Categories

Part A - fibres

1. short wool and down
2. long wool and lustre
3. mountain and hill
4. cotton - any fibres
5. flax - must include flax line
6. silk - any fibres
7. two other fibres, own choice - natural or handmade - I am certain that I will be spinning alpaca for one of these as I have a whole alpaca fleece and have enjoyed spinning this in the past.

All the above - minimum length 100m

Part B, design of fancy yarns
6 skeins - minimum weight 10g

Part C - Test Piece

Time is flying by and I haven't had the time to do anything

Time seems to be rushing away with me.  It's already near the end of August and I haven't done anything for my cofa for what seems like an eternity.

I need to be more organised so I have set myself some targets.  I may need a bit of a push - so if you don't hear from me - get in touch and tell me to get on with it.

So here are my targets for my CofA for August - bearing in mind that there is just under two weeks left in the month.

1. Make a list of the fleeces that I have and categorise them..
2. Make a file up for each of the categories.
3. Look up information on each of the fleeces that I have and file it.
4. Put samples of raw and washed fleece for each of the categories in the file.
5. Sort and clean one fleece for each of the following categories - AND DON'T FORGET TO LABEL IT!!!
1. short wool and down
2. longwool and lustre
3. hill and mountain - or is it mountain and hill

Hampshire Down Fleeces - progress - Yippee!!!

I have been making progress with the Hampshire Down Fleeces that I bought earlier on in the year.  I am still disappointed with the amount of dirt and vegetable matter that they contain.  The fleeces are not easy to sort as the staples are quite open and they can't be unrolled into a recognisable sheep shape.  The fleece just breaks up.  However, I have been very ruthless and sorted through to find some cleaner slightly longer, finer staples with less rubbish in.

I washed and dried this before drum carding.  This is only my practise, but for my CofA I will hand card as I believe that I will get better results. During my practise I have discovered that the advice I have been given about light and fluffy preparation by a fellow Online Guild member seems to be spot on.  I have also hand painted (dyed) some of the fleece to experiment with a bit of colour. 

By selecting better fleece to start with and improving on my preparation I have obtained better results.  I am still struggling to get an even yarn though as I find that I am concentrating very hard on the technique and finding a consistent yarn hard to achieve.

More Mountain and Hill Fleece - Derbyshire Gritstone

Spent a lovely day at Blackstone Edge Farm in the Staffordshire Moorlands/Derbyshire borders.  We were welcomed by Mr and Mrs Waller who also kindly provided cakes and refreshments.

The highlight of the day was being able to see the sheep sheared and then being able to select fleece directly from the sheep.  I bought several fleeces - a Zwartbles fleece and two Derbyshire Gritstone fleeces (which I have the intention of trying out for the Mountain and Hill section of the certificate of achievement).

Mountain & Hill Breeds

I have been busy researching mountain and hill breeds. Which breed I use for my CofA will depend on what fleece I can get. Last year I bought some Whitefaced Woodland fleece from a local lady who is also a member of one of the guilds that I attend. The staples are quite long and I think that it will be interesting experimenting with different preparation methods as well as different spinning methods. Last year I also had a Cheviot fleece from the wool board and I don't think it would be difficult to obtain another fleece either from the wool board or locally.

Ashford Wild Drum Carder

My new Ashford Wild Drum Carder has arrived today. As soon as it came out of the box, my daughter Selina put some fibre on to try it. From the sound it made I think that the teeth are possibly a little bit too close, so I will be adjusting it slightly.

I am then planning to drum card some of the Hampshire Down fleece that I have already washed and dried for yet more longdraw practise.

Photos to follow....

Update on Hampshire Down Fleeces

I have now collected 7 hampshire down fleeces - as per my previous post. I have to say, that they were a lot grubbier than I expected and there was a lot of vegetable matter in the fleece too. I will have to spend a lot of time meticulously picking through and washing the fleece. They were also a little more expensive than I remember discussing - I didn't think it was worth arguing about - but I certainly wont be recommending her to the other ladies in the guild.

Anyway, I now have a bulkbag full of Hampshire Down fleece to work my way through. It may seem a lot, but I do need a lot of practise at longdraw. They have got to be spun longdraw - but that's what you expect from a short stapled down fleece anyway as the staples have got a lot of crimp and they are very, very short. . Longdraw is not my favourite technique and my practise attempts so far have given seriously fuzzy yarns with some inconsistences in thickness.

Once the CofA is over and done with, I can't see me wanting to go out and get another job lot of of hampshire down fleece.

PHOTOS TO FOLLOW .....

Longwool & Lustre - Fibre Prep

Here is a picture of some wensleydale that I have combed using the dutch combs and put through a diz to produce a roving ready to spin. This type of preparation is necessary for worsted spinning. Although the technique required is short draw - I have to keep reminding myself to keep my hands well apart to allow for the length of the staple.

Unfortunately I have now broken my dutch combs when trying to straighten the tines, so I am now on the look out for a set of 'viking combs' or 'english combs' - hopefully I wont have to spend a fortune.

Very greasy shetland fleece

In the summer I was given half a dozen shetland fleeces. I have just got around to washing a few of them. The first one that I have washed is possibly the greasiest fleece I have ever come across. The grease hasn't hardened at all. I have washed it (well lightly scoured it) and dried it and it is just too 'sticky' to card into my usual light and fluffy rolags. I have just given it a second wash and although it is still wet (spun in my spin dryer) I can still feel the greasiness. I hope that I can sort this out, as this grey fleece has got great potential.