A Little Spinny

I recently received a pair of carders (that's those wooden spiky brush things in the picture), as well as a little wool, a wool winder and some inspiration.  I have spent my time learning to card and make rollags.  Rollags are what you get when you roll the carded fleece off the carders to make spinning that much easier.

It's all about the prep work and understanding what it takes to go from the freshly shorn sheep to the completed garment.  You wash it several times to get the fleece clean.  You pick it to get the various bits of grass, seed, wood, sawdust, moss, and other bits and pieces of stuff you wouldn't want to spin into your wool.  Then the wool is dyed or left in it's natural state depending on what you want to do with it.  After dyeing there is more picking... It seems you never get all the stuff in the fleece, you'll be looking at it and suddenly see something in the shadows... lo and behold it's more detritus.  Then you card it, which is taking two wire brushes and pulling them in opposite directions to get all the fibers in the same direction for better spinning results.  Once that is done, you spin it all up, and if you are so inclined you ply it, but you can leave it as a single.  Once that is done you have your yarn and it's up to you what you make, but you still have to make the item.  This is what I do.  From start to finish I can create a garment.  I love the work, there is something extraordinary about sitting there and peacefully picking through fleece, cleaning, carding, spinning and then knitting (my preferred method so far).

I just spent the better part of 4 days picking through some lovely dyed fleece that was given to me.  I was certain it wouldn't take more than a day, but by day two I knew just how compact  that fiber was.  I have enough for at least 7 full spindles which is 4 ounces each... That's just under 2 pounds of fleece.   There is more fleece in the offing and a bakers dozen of acid dyes for me to play with.  when I say more fleece, I mean it... I'm not sure how much there is, but it fills one of those clear garbage bags over halfway.  That's a lot considering it's in it's raw form.  It needs to be scoured, dyed, picked and cleaned, spun and turn into something glorious, but right now I'm catching up.

The same friend who brought me all that fleece also went to Fibrations, a place where fiber fanciers meet and sell their goods and have a wonderful time showing off and discussing their passion for what else... fiber.  Next year I'm going, nothing could keep me away.  While she was there, spinning on her wheel, she picked up some Romney dyed fleece in a gorgeous blue for me.  So I went to work and spun my finest and most even thread so far.

 I like the way it turned out, and it's so soft.  This needed something regal made from it.... so I started my search while I was picking and cleaning the delicious blue and purple mix, to find me a pattern I would like.  I checked out shawls, and cowls in abundance and finally have settled on a wimple.  Once it's done I"ll be posting the outcome, but for now all you get to see is the wool.

So this is what my last month has been filled with, woolly adventures in spinning, dyeing, cleaning and prepping.  And of course I chose to switch things up during a blue moon and return to my passion for knitting,  which is what started all this need for spinning in the first place.