Look what the postman brought me at the weekend. A friend of mine is travelling in the Scottish Isles and thought she'd send me a little souvenir. It's a fleece from a North Ronaldsay seaweed fed sheep. My friend tells me it is best suited to hats and gloves. I love the colours.I have been on a short course where they introduced us to spinning from the fleece but I am a bit daunted by this little beastie - can anyone advise me on the best way to tackle this lovely challenge? I am off to Woolfest in just over a week's time so if I need any equipment that's the place to get it.
6 comments:
Oooh pretty! There are lovely colors in that fleece. I'm not sure what you mean by "spin from the fleece". I've never spun just from the locks with wool. But if you mean starting with fleece instead of sliver/roving/batt then you probably will need a way to open up the locks a bit. What you use depends on what you're trying to get out of it. I'm not familiar with the breed so don't know if it would be best carded or combed or just flick carded. My suggestion is to take a lock with you when you go to Woolfest and gather in person advice. Spinners are very generous with their knowledge and will be happy to help you out. In fact, my guess is you'll soon find yourself in the middle of a small knot of folks debating various options in no time.
Thanks for stopping by my blog the other day by the way - I would have e-mailed back my thanks but blogger doesn't give me an address.
I would wash it first. It's a downy breed with an inner and outer coat. While I haven't seen the raw fleece yet, the downy part would probably be very lanoliny, and tough to spin in the grease. Messy. So wash it first. Or send it out for processing. Comb or card, your choice. Combing would probably produce fewer nepps. I don't know what your experience is in fleece prep, and what your patience level is. The spinning experience from roving is quite nice.
Wow, that is beautiful! I am anxious to see how you decide to work with it...I hope you will post about your process!
Yes, please post pictures and tell of the process as you procede. It's such a beautiful fleece I'm eager to see what the yarn will look like.
Thanks for your advice, everyone. I will certainly wash and sort the fleece before I attempt to spin. The idea of taking a piece to Woolfest is an excellent idea - it's also a lovely way to get chatting with fellow spinners which is what I think going to a festival is really all about.
You got an ENTIRE North Ronaldsay fleece? That is a treasure, you know. I've seen little bits of the prepared fiber sell for astronomical amounts!
I hope you have a marvelous time with it. :-)
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