**This Giveaway is closed! Please check back in May for more Mindful Fiber!**
As the positive trend of sustainability spreads, I suspect we’ll see more and more plant-based fibers in knitting yarn. Modal, rayon, and soy silk are already well known as ‘alternative’ yarns, but it’s bamboo that makes me believe that people can make yarn out of anything.
Bamboo might be the most sustainable plant on the planet. It is fast-growing (it’s considered an ‘invasive species’ down here), doesn’t require pesticides or fertilizers, replants itself, you don’t have to kill it to harvest it and it’s ready to be harvested again in months. This grass is deceptively strong for its weight and has been used to make flooring, furniture, kitchenware and bicycles (I am not kidding). Bamboo products are unique in that they are both durable and biodegradable.
This is Lucky Bamboo (not the fiber kind or the kind Pandas eat),
but you get the idea.
Most bamboo clothing is produced as “regenerated cellulose fiber” (like rayon). This basically means that the bamboo is shredded, separated, filtered and put back together in fiber form. Like making paper from trees, this requires lots and lots of water and chemicals, so most bamboo fabrics are not considered organic and the process is not sustainable. Several companies are exploring ways to make refining process as environmentally friendly as the growing process. Various oxides and alcohols can be used (and, for extra greenness points, re-used) to dissolve the bamboo and then the resulting liquid is hardened into cellulose fiber threads that can be spun into yarn.
And what yarn. Bamboo yarn is strong, incredibly soft (unbelievably soft when you consider the source), shimmery, biodegradable and has a fabulous drape. It’s no wonder that bamboo fiber is so appealing to knitters.
A great place to find bamboo yarns (and more!) in unique and engaging colors is Quo Vadis Handspun.
Heidi opened shop shortly after she began producing artisan yarns to satisfy her own fiber cravings. As a vegan (someone who doesn’t use animal products of any kind), Heidi’s focus is on providing exciting and unique plant-based, environmentally friendly and creature-free yarns to her customers. To that end, she has amassed an enormous collection of fiber types!
Heidi and her stock at Fibers West.
Tencel, microfiber, organic cotton, color grown cotton, corn silk, viscose are all listed for sale as spinning fiber, hand spun yarn or hand dyed yarn. All the yarns and dyes are vegan and 100% cruelty-free, but Heidi says: “Not vegan? Thats ok! My yarns are a fun way to get some veggies in your knitting diet.”
My personal favorites are the yarns that are dyed with natural materials: indigo straight from the plant, madder, marigold, logwood, wood resins, saffron (pink not yellow!). Each yarn’s description contains the dye notes. It’s a little like reading a life story and a little like reading a recipe. Some yarns stay in their dye baths for days to achieve a marvelous intensity of color.
Heidi uses two commercially spun bamboo yarns as a base for her hand dyed sock yarns: Crystal Palace’s Panda Cotton, a bamboo and cotton blend with elastic, and Kertzer’s On Your Toes Bamboo, bamboo with nylon for structure. Since many people have Strong Feelings about elastic in knitting yarn, I chose the Kertzer for April’s Mindful Fiber giveaway.
Because of the shimmer, I had a terrible time getting a picture of this yarn! It’s actually darker than shown – like a storm cloud.
Heidi calls this colorway Anuvittasana, or “standing backbend” (it’s yoga). But to me, it looks like a summer storm where everything suddenly goes dark blue-green and the rain shimmers down. Maybe it’s a Gulf Coast thing, but I’ve picked a sock pattern that matches my April Showers inclinations:
I’ve got a crush on these socks by KellyK! Is there anything better than paw prints all over your socks? I think not! Except maybe cables all over your socks, but this pattern has those too. Yay!
**This Giveaway is closed! Please check back in May for more Mindful Fiber!**
To win April’s Mindful Fiber Giveaway, just leave a comment on this post. The random number generator knows what to do. For more chances to win, refer your friends and have them mention your name in their comment (this is to raise awareness after all). April’s Mindful Fiber Giveaway will be open for almost two weeks (until Monday, April 30).
You can find Quo Vadis Handspun and Heidi on her blog, on Facebook, and, of course, on Etsy.
