Spinning in the Grease - Part II

I have had a few more thoughts along the way on this project.  I took the time to go though my bag of wool last night to separate out all the nice pieces of wool from the second cuts and tangles.  This was the result.

As you can see the vast majority of the fiber from this fleece ended up in the nicely organized bin rather than the tangles on the right.  In all about 1 oz of tangles were separated.  Remember that is with the weight of the grease in it so its actual weight is less than that.  For a full pound of fiber I think that is rather good.  I can still put that last bit though my drum carder if I need to.  The real credit of course goes to the breeders and sheerer.  

The first bobbin is full now.  As I'm working its very tempting to take a large bundle of fiber in my hands so I don't have to stop very often.  I have found this does not work well with this fleece.  A bundle of wool about the size of a quarter at one end is the most I can really do at one time. Otherwise it tangles and I get waist at the end of the bundle.  This photo also shows how tightly some of the fibers are stuck together at the ends.  Just a little fluffing at the ends and it is fine.  If the fleece were old or had a lot of grease in it this would be a tedious, perhaps impossible task.  The longer the lanolin sits on the wool after sheering the stickier it gets.  Therefore this fleece which was light on lanolin and dirt to start with is able to be spun by this method. 

Actually as it turns out there is almost no veggie matter in this fleece and its very clean. I've had to pick out more hay out of commercially prepared, dyed, top than this fleece. I have a few bundles that are a little dirtier than others but mostly its just really nice wool.  I cannot wait to ply this up and wash it.