Variation in the softness and fibre curvature of cashmere, alpaca, mohair and other rare animal fibres

Softness of apparel textiles is a major attribute sought by consumers. There is surprisingly little objective information on the softness properties of rare animal fibres, particularly cashmere, alpaca and mohair. Samples of these and other rare animal fibres from different origins of production and processors were objectively measured for fibre diameter, fibre curvature (FC, crimp) and resistance to compression (softness). While there were curvilinear responses of resistance to compression to FC and to mean fibre diameter, FC accounted for much more of the variance in resistance to compression. Fibre type was an important determinant of resistance to compression. The softest fibres were alpaca, mohair and cashgora and all of the fibres measured were softer than most Merino wool. Quivet, llama, camel, guanaco, vicuña, yak wool, bison wool, dehaired cow down and Angora rabbit were also differentiated from alpaca, mohair and cashmere. There were important differences in the softness and FC of cashmere from different origins with cashmere from newer origins of production (Australia, New Zealand and USA) having lower resistance to compression than cashmere from traditional sources of China and Iran. Cashmere from different origins was differentiated on the basis of resistance to compression, FC and fibre diameter. Cashgora was differentiated from cashmere by having a lower FC and lower resistance to compression. There were minority effects of colour and fibre diameter variation on resistance to compression of cashmere. The implications of these findings for the identification and use of softer raw materials are discussed.

Feltability of cashmere and other rare animal fibres and the effects of nutrition and blending with wool on cashmere feltability

Felting is a unique attribute of animal fibres used for the production of a range of industrial and apparel textiles. Felting can be an adverse attribute as a consequence of dimensional shrinkage during laundering. As there is little objective information regarding the feltability of rare animal fibres or the factors which may affect felting three investigations were undertaken. A survey (n = 114) of the feltability of cashmere from different origins of production, cashgora, quivet, camel hair, llama, guanaco, bison wool, cow fibre and yak wool quantified the large variation between and within these fibre types. Cashmere from some origins and cashgora produced higher feltball density than the other fibres. Different nutritional management of cashmere goats (n = 35) showed that cashmere grown by poorly fed goats had a lower propensity to felt compared with cashmere grown by better fed goats. A consequence of the progressive blending of cashmere (n = 27) with a low propensity to felt superfine wool (high fibre curvature) increased the propensity of the blend to felt, but when the same cashmere was blended with low curvature superfine wool, there was little or no effect on feltability. The mechanisms which lead to variance in feltability of these fibres were quantified with multiple regression modelling. The mechanisms were similar to those reported for wools, namely variations in the resistance to compression, fibre curvature and mean fibre diameter, with likely effects of fibre crimp form. It is possible to source cashmere and other animal fibres which have different propensities to felt and therefore to produce textiles which are likely to have different textile properties.

Towards an emergent view of learning work

The purpose of this paper is to challenge models of workplace learning that seek to isolate or manipulate a limited set of features to increase the probability of learning. Such models typically attribute learning (or its absence) to individual engagement, manager expectations or organizational affordances and are therefore at least implicitly causative. In contrast, we discuss the contributions of complexity theory principles such as emergence and novelty that suggest that learning work is more a creative and opportunistic process that emerges from contextualized interactional understandings among actors. Using qualitative case study methods, we discuss the experiences of workers in two organizations asked to ‘act up’ in their managers’ role to ensure work continuity. We believe the differences in how workers take up these opportunities result from a complex combination of situational factors that generate invitational patterns signalled from and by various understandings and interactions among actors doing collective work. Rather than a deficit view of learning that needs fixing, an emergent model of learning work suggests that learning develops as a collective generative endeavour from changing patterns of interactional understandings with others. This re‐positioning recognizes that although invitational qualities cannot be deterministically predicted, paying attention to the patterns of cues and signals created from actors interacting together can condition ways of understandings to expand what is possible when work practices also become learning practices.