The Marathon Continues

Finally!  This 1/2 fleece was purchased, to the best of my recollection at the Genesee Fiber Festival in Hemlock, NY about four years ago.  It sat for an entire year in the bag lost in the garage, the following summer it was washed, it took two years to flick each lock by hand before spinning.  And as I type, the final skein of 1344 yards is now drying.  I won't admit to being in love with the final product; I am really not a very good spinner.  The fleece had inconsistent staple lengths that made it a poor candidate for carding and I have found that some skeins are much nicer than others depending on the section of the fleece from which they came.  There was also a significant amount of color variation - I am still trying to decide if I should dye this a deep wine before knitting up.  I actually have plans for this beast, let me only hope that it knits at the gauge I have in mind.

The little project below is my sister's Christmas present.  The English Paper Piece hexis have been in the work basket for about two years.  I really was just playing for the sake of practice, but some digging on Pinterest inspired me to get them out again.  She is planning on doing her kitchen in a black & white theme with yellow accents and I thought this would be just the ticket for her tiny table after finishing with a yellow backing.

Early Finish

 Today the drum carder and I had our final meeting.  Let it be written that I shall never purchase a raw fleece again.  I do feel pleased that I have been able to successfully complete two; however, the fact that the first took over four years from purchase to final spin and the second (a quarter fleece) has taken two years just to card should clearly indicate my enthusiasm for the task.

Time to hit the wheel:)

Fleece Study

These are the two Dorset samples I processed ages ago. My only concern, I may have labeled incorrectly. The sample on the left was lovely to spin and even nicer to ply. I navajoe plied, was a bit worried, but once it hit the water so pretty! Unfortunately, it is a bit scratchy.

The Polled Dorset has no fine qualities. It was easy to spin but very rough. It is probably best suited for making something that requires a durable fabric. Oddly enough for the length of the staple it was very elastic when fresh from the bobbin.

And After That...

I got on to the more serious work of the weekend.

Washing some fleece. Am I the only one who is not thrilled with the act? Hey, they are just one ounce samples. What the heck! How long can it take? The whole afternoon, that's how long!

The cheviot sample was dark. It contained bits from two clearly different sections of the fleece. The staple length was short in the section that had any lock integrity. And the vegetable matter was horrid! I felt I should have pulled and picked prior to washing, but the staple length was so short, there was no way I could prevent a gummy ball from forming. The other bits had no lock definition whatsover and appeared to be longer, much lighter, and coarser.

The North Country sample had lovely longer staples. I was fearful that the grease may have caused permanent staining, but no fear. It washed to a soft, creamy white after a very short soak.

The dorsets were the next to hit the tub. I expected the short staple length of the horned dorset . However, I am a bit concerned with how to prep this for spinning. As it is drying in its little bag, it is looking a bit too much like cotton balls. The polled dorset has a staple length of over 2.5 inches and the tips were disgusting. After the first soak, I targeted them with extra hot water. It helped some, but I may need to take drastic measures before spinning.

This group is going to force me to change my scouring method. I have been placing the fleece in little "bags" of netting and soaking them in a small wash basin. The other girls have been trying a contraption of household window screening material. Take the rectangle/square - layer the fleece - staple together. This allows for a much tighter package and does not allow the fleece to move around. My netting allows for far too much movement and requires a great deal of re-alignment on my part before moving to the carder or flicker.

Now off to the wheel!