The Fleece Queue

Oh for the love of fleece!!

It's nearly everywhere I look!

Under the skirting table...

These are all raw, patiently waiting their turn...

...in the corner, because I can't mash anymore under the table...

Montadale and Lincoln.

...in the closets...

This is just one of three closets with washed fleece...

...and all around the house in some stage or another.
There is fleece in the combing queue as well as some new ones
that need to be photographed and uploaded to my stash page on Ravelry.

Oh, and I think I may have bought two more ...
Yep, a California Red and a Golden Cormo from Apple Rose Farm!
Well...I've never had a California Red before...
so it makes sense that I should have one, right??

I recently went through the fine wool closet to check what's
still there and for any buggy activity...oy, so much wool!!

But who's complaining, even checking the closets is fun
as I get to visit with fleece I may not have seen for a while ;)

What's on the skirting table is what's next in line to be scoured.
(I prefer the term washed, actually, it sound less harsh).

Here's the latest fleece queue on the skirting table...

This is Raggedy Ann, one of my all time favorites! She's a Cormo/Merino cross.

Beautiful long locks of a superfine Merino that you can see me spinning in a video on my YT channel!

A couple of years of Onyx, Raggedy's son.

Romney I got from a de-stash.

Gulf Coast Native that's for the Richmond guild demo spinning and weaving.

Lovely dark Corriedale!

Nash Island fleece.

This is Kiwi (another Cormo/Merino cross) from last spring. Too short for lock washing.

A Rambouillet cross from MDSW a couple of years ago.

Do I have an addiction?...well...ok, yes.

BUT...

In my defense, it's a lot healthier than any other addiction I can think of.
And there will be something to show for each of these fleeces in time...a finished
garment of some kind, either knitted or woven. Nothing goes to waste!
(And I need fleece for classes too!)

So no doubt what's on my to do list today, and tomorrow, and the next day...LOL

I hope you find time to enjoy fiber today :)

-Kimberly

Lots of Not Very Big Skeins !

 
 I have this terrible habit of washing one batch of a new fleece, 

processing and spinning a skein from that,

and then putting the fleece away to move on to another one.

I have way too many 'one skein wonders',

with either more washed or raw just waiting for me

to get back to it...

It's a bad habit I need to break!

I really wish just once that I could follow through

with the same fleece from washing to spinning all of it...
...in the same year!!

I just get so excited when I get a new fleece!!

I know it's fleece ADD, but really...

I know, I know, some people have oodles of started
knitting projects, waiting to be finished,

 I don't usually have more than two knitting 

projects on the needles at a time...

 ...with me, it's fleece. 

Has been from the 1st time I laid my hands on a raw fleece.

One of my latest fleece purchases was from a fellow guild member

who raises Romney and Romney cross sheep.

We had been talking about her sheep and fleece
and I told her I might be interested in a raw fleece.

At one of the meetings, she had several bags in her truck...

very bad for me...

 As an addict, I have a VERY hard time

saying 'oh, very nice fleece, bye".

It's usually, "oooooh, what pretty colors you have!

What's this one, a lamb fleece? Hmmmmm"

Yes, I carried that lamb fleece with me to my car...
...hanging head in shame, as I have no control...

like I need another fleece? 

HECK NO!!

But I enjoyed that fleece smell all the way home...hahaha

 Wanna see?...here it is...

My friend who keeps the sheep is a one woman show when it comes

to their care and shearing.

She actually did a really good job with the shearing as I have come 

across very few second cuts!

The tips are weathered, brown and stiff.

But below that, is a gorgeous medium grey color!

I have only washed about enough for one smallish skein... so far.

I decided to spin the whole lock, as opposed to cutting off the

weathered tips. 

Using a sturdy dog comb...

I gently combed the tips open.

Then I proceeded to comb them on my Valkyrie Extrafine Combs.

The top has these brown streaks in it from the brown tips. 

I kinda like it!

Made for some very interesting combed top!

The finished skein weighs 1.8 ounces and is only about 

88 yards long. Not a very big skein by most standards.

More info here... http://www.ravelry.com/people/krzyknitter/handspun/romney-x-hogget-from-sandra-2017

But it's nice, even and should make up into something interesting...
Maybe wrist warmers, or part of a hat...or ?

I gifted it to my friend who raised the sheep.

I like giving skeins back to the shepherds sometimes, 

especially if they're just getting into spinning :)

I will snip the tips off the next time and see what that looks like.

It will be much more grey.

Hold on a minute, this gorgeous merino is calling me...

...on to my next not very big skein...

Happy Spinning! 

-Kimberly :)

Confession of a Fiber addict...

So to other fiber addicts, this is just confirmation that you are not alone !!

I only learned to spin just over 3 years ago...I took a class, made some
amazingly horrible yarn, just like most everybody else, got better,
decided I really liked it and went crazy buying processed fiber.
 Then while looking around online, I saw an ad for free wool...
which I know now wasn't all that great...
but it sparked my love of raw fiber and of processing it all myself.
So I made a decision one day to sell all of my bought ready to spin fiber
and only work from raw...completely from scratch...
I've become quite the purist when it comes to fiber.

And it has now come to this...

Today I walked into my fiber room and stopped in my tracks and just stared...at this...

(And there's at least two layers here)

And it's not like I haven't seen it before...it's been growing there for a loooong time...

but you know how after a while you just don't notice things that are there?
 You just get used to it...  Well, I finally noticed again...

and in the living room, there is this...

Romney on the left and Bond on the right.
The Bond I just bought...what is wrong with me?
Oh, I know...too much time on Ravelry drooling over pictures of fleeces....

Like I needed more...but being a fleece addict...you know...it's tough...lol


Close up of the Bond...gorgeous chocolate color and amazing lock formation...drool...

And if that wasn't enough,
the lady at the post office gave me a huge box of what turned out to
be more fleece...can't imagine how it came to be sent to me....
I must be sleep surfing on the internet looking for fleece... ;-) LOL


This is what was inside the box..12 pounds total of more Romney :)

They are both nice, but the one on the left is exceptional!!!
Pictures do not do it justice...

 It's the most gorgeous blue-gray color...just amazing...
and the crimp and softness...must touch to believe !!!

Oh, and I almost forgot, there is this CVM Romeldale fleece
hiding in one of the back rooms...

Isn't it just so pretty though...?

How can I resist?

There's also a Corriedale somewhere around here,
various Merinos and Rambouillets...
and let's not forget Angora bunny, Mohair, Alpaca...
Oh, where does it end ??!!!

But I have promised myself no more new fleeces...at least until
I wash all of the ones I already have...goodness knows how long that will take!!
I better be done by October...cause there will be tables of fleeces
at the Fall Fiber Festival at Montpelier just begging to go home with me !! :)
(I'll need willpower to stick to that promise)

I have been doing some washing...actually I wash almost every day.

Here is a Romney/Rambouillet fleece acquired from MDSW this year...

 Whole fleece...all 9 pounds of it...it took up my entire living room floor!

Close up of locks...sunbleached tips actually make for a nice heathery yarn.

All washed and ready for carding/combing.

 Some Romney drying...

So, I have confessed to the world...well, at least anyone who reads this,
that I do have an addiction...not exactly bad for my health,
maybe my bank account...but it's fun, I love it...it makes me happy! Yay!!

The boyfriend doesn't mind either...what more can I ask for??...hahaha...

Happy washing, carding, combing, spinning, knitting...etc.....

-Kim

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 !!!