When given a fleece, find out what it is and label the bag. This will avoid having no idea what you have in your shedful of pooey raw material.
2. sample it
If you can't wash it straight away, wash, dry, card and spin a sample to find out what it's like. This will avoid unwittingly having something amazing stashed away untouched for months.
With fleece stacking up a bit, I decided to get cracking and get it washed and carded, to make it easier to store and ready to spin.
Last October, Mum was given some fleeces and shared them with me. From memory (see no 1 above), one sheep is a Jacob cross, and I'd assumed that this sackful was from one sheep, but now I'm not sure. The black is coarse, short, scratchy, the white is long, fine and beautiful.
That was the big surprise. As the fleece dried, I noticed how beautifully fluffy it was becoming.
The locks come apart easily, they are long, (some measure 6") very fine and crimpy. (This photo is poor, I think the camera has focused on the carder behind.)
With the minimum of effort (just a quick flick or two with a comb) the ends eagerly fanned out ready for carding. It makes lovely sliver and spun wool. Of course I'm chuffed to bits, I just wish I'd known what I had sitting there...
We shared out fleece from 3 different sheep , so you may have put them all in one bag, I will find out the names of other 2 for your new sorting and labelling system. must be like a treasure chest, not knowing quite whats in there but finding something beautiful to work with.
ReplyDeleteWe shared out fleece from 3 different sheep , so you may have put them all in one bag, I will find out the names of other 2 for your new sorting and labelling system. must be like a treasure chest, not knowing quite whats in there but finding something beautiful to work with.
ReplyDeletelol - I think this shows the difference between an optimist and a pessimist - I was grumbling because I didn't know I had something lovely hidden away - your take was 'what a treasure chest'. This means that you have an equal amount of this lovely stuff too - have you already washed and spun any of yours? I don't have the email that you originally sent me where you listed the breeds, so if you can find out, I'd love to know.
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