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Friday October 22, 2010
Longwool and combs
A farmer came to our open day with a few fleeces to sell. They were Leicester Long Wool, a rare breed, which I had not heard of before but similar in type to the other "long wools". They were huge fleeces, and in the end I split a "lamb" fleece with Kate. The fleece has some appeal as the colour changes across the sheep - creamy white through to grey, and with a slight sheen (only visible on the inside of the fleece!). Overall they did not look especially promising but this farmer does not keep them for the fleece - we were a kind of charity for him I think.
Uncharacteristically, I washed the fleece the very next day - my usual method of steeping in hot detergent and then rinsing on a very gentle wool cycle in the machine left me slightly disappointed as it came out more matted than I would have liked, but I managed to separate it into reasonable locks.
Today I decided to start the preparation. I began by spending a few minutes reviewing combing techniques on the web (time well spent in fact) and then clamped the Guild's combs to the dining table, covered the floor with a tarp, and started off with the medium grade locks.
The whole thing went much better than I expected. I found the process overall more satisfactory than carding, and the fleece itself seems to be very soft and attractive. I have not really followed all the advice I have read - but one thing I will be doing next time is spraying the locks with oil/water mixture - it really is very fly-away without this.
At this stage I could say it seemed to be the nicest raw fibre I had worked with. I am now looking forward to trying to comb the washed but matted Wensleydale that I have in the attic (a gift...). I may even invest in my own combs...
As I am publishing all this very much in arrears I can add an addendum. The fibre I have spun so far is slightly rough and hairy. Alison also tried out one of my nests. However in its defence I have not yet prepared the best parts of the fleece as I wanted to practise my combing first.
This fibre went on to be part of the Winter Wonder Hat plied with some silk and merino - the main hat was in Spelsau and this made a good colour match.
Posted by Christina at 5:05 PM. Category: Spinning, Dying, Weaving
