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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:
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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.
