I remember catching this article on the Global Fly Fisher a while back when I was debating on whether or not to head up to Hudson Bay and start clubbing some baby seals. Okay, maybe I wasn't that hard up, but I had debated on whether or not I wanted to head up to the 'Peg and risk smuggling some goods across the border. Fearing an anal search and seizure, I started looking for other alternatives. I don't need to end up in Federal pound-me-in-the-ass-prison over a square of fur. I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier, but floss and just about any other fine rayon, dacron, or ployester strand material would make a great substitute. Even the stash of Bernat Boa I have been hording. Plus they come in just about every color of the rainbow.
Enter the trilobal fiber. Antron, Z-Lon, Z-Yarn, Sparkle Yarn, whatever you want to call it, this stuff is the bomb for adding highlights to a blend. Just like Needloft, the STS trilobal blend from Hareline offers a bit of sparkle, only in some wacked out colors. I have yet to find Kingfisher Blue in any of Needloft's catalogs, and I definitely don't need to deal with the hassle of dying such an odd color, so I don't mind picking up a bag of this stuff for highlights. It looks exactly the same as Angora, is the same diameter, and is just as translucent when put up to light. Only cheaper.
I recently sat down to make a new olive dubbing blend. I've got a few all synthetic blends, but wanted to create a blend that incorporated a bunch of natural fibers. Funny, how I range from going from all synthetic materials back to digging natural fibers. Evolution. It was a veritable smorgasboard; I threw every fine fiber I had under the sun into that container. Mohair, angora, wool, rabbit, hare, rug yarn, STS trilobal fibers, floss, and Bernat Boa (polyester). The grinder had a workout.
I present Wet Seal dub. A fusion of natural and synthetic. About to make some fish sweat.
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