Karlsbergården Spinderi

The spark to establish the spinning mill came from the reports published in November 2013 about the horrific treatment of angora rabbits in China. At that point, Mats decided that there was an opportunity to combine his interest in craftsmanship and technology. With the most modern small-scale equipment available in 2015, he was able to process wool and fibers into products that bring joy to people. The spinning mill was launched on July 1, 2015, and is open to various opportunities for future collaboration.

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Karlsberggården's primary focus is to operate as a custom spinner and carder, processing both pure wool and blends of various fibers. The spinnery strives to be as flexible as the equipment allows, as this enables to make the most of the resources our domestic fibers provide. It can be a challenge to create a new yarn with a new blend, but it is also a very interesting process.

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Interview with Mats from Karlsbergsgården

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When did you start spinning yarn and how did you get to do it?

We started the mill 2014 after that it was published end 2013 how the Chinese took care of wool from angora rabbits. This was a side spring that anyway disclosed an opportunity to start up a another small scale wool mill in Sweden.

 

Do you wash the wool yourself or do you send it to a laundry? If you wash yourself, do you have water stewardship in mind? Do you try to minimize the water used, do you recycle or clean the water? I wash all wool in a gentle fashion by my very efficient washing machine that have washing programs that I have developed myself. I.e. certain precautions to certain wool. The washing machine is for sure very energy/water efficient. I use different detergents depending on what kind of wool.​

 

Do you have a minimum weight of wool to be sent in for spinning? 

I have a minimum weight of 3 kgs per nuance/tread/product and this is simply for being helpful to the alpaca breeders. 3 kg = 2 years of saddle sheering.

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When spinning yarn, do you have a focus on waste percentage of fiber? What do you usually do with the production waste/ leftovers? 

This is like any other technical process. Bad fibers will be sorted out in different stages in the process and all, except in the latest stage, will be passed as waste. 

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Do you think about what energy you run the machines and if so, which energy sources do you use?

Surprisingly does the machines consumes less energy than I believed and that is because that most motors are frequently driven. This i a very positive aspect indeed.  We have solar panels meaning that the demand from the public net during summertime is close to 0.

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How many people work for Karlsbergsgården and are the people's tasks? 

I take care of the whole process myself. The configuration I have of the mill makes me have total control of what is going on, furthermore when all machines are working the noise level is very, very high and you will have no means of communicate with another worker.

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Do you source wool yourself from other countries (outside Scandinavia) to blend with the wool from local customers?

No need to, I have to many customers as it is already. Many mills do not handle Gotland wool at all and Gotland lamb wool is not to be used solely in my process, but could favorably be mixed with adult Gotland wool

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Where are most of your customers sending wool to be spun from?

Sweden, of course, and a number of customers from Denmark since Denmark lacks a small wool mill for the moment.