Comments on: It all starts here 3

By: anne

anne — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 01:41:53 +0000

http://www.ecoyarns.com.au

have what looks like FoxFiber yarn, as well as other organic yarns, fibres and fabrics. I think the stuff’s still out there, just not as widely available.

Fashion moves on, and a few vendors are left catering to the remaining niche market. Look what’s happening with fur – for a while, it was the thing to avoid fur. Now, many of the same people publicly stating how bad fur is, are now promoting it.

There are people who do what they think is right, and there are others who jump on a bandwagon, only to move onto the next one when they’re bored. You can’t assume that your fellow travelers are there for the same reason you are .

By: Liana

Liana — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 15:03:05 +0000

I remember reading that one of the (perceived) problems for FoxFibre was that neighboring farmers were terrified that it would hybridize with their all-white varieties. Not sure how that came out. You used to be able to buy yarn for knitting that was FoxFibre. I haven’t seen it in a while.

By: Tom Willmon

Tom Willmon — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 14:33:04 +0000

When I lived in MD I bought cottonseed munchies at a healthyfood store – had been toasted or fried (faded memory). Nice tasting stuff.

Tom

By: Cymru Llewes

Cymru Llewes — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:53:26 +0000

I'm much more interested in buying FoxFibre as a yarn or spinning fiber than as a piece of clothing. And about spinning cotton, http://interweave.com/spin/projects/Cigar-boxCharkha.pdf

By: Karren

Karren — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 05:05:56 +0000

I think when I was reading about environmental impact of cotton a few years ago, that one the problems was the use of defoliants for harvesting. Seems that green leaves stain the cotton boll when harvested mechanically. So the organic cotton growers were letting the plants freeze before harvesting, and losing part of their harvest. A quick check with google leads me to believe they are still using defoliants (here):

*The cotton industry relies heavily on chemicals such as fertilisers and insecticides, although some farmers are moving towards an organic model of production, and chemical-free organic cotton products are now available. Historically, one of the most economically destructive pests in cotton production has been the boll weevil. *Most cotton is harvested mechanically, either by a cotton picker , a machine that removes the cotton from the boll without damaging the cotton plant, or by a cotton stripper which strips the entire boll off the plant. Cotton strippers are generally used in regions where it is too windy to grow picker varieties of cotton and generally used after application of a defoliant or natural defoliation occurring after a freeze. Cotton is a perennial crop in the tropics and without defoliation or freezing, the plant will continue to grow. Cotton is a close relative of okra and hibiscus. I think that they are now using GM cotton to cut down on the pesticide usage.

By: SB

SB — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 23:35:59 +0000

I was told by someone involved with FoxFibre in the beginning that it is also waxier than other cottons. He said the processing was so problematic and costly that he abandoned working with it altogether. Add to that the fading issue, and it’s not a great fabric to deal with for those of us looking for consistency in production. Let alone cost effectiveness.

So we have moved away from granola-colored organic fabrics and have thrown ourselves into luscious eco-dyed colors.