Saturday, July 21, 2007

There's Nothing Like A Little More Fleece....

....... to make a spinner's day! And my day was made with two more bags from Cathy (who seems to have a secret life as a fleece magnet.)

Of course, all new fleece must first pass inspection......

2 lovely bags of fleece undergoing inspection.
Rascal is quite a fleece lush, so I really have to keep an eye on him when there's raw fleece around.

What do my two bags contain?

Bag of 3 types of Shetland fleece.
This one is full of more Shetland, (yay!). There is both white and black adult fleece, and some fawn lamb. The black is a different texture than the Shetland samples I have been spinning lately, so I am very curious about it. I'm trying to decide whether or not to dye some of the white. I have an idea to do a knitted vest or something in all natural Shetland colors. However, I already have some white, and color is so much more fun to spin than plain white. Well, we'll see.

Bag of adult and lamb Merino fleece.
This second bag contains raw Merino! I'm quite excited about this as I've never worked with raw Merino before, only commercially processed top. It's hard to tell from the photo, but there is both white adult and fawn lamb in the bag.

Now to go put everything up and out of You-Know-Who's way.

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

6 comments:

Sheepish Annie said...

I am nearing the end of the washing process with some of that merino. And it is just lovely! I've also never worked with raw merino. It has been a lengthy process getting it all washed and starting the prep for carding, but I think it is going to work up beautifully. Next up: Shetland lamb!!

Cathy rules!!!!!!!!!

Sharon said...

I'll bet those bags smelled wonderful! I skirted some fleeces yesterday, getting ready to send them off for processing. There's just not enough time in a day to process, spin and go to work. This is a great contrast in fiber prep for you. They're very different.

Anonymous said...

A girl can never have enough fleece to play with. Go Leigh!

Cathy said...

That black Shetland is interesting, isn't it? I am going to use mine for hangings since it likes to be spun fine. And of course, should you need more - I do have an exceptional stash now.

It's interesting getting working sheep fleeces instead of spinner's flock fleeces. I did tell you that these sheep teach collies how to herd? It's a fascinating story to hear about. I need to go up and photograph the sheep working. Now we know how the working dogs are taught.

cyndy said...

Who ever thought I could get so excited over viewing the contents of a black plastic trash bag!
That merino looks very interesting, I cannot wait to hear about your observations!

Dorothy said...

My cat Oscar agrees with Rascal! Oscar likes to sit next to unwashed fleece, and if he thinks he can get away with it, roll over in the middle of the wool and sniff to his heart's content. It's a favourite relaxation for him, next favourite to jazz music (!)

Look forward to reports on what the merino is like to wash, and how much weight it looses!