jordan, MI, so I do have hope.
This is such a fascinating read! The punny titles aren’t too shabby, either.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed these posts, for several reasons. First, I am from New Hampshire and have a deep fondness for the western part of the state (although I now live on the Seacoast–yes, we have a Seacoast even though we only have 16 miles of shoreline), especially the Harrisville/Peterborough area.
Second, your pictures are so gorgeous, especially with all the old equipment.
Third, while in New Zealand last winter I spent time in a wool carding facility on South Island. It was a very small operation, mostly a 76 year old Englishman by himself with a 50 year old carding machine. As I deeply love that old man and cried like a baby when I left (he is and was the grandfather I haven’t had since I was five), seeing the wool process again makes me smile and think of Mr. Peel.
Thank you very much for this great story!
Very interesting– thank you!
Jared, this is such a fun series to read even after taking a tour of the mill at Harrisville – your photo essay adds so much depth to it and helps us to understand your perspective as the person who develops the yarn and the colors (with much help from the experts at H’ville, of course). Your love of the process and the yarn comes through loud and clear. Thank you for giving us such an interesting look inside the process.
And now I think I need the green yarn and the blue yarn!
Wow. This is very interesting.
The pictures seem to make the whole prcoess seem quiet and serene. I assume the factory was loud.
When you mentioned that one worker constantly monitors the plying, I wondered about how they dealt with the overhead metal structures. You answered my question with the line about the adjustments that need to be made.
Can’t wait for the next installment.
When I taught at a boarding school in The Granite State, the students in my dorm would shift the state motto until it became, “Live, Freeze, and Die,” especially when a young woman caused a fire drill at 5:30 am when the ambient temperature was -20.
Thank you for posting this. I have a number of ancestors and their children who were textile/mill workers. Part 4 here matches exactly with my grandfather’s description of the cotton mill he worked in most of his life.
[...] Live Free or Ply: Mill Tour Part 4 of 5 // Brooklyn Tweed. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading… by trushard3 on April 3, 2013 Categories: textiles Leave a comment [...]