The following is a first in a
Series on the processes involved in
fabric construction, reported by
staff writer Valorie Lennox.

Changing animal hair into
human wear is a long and exacting
process.

But it is a skill that has a long
history on the west coast, explains

=) Dianne Cross, who raises her own
angora rabbits and goats.

Cross is taking a master spin-
ner’s course which includes a
history of the art. She notes the

“It just: shows you how fast
things can go.”

Early settlers in the area intro-
duced sheep, used to produce both
wool and meat. But, Cross said,
aside from some knitting and
occasional weaving, there was lit-
tle local production of fabric.

By the mid-19th century, Eng-
land was in the midst of the
industrial revolution. The new
world was a source of raw materi-
als and of markets for finished
goods but local production of

THE REVIEW 9781-2nd St., Sidney B.C.

finished: goods was not encour-
aged,
“Spinning just diced with the

industrial revolution. lt didn’t

come back unti! the 1960s.”

Flax, a mainstay of European
clothing for hundreds of years, had
been supplanted by cotton by the
mid-18th Century so was rarely
produced in North America.

The island sheep did spawn one
local industry, the creation of
Cowichan sweaters, The sweaters
were. originally knit from sheep

which were bred primarily for
meat and which produced a fine,
spongy crimped fibre.

When spun and knit,
the fleece created a lightweight,
warm sweatcr.

Different types of sheep produce
different types of wool, ranging
from fine fleece which is good for
baby clothes to long flat strands
which produce strong, coarser
fibre.

Cross, who weaves tapestrics,
often uses New Zealand wool to

Wednesday, October 26, 1988

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first master spinners on the West

Coast were the Coast Salish Indi-
ans, known for their goat hair
blankets.

The blankets were woven with a
warp of nettle. or fireweed fibres
and a weft of goat hair, plucked = |
from ‘bushes when the. wild goats eo
were shedding. :

The blankets were: woven in -
elaborate traditional patterns or, in
the local area, in white with a few
narrow colored bands. Later blan-
kets, woven after the arrival of
European settlers, imitated the pat-
terns of patchwork quilts.

“Their weaving really was quite
beautiful,” Cross said.

Goat hair was not the only
material woven. Finely spun cedar
bark was woven into waterproof
capes and blankets. From stinging
nettles came fibre similar to the
flax used by Europeans to create
linen.

“If it’s got a fibre, you can spin
it.”

The natives also used fiber from
bulrushes and early explorers
report Nootka Dogs, curly-haired
dogs whose coats provided fibre.
for weaving.

:No trace of ihe dogs remain.

reate a worsted style yarn. She
., notes Cowichan sweaters arc now
~ sometimes made with purchased ;
New Zealand wool, which docs) ===" aE
not have the same lightweight, | § ¥ Fe ;
warn characteristics as -the origi-
nal wool.
However a carding plant now
being started on the reserve in
Duncan should make it easier to
process and use local wool.
Cross gets mohair from her
_angora goats and angora from her
rabbits. To produce good quality
fibre, the goats must have a dict
including 16 per cent protein, so
they reccive generous servings of
grain. Goats are sheared twice
yearly and the rabbits are plucked.
Mohair and angora are luxury
fibres; most local spinners and
weavers use wool.
Once the fibre is sheared or
plucked, the result is graded,
washed and carded to ensure all of
~ the fibres lie in the same direction.
~ Dying can be done before or
after spinning. Cross. admits natu-
ral dyes are lovely but tend to fade.
‘Chemicals are still required to fix
the dye, so she uses commercial
dyes which allows a brilliant range 7
_of colors, to be obtained.
_ The fibres-can be spun into
varying thicknesses or spun with .
other fibres, such as silk or cotton.
~~ Cross uses her fibres for weav-
-ing but: notes most hand spun
fibres are used: by knitters.
Samples of work by local weav-.°
“ers and spinners. will be on view
-and for sale at the Deep Cove
Weaver, Spinners and Potters “dis-*.
play Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. ‘until 4-
pm.at St. Johns Church, 19690:
West. Saanich: Road. : :

revraneyennen ervamremranse

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~ SWIFTLY SHEARING -angora: goats’ for mohair is Dave
‘Nicholls. The goats are owned by North Saanich spinner |
and weaver rianne Cross and are sheared twice a year. .

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