Golden Fleece Part One

Since Last Time:

I took a break from the Cormo that I was spinning to spin two more colorful yarns.  One was Teeswater wool you saw in my last post.  That is now being woven to make a shawl for the Christmas pile.  The second was an attack of frustration and color.  I had a bad day where it felt like none of my projects were working correctly.  In response I carded a batt (I have a double wide Staunch drum carder) of wool, alpaca, silk, sari silk, and baby camel.  It came out bright and colorful.  Loud actually.  I spun it up in a long evening and it made me feel much better.  It is also destined for the loom as soon as I find or come up with a suitable warp (there is not enough of it to be the warp and weft so I will have to combine it with something else).  

In the mean time I will go back to the Cormo and my current warp.  I've also begun to think about my next large project.

Spinning in the Grease Fleece Two

This is a full (7 lbs) Romney fleece.  Not just any fleece mind you, but one that won both the Best Of Breed for Romney and Best In Show at the Big E, 2014.  Its stunning.  And I have plans for it.

I'm a little in awe of the thing actually.  Its the biggest project I've ever taken on and most likely, the most ambitious spinning project I've taken on.  A few years ago I challenged myself to spin 30 yarns in 30 days (yarn being defined by one bundle of process top or roving, usually about 4 ounces). I managed to do 27 of them in 30 days I think,  This project seems so much larger than that for some reason and I don't even have the self imposed deadline. I want to make every inch of this yarn lovely and perfect.  And then weave it perfectly.  I suspect that I will lose a few ounces to trial-and-error and experiments but with 7 lbs to work with that should not be a problem.

EDIT: Fiber people are funny.  We think the smell of lanolin and hay is delightful and wish it came in a perfume.  We stick our heads in bags full of fiber and smell the stuff.  When I was pulling out some of this fiber to work up a sample at a living history event I was attending I was thinking just how wonderful it smelled.  Earthy.  When I got to the event several fiber folks wanted to know what I was working with.  I would hand them the bag and sure enough they would stick their heads in and smell the stuff, often before feeling it.  Apparently I'm not crazy.  I have said it before, but not here, I love textile geeks.  Of course my husband does not quite agree with the perfume idea.  

So the details of the fleece are this:

Farm/Breeder (where the real credit goes): Smiling Sheep Farm

Website: www.smilingsheepfarm.com (the site has not been updated in a while but the contact information is good)

Purchased At: Fiber Festival of New England, 2014 from Smiling Sheep Farm's Booth

Staple Length: 5.25-5.5 inches long  (Just look at the crimp on that fiber! Whomever sheared this boy was just a master.  There are very few second cuts.)

Weight: 7 lbs

Color: Dark Chocolate (I'm sure it has a name in the breed coloring but I don't know it.)

Greece Content/Veggie Matter: Light in both cases (he was jacketed)

The Current Plan (subject to revision, better ideas, and mood swings):

I plan to spin several samples so I get the hang of working with this fleece.  Once the spinning method and prep method (if any) is determined then I will divide the fleece for warp and weft.  How much goes into each pile will be determined by the practice skeins and their weight/yardage.  The weft will be blended with teal, blue, and purple silk on the drum carder.  I'm adding silk both for the color and to extend the amount of yarn I will get.  I will then spin it all, wash the yarn, and weave it into a blanket probably in an overshot pattern.  I thought about weaving in the grease too but I would love to get the yarn pre-shrunk first (something the test skeins will also tell me).

Of course I need to finish the current projects first.