Ms. Hannele Kongas, I saw your beautiful cloth in the Winter 2024 issue if Spin Off. I also watched your video, which is lovely. I wish to make a suggestion. Your video does show the colors of the cloth beautifully, but it foes mot show the beauty of the cloth surface. Your video only shows half the story. We all need to see the unique surface texture of your cloth. That’s what makes it special to the consumer, I think. Hazel Lutz, USA
MY WAY OF WORKING: I bye the wool from a near-by organic farm. The sheep breed is called Kainuu grey and it`s endagered (only 1000 ewes in the hole country). I sort the wool at home yard and send it to a Finnish spinning-mill. They make for me thin, single and over-twisted wool yarn, which I have both in warp and weft. The over-twist of yarn makes the surface of the fabric wavy, but first after washing. The technical structure of the fabric is plain weave. First weaving of 30-40 meters long warps, washing and then dyeing with historical, cultivated dyeplants (as woad, madder, weld, alder buckthorn). During summer I dye with fresh woad leaves and for winter I bye woad pigment. In the video I pick and cut the fresh woad leaves, ferment them 30 minutes with boiling soft water (rain water), change the pH with lime, add either fructose or boiled wheat bran. With fructose method (1-2-3) the problem with fresh woad leaves is the amount of woad pigment, how much does for instance 800 gr fresh leaves have pigment. This summer (2020) I estimated that 800 gr fresh woad leaves have pure pigment app one tablespoon. Fructose vat takes only some hours and you can dye. The branvat does take one week or sometimes more before it`s ready for dyeing. Sometimes I use the blue foam for my grey hair as you see in the video. If there is something which you would like to comment or ask, please do it ! It`s my pleasure to answer.
Ms. Hannele Kongas, I saw your beautiful cloth in the Winter 2024 issue if Spin Off. I also watched your video, which is lovely. I wish to make a suggestion. Your video does show the colors of the cloth beautifully, but it foes mot show the beauty of the cloth surface. Your video only shows half the story. We all need to see the unique surface texture of your cloth. That’s what makes it special to the consumer, I think. Hazel Lutz, USA
Ihanaa villajuttua, Hannele.
MY WAY OF WORKING:
I bye the wool from a near-by organic farm. The sheep breed is called Kainuu grey and it`s endagered (only 1000 ewes in the hole country). I sort the wool at home yard and send it to a Finnish spinning-mill. They make for me thin, single and over-twisted wool yarn, which I have both in warp and weft. The over-twist of yarn makes the surface of the fabric wavy, but first after washing. The technical structure of the fabric is plain weave.
First weaving of 30-40 meters long warps, washing and then dyeing with historical, cultivated dyeplants (as woad, madder, weld, alder buckthorn). During summer I dye with fresh woad leaves and for winter I bye woad pigment. In the video I pick and cut the fresh woad leaves, ferment them 30 minutes with boiling soft water (rain water), change the pH with lime, add either fructose or boiled wheat bran. With fructose method (1-2-3) the problem with fresh woad leaves is the amount of woad pigment, how much does for instance 800 gr fresh leaves have pigment. This summer (2020) I estimated that 800 gr fresh woad leaves have pure pigment app one tablespoon. Fructose vat takes only some hours and you can dye. The branvat does take one week or sometimes more before it`s ready for dyeing. Sometimes I use the blue foam for my grey hair as you see in the video.
If there is something which you would like to comment or ask, please do it ! It`s my pleasure to answer.
Shave me bollocks clean! This is utterly amazing!! :D