How Down Is Spun Properly

How is the yarn for our shawls obtained? We will answer this question in today's article.

How down was spun in the old days

Long ago, at the dawn of the down-knitting craft, to create a down masterpiece you had to wait until the down on the goat "ripened" and began to come away by itself. Then the animals were driven into a warm place and combed – not sheared, but combed. Then fine yarnwas spun from the down, and warm and beautiful shawls were knitted from it.

My grandmother did not keep goats herself but bought already combed-out down at the bazaar. At home she spent a long time combing it with carding combs, spun a fine down thread on a spinning wheel and plied it with a fine silk thread. From this yarn she knitted warm shawls – for me, my mother, my sister and herself. A warm shawl does not get fluffy at once but in the course of wear, and it lasts a very, very long time.

The silk thread is the base: the down thread is twisted with it for strength. The down thread needs support so that it does not fall apart or work its way out of the finished item.

That is why the correct way of obtaining yarn is considered to be the one in which two threads – a down one and a silk or cotton one – are twisted together.

There is another option: the down is spun not as a separate thread but directly over a base – a cotton or wool thread. It all depends on what is more convenient for the spinner.

How down is processed at the factory

And how do things work at the factory, where down items are knitted by machine?

Sorting by grade and colour

First the down is sorted and graded depending on the proportion of guard hairs. Guard hairs are coarse hair that is longer than the down and forms the top layer of the goat's coat.

• up to 10% guard hairs – grade 1;
• more than 20% – grade 2;
• more than 40% – grade 3;
• 60% or more – grade 4.

But that is not the whole classification. The down is also sorted by colour:

• absolutely white;
• white with an admixture of black and coloured fibres;
• grey down – grey, dark grey, brown.

Washing and drying

Then the down is washed in a washing machine: it is cleaned of dirt with soda, powder and a special wetting agent. The down is dried in a special drying chamber – 5 minutes at a temperature of 80–90 degrees.

Carding and spinning

After this, blends are prepared. Grade 2 and 3 down is sent to carding machines to obtain soft down. The resulting blend goes to spinning machines, where so-called roving is produced – smooth, carded, twisted and wound onto bobbins. On bobbins, the roving goes into spinning machines: there it is drawn out to the required thickness and twisted for strength.

Plying, rewinding and the warehouse

The finished down yarn is sent to twisting machines, where, depending on the type of yarn, the thread is plied with cotton or viscose thread for strength. Down thread on its own cannot be used.

Then the yarn is rewound: in the process, defects are removed, it is cleaned of impurities and waxed. After that the yarn goes to the warehouse and from there to the knitting shops. By the way, you can buy such down from us and knit a down shawl yourself.