As the Spindle Turns

A year or so ago a friend gave me a fleece. Her sister raises sheep for dog training, so didn't think much about the wool quality. Yet, sheep need occasional shearing. Rather than throw away the short-haired fleece, giving them away to people who wanted to learn on it seemed the answer.

Up till this point, I had not been interested in spending much money on learning this aspect of fiber arts... though I could not ignore a "free" source. You know we always pay for everything... time or money, grin, and as a retired person, I usually have more time than money. So having a fleece given to me was good motivation to learn more.

My wool combs and learning to use them...

So, I brought my raw fleece home and learned on it. How to skirt it and wash it and comb it. Interesting differences between combing and carding.

"It's not a project if there's no blood..."

Then a few months ago another friend asked me if I wanted a fleece.

But of course!

It seems that she had got the fleece with the intention of carding and spinning the wool for a knitting project that never happened. However, she did want the big plastic bag of fleece out of her freezer.

Some combed short hair fleece and the 'waste' for the garden compost...

With the first fleece, I learned much, which resulted in many shoe boxes full of washed and combed wool waiting for me to do... something.

I subsequently learned how to felt, and I used some of that first fleece for making my slippers.

When I started to comb the second fleece, I immediately felt the quality difference of the wool. The locks were longer and softer and easier to work with. I knew this wool could be made into something more than felt.

So again I had multiple boxes of combed wool ready to do... something.

Then recently, I chatted with another friend, Missy. She suggested I learn to spin the wool.

I recalled many years ago spending, oh, about 20 minutes with a spindle at an SCA event. Back then, I had not the inclination to spend money on roving to spin, when I could buy the already made yarn for about the same price and save the time. Still not sure I would buy roving...

Watching as I practiced spinning the short-haired fleece...

Nevertheless, now I had stacks of shoe boxes full of luxurious combed wool just waiting to do... something.

So when Missy asked if she could teach me to spin, I thought, "Why not?"

We spent a wonderful afternoon chatting about fiber stuff and sharing knowledge about fiber arts. She gave me a modern Turkish spindle and an antique whorl to help keep me going.

It will take a minute to spin a shoebox full of combed fleece...

What can I say? Now I'm off and spinning! My stacks of shoeboxes are dwindling!

I'm not sure yet what I'll make from the yarn...

Though I'm sure you'll find out... just stay tuned for further adventures!