Hemp Spinning

(on the left is a few yards of singles, and the right is 2-ply)

So here is my first attempt at spinning Hemp. Let me admit this was not what I had expected. In my imagination hemp top would be long fine fiber that I could spin super fine.

Hemp top is NOT long or fine.

Hemp top is the coarse crap that is left behind after the long, fine fiber is combed out and presumably sold for commercial textile applications.

The fibers in the top ranged from < 1 cm to about 10 cm in length. There were thin fibers to chunks of tree bark (just kidding, but there were some REALLY chunky pieces of something in there) mixed together. The only way I could spin it on my wheel was from the fold, with a slow whorl speed and fast take up (too much twist made it kink). I had a lot of waste plus uneven singles. Out of 4 ounces of fiber I ended up with ~ 190 yards of 2-ply sport to DK weight yarn.

Bottom line, I did not enjoy spinning this hemp, but I did end up with usable yarn (plan on weaving into napkins). Sadly, it would appear that the Flax top I purchased will be (generally) the same prep as the hemp top although a little more even. The long, fine fibers of my imagination are flax stricks, not top. Here is a good Knitty article about flax spinning with some definitions.