Fiber Friday - If you give a spinner some wool...

...She will get the crazy idea to make a sweater.



So not the best picture.  What I think it a Lincoln Cross.  It's a CVM cross of some sort.  You can't tell in the fleece photo above but it's a lovely mixed gray with dark gray and light gray. There is about 8 pounds of fiber.  I skirted it brutally. So after the skirting maybe only 6 pounds of wool.



A few of the locks.  About 4 inches or more long.

 I cut off the bleached tips on most of the fleece to make it easier to wash and card.  Sorting the fleece and washing it only took about 4 plus days.   I got about 3 pounds of really good usable wool.  I have another a pound of wool I washed although it had some vegetable matter in it. When I was finally finished washing the wool my husband asked, "Should I get you another fleece?"   I smartly responded, "Do you want anything else to get done?"  Now that the fleece is washed I have at least 3 pounds of fiber to spin up.  I may put the other pound in the compost.

"I thought you said you 6 pounds?"  tI lost some weight in washing out the lanolin and the dirt.  I lost more since I cut off the tips. Some I discarded as I was sorting because of excessive vegetable matter.   This fleece wasn't coated so it wasn't pretty dirty.  It's amazing how a good washing can show off the beauty underneath.



Upper left corner washed locks, in the middle flick carded locks ready for the drum carder, lower right some samples of  the fiber spun.  This is spinning up even better than I expected.  My longdraw spinning is getting better and better.

I better get to it. I've got lots to do.