Baa Baa White Sheep - help!

[CarolynnMarilynn]

The kids and I were at a Spring Festival in a little hamlet just north of us. We had a great time and played with goats, sheep, pones, chicks, ducklings, bunnies and an emu. They had a sheering demonstration that we missed, but on the way back around I asked the farm gal about the fleece. There were two piles - a thin 'layer' that seemed to be the top knotty and dirty layer with short lengths of fibre (totally forget the name) and then a second pile that was the undercoat.

Well, they were just going to throw it all out! I asked for, and received, a feedbag of the undercoat stuff that had a nice staple length and felt pretty good. It is totally 'raw' with tons of lanolin, and dirty. I'd guess it is a few pounds and is most of the ram's fleece, but not all. It is a nice natural beige colour with some grey mixed in.

I have carders and a spinning wheel, but I am an amateur. But I am willing to try to clean it and card it and try to spin it. What now?!? How do I clean it and get it ready to spin?

I'd really appreciate a helping 'hand'. Thanks in advance!

[lilyka]

I have no helpful advice but . . .

woohooo!! Good score!!

[fallriverfox]

The harlot has a tutorial of sorts:
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archiv...ur_fleece.html
I've never tried it, so I don't know how good the directions are

[MidgeMommy]

I'm lazy, but honestly I can't say that hand carding (your first time around) will be succesful enough to spin. Felt? Sure. But probably not spin, unless you are ok with a very short production and probable slubs. I have never hand carded satisfactorily enough that I was satisfied with the spun result.

I could be wrong, though! I also am very partial to felting. I may just have a prejudice.

[CarolynnMarilynn]

Thanks everyone. I am thinking of this more as a hobby project, a-just-to-say-I-can-project, rather than a means to an end. Kinda like spinning: I am not great at it but the process is fun and rewarding to see that I can do it. I won't be upset if it ends in nothing great.

[flapjack]

Right now, my default approach is:
1) Flick open the locks with a nit comb and spin in the grease, from the lock. Spin a few yards as a sample, ply it on itself, wash it and see what I think.
2) Separate out the locks, pick out all the crap, put it in a pillowcase and soak in red hot water with some washing up liquid in it for 20 minutes: then clear hot water for 20 minutes to get the soap and lanolin out. Dye and card as desired.

There's some good tutorials on joyofhandspinning.com on hand carding and on washing- but like I said, be sure you need to Sometimes the low-tech way is the most effective.

[CarolynnMarilynn]

thanks!

[eepster]

I wash small amount of fleece in the microwave.

• pack wool into microwave safe (wool dedicated) containers gently pour in warm water with dish detergent already added till it covers wool.
• microwave on high till water is close to boil.
• wearing oven mits (I recommend the silicone ones) carry container to tiolet and tip out icky water.
• reapeat til water isn't brown anymore.
• rinse in hot water
• lay out on rack to dry.

How careful you need to be deppends on breedss feltability.

[Think of Winter]

It's not difficult to wash a fleece in your washing machine. There are instructions available online. The important things are to use scalding hot water (turn your heater all the way up), lots of soap, and gentlly lower the fleece (in lingerie bags) into the water. DO NOT let the hot water pour onto the fleece, and whatever you do, do not let it agitate! Allow it to sit for 30-60 minutes, then spin out the water. Again, DON"T let it agitate!! You can then take the fleece out of the washer, refill it with your super hot water, and do it again. You may need to wipe the lanolin and dirt off of the inside of your machine. It's really pretty fun to see a fleece go from nasty to lofty and fluffy and clean.