Day 1 'The Tour De Fleece 2011' - Preparing 'Local' Fleece for Spinning

This did not look very promising.  I was given this fleece and I do not know what breed of sheep it is from.  It was reared within 10 miles of my house though, so is a nice bit of 'Worcestershire' Wool.

Using my trusty 'Minty Drum Carder':

I have managed to turn it into this:

I am pleasantly surprised.  It looks quite acceptable.  I actually like the natural grey.  I really did not think it would become anything I would enjoy spinning.  I can't wait to give it a go.  I had no idea how it would card and equally I have no idea how it will spin, it is all a mystery to me.  It feels like it is going to need a good  spray of oil, 50% olive oil and 50% water.  It took a couple of hours to card the 50g of wool in the basket which is a small fraction of the fleece.  I would like to card the whole fleece before I start to spin but I think that may be unlikely.  I will probably card a bit and spin a bit, card a bit and spin a bit.  Call me naive, but I am somewhat shocked by what a massive labour dealing with raw fleece is.  Nobody said it was going to be easy I know, but it amazes me that this 'work' was done in the past out of necessity rather than for fun.  After all this someone will end up with a highly prized bobble hat!  I imagine if I did want to make an income I would have to charge £100 a hat, or work for a penny an hour!  We would go hungry if it wasn't for the turnips and raspberries!

     
  Today is Day 1 of 'The Tour De Fleece'.  I have now managed to card just over 100g of fleece to spin.  I have the house to get straight and then I can spin with a clear conscience.  I have more 'Cheese' on the go and I am trying a 'Slowpot/Crockpot' recipe for a 'Carrot Cake'.  It smells delicious.  If it turns out as nice as it smells I will share the recipe.  It is only the second cake recipe I have tried in the Slowpot.  The first was a big hit.  I hope you are having a great weekend, I think it is going to be quite a sunny one here.

Alpaca Adventure

How cute am I?

I am one of the worlds best/worst impulse buyers!  'Buy now, think later!' should be my motto.  I saw this and could not resist.  It looked so glossy and silky and soft and squishy and it spoke to me...'please give me a good home...'  Well I heard it anyway.  I have read about Alpaca fibre, I have fantasized about Alpaca farms...but as yet until this arrived a couple of days ago, this is the closest I have got.  (Just in case you are wondering I bought the fleece in the pictures below, but wish I had bought the cutie in the picture above.)  I now realise Alpaca fleece is very different to wool.  I have not tried spinning with it yet.  I have about 750g.  I have decided to wash it after I have spun it. I am worried that I may felt it before it even gets to the spinning wheel if I wash it first.  It does not smell, which to me raw wool can be quite whiffy.  It does not feel dirty, which to me, quite often wool can.  I have read Alpacas tend to get dusty rather than dirty as they have a penchant for dust baths, so you can spin first and then wash.

I read an article on the net last night that discussed the pros and cons of Drum carding or Hand Carding Alpaca fibre and made my mind up to try drum carding.  I spent almost two hours with my trusted and able 6year old assisstant and we manged to get about 80g beautifully carded into soft, fine, silky rolags.  I am new to drum carding and had a grand notion I would get the fleece prepared and ready in an afternoon, (the best laid plans of Mice and Men and all that).  I really did not expect it to take quite so long.  I am very tempted to spin with some this afternoon, but feel I should card more first.  I am going to try and spin 100% Alpaca but I am ready to blend with wool if I find it too tricky.