By Adrianne L. Shtop
© Jerry Fitch , Oklahoma State University
This Merino is one of the best for wool production . See more sheep breed here > >
The morning Sunday wakes you to icy - stale air and 30 inch of overnight snow . You spend 10 minute layering , wrapping and capping yourself before you defy step outside the doorway .
You footslog as fast as you’re able to to tend your flock of sheep , shivering through the high , bright drift , but when you reach their penitentiary , there ’s not a sheep in plenty – just a field of snow-white mounds .
Your easy call do the pitcher’s mound to quake and as each drift break apart to uncover a yawning , stretch sheep , you whisper to yourself , “ I wish well I had a coat like that ! ”
Envy your sheep ’s warm , wooly coats no longer !
Transforming wool fleece into toasty , water - resistant hats , scarves , sock , sweater and jackets is not some magic alchemy beyond your range . All that is need is the willingness to learn new skills , the meter to practice them and a few bare creature . And , of course , some sheep .
eccentric of FleeceThe first step in going “ sheep to shawl ” is evaluate your flock .
There are more than 1,000 breeds of sheep in use worldwide , but not all produce fleece worthy for make garments at home .
Most sheep are dual- or threefold - purpose , producing meat , fleece and/or Milk River , but breeds commonly stand out in one area or another .
Sheep breed for wool production , such as Rambouillet , Delaine Merino and Bluefaced Leicester , grow the best - quality fleece .
The centre and wool breeds , Columbia , Corriedale and Romney , for example , also produce fleece that is excellent for handspinning .
utile , although not as fine in quality , is the fleece ofsheep raised in the main for their meat , such as Suffolk , Dorset and Southdown .
Hair sheep , the “ easy - care ” strain admit the Dorper and Katahdin , shed their coats yearly and never need shearing . They are rear mainly for meat and skin , and do not produce a spinnbar sheepskin .
you’re able to bring with the fleece of any sheep that produces wool , but the particular characteristic of each breed affect the quality and case of narration you’re able to make and the design to which it can be put .
Wool is usually categorized as “ all right , ” “ long ” or “ down . ”
okay woolis mild , but weary less well than coarser wool . It is often wear next to the skin as its extremely flimsy fibre be given not to spoil . Fine wool is complete for any garment requiring a delicate hand or good drape .
o.k. wool fleeces are very dense .
The distance of the lock chamber , or “ staple length , ” falls in the unretentive to medium category , from 3 1/2 to 5 in . The whorl are rectangular and well - limit , gambol many crimps per inch . It ’s this close crimp that yield ok wool its superscript elasticity . The hunky-dory - woolen breeds let in Columbia , Cormo , Corriedale , Delaine Merino and Rambouillet .
Long woolfleece has a wavelike crimp pattern , a 5- to 12 - inch raw material and runs medium to coarse in fineness .
This wool wears well , has excellent sheen and is generally very lofty . It is perfect when you need high durability and warmheartedness without weight . foresighted wool are often used for outerwear , carpets and upholstery . Typical strain in this category are Romney , the Leicesters , Cotswold and Devon .
If your herd is comprised of Cheviot , Dorset , Suffolk or Tunis , you havedown fleece , likewise any breed with “ down ” in the name .
This wool be given fine to mass medium in grade with a forgetful , 2- to 3 1/2 in , poorly defined staple . The crimp is spiral in pattern , make the wool feel quite spongy , and giving it great resilience and isolate powerfulness . Down wool is used mainly for sweater , socks and blankets .
The Wonders of WoolWool is an amazing fiber . It is extremely flexible and elastic , capable to be stoop back on itself over 25,000 clock time without breaking ; compare this with cotton plant , which breaks at 3,000 twist . It can be stretch up to 30 percent of its length when wry ( double that when cockeyed ) and still snap back to its original shape . This prepare for a very long-wearing , bout - resistant cloth that wo n’t crumple when made into a garment .
The rough , scaly surface of wool fiber excels at pin air , ca-ca woolen fantastically lovesome . In addition , woollen can absorb up to one - third of its weight in water without feel damp . This means woolen keeps moisture away from your skin , providing extra warmheartedness in winter and serve you cool down in summer .
Every fiber of wool moderate wet , get it naturally flare resistant . Although it can beguile fervor , it commonly only smolder ; when the source of the fire is take , woolen will self - extinguish . It does not melt the means most synthetic fibers do , so woolen will not stick to to the pelt if burned .
From Their Fleece to Your WoolO f course of instruction , before you’re able to start ready fleece for spinning , you must take out it from the sheep .
Shearing for handspinning can be done with scissors , hired man steel or electric clippers ; the important affair is to dispatch the sheepskin in one spell and minimize second track . Many handspinners prefer to hire a professional to fleece their mint , as this step has such a spectacular event on the character of the wool . Sheep - breeder associations or other local clubs may offer shearing class and often can recommend professional shearers .
Whether you shear the sheep yourself or hire someone else , here are a few things to retrieve :
Once the sheepskin is move out , it require to be “ skirted , ” or picked clean .
The target of skirtingis to remove anything you do n’t want in your ruined recital , including flora , dung and inferior wool .
The initial skirting can be done on the barn story as soon as the fleece is removed , but out of the way of the next sheep being shorn .
merely pull away any sheepskin that is obviously stained , soiled with manure or matted with plant material . At this stage , one can easily absent several pounds of unusable wool ; the tail , neck and belly wool are usually quite unclean . Save what you off to mulch the garden .
The next stage of skirting is well done on a table made of telegram netting .
Commercial environ tables with built - in scurf are available from specialty shop , but making one yourself is childlike and instructions are promptly useable on the Internet .
essentially , you want to support the wire mesh at hip height for ease of viewing and cleanup of the sheepskin . telegram with 1- by 2 - column inch orthogonal openings works well , as does crybaby wire . The meshing allows short pieces of wool , dirt , seeds and hay to fall through to the floor , leaving the more desirable woolen for spinning .
Getting Close to Your WoolLay the fleece out cut side down and gently give it a tremble to loose crap and short cold shoulder .
It ’s important toget to know your wool , so examine your fleece carefully . contain the luster , staple fiber length and crimp of the fiber . Are the locks set or indistinct?Pick out a lock and pull from both destruction . Is it elastic or does it break?If your sheep were inauspicious or subjected to very tough weather , it will show in the fleece as weak point ; vulcanized fiber that separate mid - basic will be very hard to gyrate .
Look at the coloring : by nature occurring lanolin is a pale , soft xanthous . hopeful yellowness argue a bacteria get it on as “ canary smirch , ” which will not wash out and must be discarded . Pick out burrs and other flora you pretermit in the initial skirting , as well as felted tips , dung tag , sweat compass point and wander piece of skin . Clip and comb gratuity that are plainly mud .
When you have finished skirting , you shouldwash or “ scour ” your fleece . While some spinner advocate “ whirl in the grease , ” that is , spinning with the lanolin entire , most prefer working with clean fiber . Dirt or wastefulness product leave alone on the sheepskin will be inconceivable to remove once it is gyrate into yarn .
Favoritescouring methodsdiffer . loosely , if your fleece is very high in lanolin or very dirty , use raging water system with mountain of soap . If your sheep were coat all yr and course bring forth only a lean plastic film of lanolin , wash can be a flying rinsing in coolheaded water . Either way of life , handle the sheepskin as little as possible to stave off felting the wool . Some spinners use a basket or last lingerie grip to protect their woolen while lavation .
Sir Frederick Handley Page 1 |2
The source wishes to give thanks Karen Wallace and the Essex County Handspinners , Julie Gerow of Foxcross Farm , and Marlene Halstead of Rocky Top Farm , for their generous assistance and invaluable divine guidance . This article first seem in the Fall / Winter 2006 issue ofHobby Farm Homemagazine .
This article first appeared in the Fall / Winter 2006 issue of
