A blog about fiber arts and textiles
Day 16 (July 11) of Tour de Fleece:
Rustic-spun Shetland wool (washed/carded from raw fleece) 26g; 33.4 yds 2-ply Bulky weight.
This small sample was rough spun from some carded bits that weren’t conducive to consistent spinning, so I just treated it like bulky art yarn. I’ll probably use it in a woven piece for texture.
Day 15 of Tour de Fleece: CVM ewe wool from Cactus Hill Farm , Colorado (washed/carded from raw fleece sample) 20g; 70.4 yds 2-ply Fingering weight.
Day 14 of Tour de Fleece: CVM/Merino ewe wool from Cactus Hill Farm , Colorado (washed/carded from raw fleece) 34g; 120 yds 2-ply Fingering weight.
Tour de Fleece, Day 9: Hog Island wool (washed/carded from raw fleece) results from 57g; 99 yds of 2-ply (Bulky weight) yarn.
This was definitely “rustic spun” as my drum carded batt was minimally processed, leaving much to be desired while spinning. Next time, I’ll comb AND card before spinning.
Another conservation breed fleece bought as part of the SE2SE program from Silver Bullet Farm LLC.
Day 6 of Tour de Fleece: Navajo Churro wool (washed/carded from raw fleece) 48g; 97 yds 2-ply DK weight.
Today I decided to sample the Navajo Churro raw partial fleece I bought as part of the SE2SE (Shave ‘em to Save ‘em) project. This light silver fleece came from Mesa Weavings in Colorado.
Day 2 of Tour de Fleece: more Icelandic (Ram & Lamb fleeces): 17g; 40 yds 2-ply sport weight (white Icelandic) and 44g ; 97 yds DK weight 2-ply of brown and white Icelandic lamb. 137 yards total.
I’ve (mostly) decided that today’s arrival is my last raw fleece purchase this year. (Unless someone decides to give me more fleeces or I get an out-of-this-world deal). I’m thinking I’ve bought approx. 200 pounds total of raw fleece–give or take a few pounds, so I should be good for a while.
I’ve been prepping fiber since April in order to participate in the Tour de Fleece this year (starting June 26th), and then, that yarn will be used to weave and knit this season’s collection that I’ll sell online and in my studio. I’ve never “officially” participated in the Tour de Fleece, so I’m looking forward to seeing how much yarn I get spun during the event.
I did move most of my fleeces upstairs to my fiber room at my home, but almost half are still in my out building until they get ready to be washed/scoured + processed.
*I am a full time textile artisan and fiber arts instructor…which is the only reason I have this many fleeces/fiber (for those who may ask “why on earth would one person want/need that many fleeces?”).
Today’s shipment of 4 fleeces included 3 CVM & 1 BFL ram fleece from Cactus Hill Farm in Colorado.
Breeds of wool bought as raw fleece this year:
Gulf Coast Native
American Tunis
Debouillet
Shetland
Icelandic (and Icelandic crosses)
Finn/Cormo cross
Navajo Churro
Clun Forest
Dorset Horn
Shropshire
Lincoln Longwool
Lincoln/Targhee cross
Florida Cracker
Hog Island
Babydoll Southdown
American Jacob
CVM (California Variegated Mutant)
Friday brought 3 new raw fleeces: 2 CVM fleeces ( California Variegated Mutant (CVM)/American Romeldale) from Cactus Hill Farm in Colorado and a Lincoln/Targhee fleece from Montana.
The CVM fleeces were seriously discounted since they were 2020 fleeces, so I got a killer deal on them (so much so, I’ve ordered 4 more). One fleece is 7.5 pounds and the other is 8 pounds—and both are heavily skirted. I’ll be posting more pics when I start processing them.
The 2nd fleece that arrived on Friday was a Lincoln/Targhee cross —the second fleece I’ve bought from this farm in Montana. I’ll be posting more about it as I start working with it. (Notice the small box this 2.75 pound fleece was shipped in).
After Saturday’s drop spindle class that I taught at Alchemy Farms, my neck and right shoulder started hurting, so I’m forced to take it easy this week …even though I’m teaching Wednesday and Friday—and Tour de Fleece starts on June 26th!
After weaving the scarf from my North Ronaldsay handspun yarn (shown in my last post), I decided to weave the exact scarf design (a semi-open weave, spaced warp) using my handspun Gulf Coast Native yarn from one of the partial raw fleeces I bought from Gulf Breeze Alpaca Ranch.
This project took approx. 180 yards (67 grams) of handspun GCN yarn. It is very soft and has a lovely rustic texture. Since I have so many raw fleeces from this breed, my plan is to weave a variety of these scarfs, dyeing some and leaving some their natural color.
Last week was fleece week for me– I received a full Tunis raw fleece in the mail from Coalmont, TN, picked up 3 Gulf Coast Native fleeces from a farm in Hampton Cove, AL (about 45 minutes from me), and 9 more GCN & GCN cross raw fleeces from a farmstead in Arab, AL yesterday. I’m still waiting on 4 fleeces to arrive by mail from Texas and Louisiana. I am officially FINISHED with fleece buying this season (unless a great deal comes along). Now, it’s time to get busy processing what I’ve got. I’ve started three fleeces using the fermented suint method and as soon as I find more containers, more fleeces will be cleaned using this process to save me time and labor. The rest will be processed in small batches.
I managed to get some spinning in last week–using about 118g/200g of the Jacob top from Hearthside Fibers. I ended up with 228 yds of 2-ply worsted weight yarn.
I wove a scarf last week from some mill-spun yarn made with Gulf Coast Native wool from Oak Hill Farm in Covington, GA. It turned out okay, but I think my handspun GCN yarn will feel better than this mill-spun yarn does.
Diary of a Yarnophile 