Welcome to the Portland Handweavers Guild!

Mystery Fiber? Let’s Identify It!

It happens to all of us.

–      Some simply irresistible fiber, yarn, or fabric, follows you home.

–      A well-meaning, enabling friend found some yarn at a garage sale and naturally “thought of you”.

–      You were searching through your very own stash and discovered a gorgeous hank of yarn, its label long gone.

The first question many of us ask ourselves is, “I wonder what kind of fiber this is?

And, why would we want to know?

Some examples of the benefits of this knowledge are:

–         Understanding how to process the fiber

–         Determine how to use the fiber in a project

–         How should you wash/clean/care for the final product

–         Determining what types of dyes to use

–         Safety: Will it burn? Will it dissolve when washed or exposed to chemicals?

–         Is it suitable as a gift?

–         Allergies

–         And, probably most important of all, to answer the very first question almost all your fiber friends ask is ”What kind of fiber is that?”

In this combination lecture and hands on presentation, you will learn some tried and true methods of determining what kind of fiber you are now the proud owner of.

First, you’ll see an example of a fiber testing set up, including equipment suggestions and safety considerations. Then, you’ll watch several demonstrations of fiber testing and learn at home methods you can use to test various fibers and yarn for content. Finally, using your samples, you’ll be able to do your own fiber testing.

Bring any fiber or yarn you have – even if you know what it is – to play along!

Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://zoom.us/j/2290207971?pwd=elJvd2w0L2NsMlJPZXhNM3JlTFphZz09