Trenchwork

Yesterday was the spinning group meeting, and we were able to do something I’d been wanting to do for a very long time:  we worked with fleece.  There’s a limit to what you can do in 4 hours, but I wanted to cover enough ground that they might feel confident enough to venture out on their own if they wanted to, and that they might be able to do so with SOME degree of knowledge in order to make their journey a more enjoyable one.  It is perfectly OK to not like working with fleece and, all things considered, I can’t really blame someone for not wanting to do so.  It’s dirty, sweaty, time-consuming work.  However, it also seems to me that a percentage of the folks who don’t want anything to do with fleece feel that way in part because they had a bad introduction to the world of raw wool.  I did not want my folks to be put at that disadvantage; I wanted them to have enough of a balanced (ha!) insight into things that they could decide for themselves on a fair footing whether they may ever want to handle raw wool again.

I think we managed that, and for those of you who crossed your fingers with me and thought good thoughts, I sincerely thank you. 

We started out with a brief mention of why I had wanted them to try this, and why they shouldn’t judge fleece by the dirty sheep they see on the news.  We had a quick overview of shearing techniques, explained skirting, talked briefly about why one may want to keep a fleece fairly intact as opposed to a random collection of locks, the fact that while some breeds have a requirement for consistent fleece, many don’t and some are even known for the differences one finds between the locks pulled from different sections of the fleece.  And we talked about packing a fleece.

And then I showed them.

Matteus is a musket Shetland fleece which came from Lois Moore of Stonehaven Farm.  He’s beautiful, complete with curly lamb tips which are not at all tender.  Lois packs her fleeces brilliantly and marks the neck for you so that once you find the start, there’s no problem unrolling it and seeing immediately which end is which.  Knowing how good she is about packing, I hadn’t even taken the fleece out of the box yet.  When we reached that point in our discussion, I pulled it out of the bag, took a few minutes to find the end, and began unrolling it.  Once it started unrolling, it rolled itself out with all the drama one could have wanted of a red carpet welcome.  The gals helped me flip out the sides, and there it lay in all its glory:  clean, organized, and very much shaped like the sheep it had come from so that they could clearly identify all the areas.  It was perfect.  They helped me divide it into 6 lingerie bags—which gave them a chance to see how the locks worked and how one could divide the fleece, even as they had a chance to handle those lovely locks—and those bags are in the wash even as we speak.

Then they separated off 150 grams each from one of the four Humble Hills fleeces for dyeing in the grease, plus another 50 grams from another for dip washing.  They chose the fleeces they wanted to work with, so each individual had her own preferred wool.  We combined same-fleece choices for the dye jobs since we were working with one small stovetop and a limited power hotplate; I was seriously longing for a larger kitchen and a full-sized stovetop!  I also probably needed to get them to limit their dye amounts a bit more, but since they all chose colored fleeces to dye, all the final results were fairly dark, although that may actually work out in their favor later.  Since many of them had not used acid dyes, if nothing else it gave them a chance to see how far those powders can actually go.  Our dyepots were a bit packed, and I hurried the process a little since we were out of time (we ended up going over by an hour just to get the dyed fleece rinsed), so I fully expect that there will still be some lanolin in the wool, and that they’ll lose some color when they wash their yarns.   I’ve warned them about both of those things, but I think that’s ok, too.  They’ll get a better sense of how much is actually possible, and having a little lanolin still in the wool will allow them to play with some different drafting techniques.

While the dyepots were doing their thing, I crammed 9 people around a table which probably only needed to handle 6 and which backed up against the stove (I really need a bigger kitchen—or a workshop space!) and put them to dip washing their 50 grams.  We couldn’t finish, but they made a real dent in their lock pile and knew how to wash the rest when they got home.

Once the dip wash buckets were cleared, I showed them the spun samples so they could see what their fleece choices might become, and gave them their bags of pre-washed locks.  We talked about flick carding, flick brushing, and spinning from the lock, but that’s as far as we got before the dyepots were ready for handling, and then it was time to go.

There’s a lot I’d have liked to have covered, but I feel as if they got a solid introduction, and our regular spinning meeting is on the 5th so we can pick up where we left off in just a couple of weeks.  Then we’ll talk a bit more about combing and carding, and they’ve asked for a bit about worsted versus woolen yarns, and I have a scurf sample I want them to see. Add that to our own usual spinning and I don’t think anyone will be bored!

We had 2 new folks, a lovely visitor from Bodø, and our 6 regulars.  And nary a one wrinkled her nose, said “ewwww,” and ran for the hills!   I’m counting the day as a solid success, and I can’t say how much I’m looking forward to seeing how they handled those samples, and what yarn their dyed wool ended up being.

And you’ll have to forgive me, but I totally forgot (and didn’t have time) to grab photos, with one exception.  I should have taken one before the meeting, but this is what was left after the gals decided what they wanted in addition to their workshop grams:

I wish I’d taken a before shot! That’s a large pool table, and the four fleeces were literally crammed on there with no room to spare. I’d had to roll in the edges in order to make them all fit!

What’s left is a grand total of 400 grams of the white Merino and 680 grams of the 62% Merino/37% Romney. A bit over a kilo. And I think I have a few extra sample bags for about 300 grams total. That’s it. Less than 1.5 kilos; less than 3 pounds. Out of 11.5kg (25 pounds). If I’d been left with most of those 25 pounds, I’d have been worried. But, if they’re choosing to take fleece home to play, then I think I can safely say the day was a good one.

An update: In the time I’ve been writing this, Matteus has been quietly washing away and is now spread over the shelves to dry—and he’s gorgeous! The lighter grey and cream tones have really popped out, and the darker sections are rich and warm. He’s destined to become a soft, cozy shawl for me—one of those things you live in—and I think it’s going to be just lovely. Wanna see a slightly soggy but clean fleece? Oh, but of course you do!