7.21.2015

(Martes) stormy day...

gonna be totally honest here; i am deathly afraid of thunder.  after dodging the proverbial bullet of storm fronts over the past couple weeks, we seem to be more than making up for it in the last few days. every bolt of lighting sends me into a state of extreme panic as i hold my breath and wait, cringingly, for the inevitable sound of doom.

this is the perfect time to take refuge in one's happy place, and my happy place is lined with sheep and sheepful things.  i'm still plodding away at the yet-to-be-identified object from Sunday's post, but it is soooo hard to maintain my focus amidst the cry of fleece beckoning me to come play. in keeping with my tradition of the past three (or four) summers, i recently purchased a whole fleece (this time, from the premium fleece division of the Canadian Co-Operative Wool Growers Limited).  they don't sort their fiber by breed, but they are experts at matching what you're looking for in a fleece with what they have in stock.  i asked for a fine fleece (in terms of the coarseness of the fibers), somewhere in the range of 20-22 microns on average, with a staple length of at least 3½ inches, and this is what i got (after a light wash with a splash of baby shampoo)...



i specifically did not want a full-blood merino, as they tend to hang on to every bit of dirt and debris from every patch of open ground within a 20 mile range of their actual grazing area. at least, that's how it seems when you find yourself crying over a tub of dirty wool that refuses to even pretend to be getting cleaner. having made that mistake once, i prefer to purchase merino that has been prepped for spinning by a professional outfit. the fleece i ended up with looks (to me, at least) like a polypay or possibly a cormo (or some combination of breeds that produce a similar fleece).  whatever the breed, there is definitely a noticeable amount of merino in this sheep's background. judging from the high degree of crimpiness (it's a word), this is going to spin up into a lofty yarn with serious amounts of springiness.



 i was eager to see how it would look in a batt, so i tossed a few handfuls onto the drum carder.




speaking of which... did i mention that i got a drum carder???  well, i did!  it was a birthday present from my favorite animator.  it is the standard drum carder with the optional longer teeth.  you have to be a fiberista to understand the sheer awesomeness of having your very own drum carder.  this is practically porn to my people...



now, back to the fleece.  the problem with the finer wool breeds is the amount of extra work required in the preparation process.  while my sample produced a decent-enough product for spinning, the inherent stickiness of the fibers (i.e., the tendency to want to grab on to and interlock with each other) makes it that much harder for short cuts of fiber and VM (vegetable matter) to fall out while it is being combed by the tines of the drum carder. after two passes through the carder, it looked like this...



again, decent enough, but my brand of OCD would require me to stop and pick out every single bit of debris or every tiny matted clump while trying to spin this into yarn.  i was frustrated, to say the least, but it occurred to me that a quick flick with a the pet brush (not the brush i use for my cats, but the one i keep exclusively for fiber-related purposes) before tossing the fiber onto the drum carder might do the trick of opening up the fiber enough to allow all the unwanted bits to escape during the carding process.  i tried it out with a bit of the Shetland-BFL fleece from last summer. all i can say is, it is definitely worth the extra work.



on a random aside, i should note that the war of mutual-loathing with my squirrely neighbors marches on.  there have been many dirty looks exchanged across the divide of double-glazed windows. while neither sides wants to admit defeat, i have to express a great deal of respect for any creature that can devise such a simple, brilliant method for keeping dry on a rainy day.  i am appropriately frightened.



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