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

Bunny Fluff

 Bunny fluff...wonderful bunny fluff...fuzzy, exquisitely soft and warm...
I have always known about Angora fiber, but I had yet to try and process and spin it myself.

So last summer, I decided to buy some.

Then it sat....in my stash...Like so many other wonderful fibers...

(I'm sure none of you know what I'm talking about...lol)

Clockwise from left...white, red and gray.

 Then...one day...I was inspired!

But how to process it...hmmmmmm.....

Well, firstly, I had to wash it, very carefully.

I know, some of you are probably thinking "no you don't'!

Well, I do. I wash all of my fiber before carding or combing it.

Even if you don't see the dirt, it's there. 

So I put it in a small lingerie bag and gave it a bath.

 It came out fine, although it looks pretty sad all wet,

but as it dries it fluffs right back up!

As seen in the picture above, it does have rather nice crimp...but it's so fine...
So I decided to card it with my cotton hand cards.

To get it in a spin-able state, I dizzed it off...then spun it right away.
I know it can be teased into a loose fluffball and spun that way,
  I just prefer to do it this way. 
It's so fine that it is rather difficult to roll into a ball like I would
normally do with fiber after dizzing. Well...actually, it's not the
turning it into a ball, it's the unrolling to spin, so it's better
to just diz and spin, diz and spin...

It is so slick that it is a little challenging to spin...
I admit, I actually over-spun it a little during my first attempt.
   

 And the yarn it makes it so lovely!

100%Angora

  And here is a skein of one ply of Angora and one ply of Rambouillet.
The Rambo was a slightly different weight, but I did this during a demo and decided it would be fine.

Next will be blending it with another fiber and spinning them together!

Happy spinning :) -Kim