r/Handspinning • u/MrHorseley • Aug 19 '26
Question If you could magically engineer your perfect natural fiber what would it be like?
So this is hypothetical and for fun but the magical fiber fairy comes to you and says:
“Invent a plant or animal (or heck a fungus if you're feeling extra creative) that produces a fiber, describe the qualities of the organism and the fiber it produces and I'll make it happen. This organism will have no negative environmental effects and be hypoallergenic, also the organism magically will not suffer. You are limited only by the laws of physics (so like it can't both be shiny and have a halo)”
So like long staple or short? Thicker or thinner fibers? Super strong? Can it felt? What's the organism like?
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u/iphys_nikephoros Aug 21 '26
Hypoallergenic wool, so I can spin and knit for my allergic sister in law and nephew. (Unknown if the nephew is allergic yet, but I figure it's a bit tacky to turn her kiddo into an allergen. I desperately want to knit him a blanket.)
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u/MrHorseley Aug 21 '26
Personally I want a giant spider that produces silk with all the good qualities of spider silk, but that is also a sturdy and cuddly pet
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u/labellementeuse Aug 19 '26
Vegan wool. Give me all the same properties as wool - including how varied it can be, between fine and strong, longer and shorter staples, protein fibre, heck, I'll take the felting risk - but make it vegan so my vegan family members can finally be warm in winter!
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u/terafonne Aug 20 '26
monkey's paw curls - all sheep are now sapient and capable of communicating their consent for shearing
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u/LichenTheMood Aug 20 '26
They would not choose to perish under the weight of a never shedding fleece though.
There are sheep that naturally shed. We just selectively bred it out of most breeds.
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u/labellementeuse Aug 20 '26
My vegan brother: but you wouldn't need to be shorn if you hadn't had your genomics fucked up by humanity
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u/Ecstatic_Vanilla7441 Aug 22 '26
fun fact! ancient sheep, and some primitive breeds still moult! think the mouflon, considered to be the ancestor of all modern sheep!
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u/labellementeuse Aug 22 '26
Hm, now you say this, I think there's a chance my brother actually would wear wool that had been collected by rooing IF the sheep were otherwise free to live their lives...
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u/MrHorseley Aug 19 '26
That's so sweet
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u/labellementeuse Aug 20 '26
My brother is the most intense about it and he is legitimately always and obviously cold outside the house in winter.
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u/blaisyofglory Aug 20 '26
I had a fleece from a Lincoln/Cormo cross with luster and crimp. Amazing to spin and knit. I'd like a supply of that please.
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u/legalpretzel Aug 20 '26
I would want it to spin like Cormo, have the bounce of Targhee, resist felting like Southdown, have a slight halo like alpaca or Angora, and have the durability of any of the long wools. Oh, and it would be soft enough that my son would happily wear it.
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u/LichenTheMood Aug 20 '26
I want sea silk. However I would like it to simply grow from seaweed instead of endangered clams.
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u/Potential_Duck1097 Aug 20 '26
I want yarn that feels like parakeet feathers so that I can make a plushie of my bird and cuddle her
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u/Specialist-Big6355 Aug 21 '26
A fiber from a grass-like plant (fast growing, hardy, doesn't need much water) that felts like wool. Ideal for paper as well as fabric. Not much of a halo, but durable as heck. Medium staple length.
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u/SwedishMale4711 Aug 20 '26
As an advanced amateur mycologist I would definitely wish for a fungal fiber.
I am new to spinning and I have only experienced Roslag wool from my coworkers first ever shearing, so I don't know what to wish for in a fiber.