The Joys of Romney

I think Romney fiber is so wonderful!  It is so easy to work with. When washed, it keeps lock integrity and doesn't sproing shorter like Merino or Rambouillet after it's washing. Usually just one wash and one rinse will do, unless it's really dirty. It comes in the most wonderful shades of gray, from silver to charcoal.  Not high lanolin content. Easy for beginners with just enough grab, not too slick and not to clingy...all around fun!

 

 This particular fleece came from Harmony Farm Fibers on Esty. 6 pounds total.
It is wonderfully clean!

  The average seems to be between 4 and 5 inches. This is an ideal length to work with, at least in my opinion :)  Beautiful color variation. When blended, it's just gorgeous!

Depending on the light, it looks silver to a light brown. I brushed out the lock ends and fed it lengthwise into the drum carder(just one pass), then rolled the batt lengthwise and pre-drafted it for spinning. What I spun seems to be an ideal weight for this particular fleece, average 9 wraps per inch, it's 160 yds to 3.3 ounces(94 grams). Great feel!

Romney may not be the softest, but this wasn't coarse at all. Almost soft enough for a scarf, depending on how sensitive you are.  I've spun two skeins up so far...I keep holding it and snuggling with it, it's quite nice and generally pretty soft. I keep thinking about a nice warm shawl or maybe my first sweater!

This has so far been one of my favorite fleeces to work with...
and I've got over half of the bag left to wash!
After many Romney fleeces, I have decided that Romney is my all around favorite !!!