Long Wool Fiber Study, part 4

Processing yarn is not hard. There is fleece to wash, locks to separate and comb or card, fiber to spin into yarn, garments to make. Processing fiber is not hard.

However, it does require time, a bit of space, special equipment and desire.

I spent last Saturday morning with my gals in the Saturday Spinners guild. We shared our current Long Wool Fiber Study results with lots of show and tell. Then we watched a new video by Robin Russo, Combing Fiber (released by Interweave Press June 1st). 

Our program for the day was on how-to use combs and hackles. The organizing member showed samples and had collected enough hand combs, production combs and various hackles for all of us to practice on. There was a plethora of equipment to use.

Specifically, we were using the tools to process Shetland wool that we got from Elemental Affects.

Shetland is a double coated fiber. The fleece has a long outer coat and a shorter downy inner coat. As I worked with the combs I was amazed at how easy it was to distinguish the two types of fiber.

I got to use English production combs made by John A. Meck. They are 5 pitch (5 rows of teeth). One comb was mounted on the counter and I handled the second comb. They were very big, heavy and crazy dangerous.

After the first few tangly passes of the handheld comb, my technique quickly improved. It was easy to see the fibers straightening and detangling. I felt like I was brushing long hair very carefully. I gently pulled off the outer coat to exposed the downy undercoat.

This is my first time using a diz. A diz is essentially a large curved button with various sized holes in the center. It is used to pull fiber off the combs. What you see in the picture is the undercoat on the comb ready to pull off.

You hold the diz concave side facing the combed fiber. Then you pull the fiber through the hole to make roving. The fiber came out smoothly and easily. Also, the fibers were distinctly parallel. Just like top (combed roving) I’ve purchased. It was very cool.

Here are the various piles of the Shetland wool I ended up with. I started out with 2 oz. of washed fleece. It took me two hours to process that amount. The weight measurements shown below are after combing out the whole 2 oz. 

From the top right going clockwise: 

• Washed fleece
• waste fiber - full of noils & vegetable matter (VM) - 3/4 oz. or 21g
• downy undercoat - top roving arranged in birdnests - 5/8 oz. or 18g
• outer coat - parallel fibers pile - 5/8 oz. or 18g

It was suggested that the long outer coat is good for lace. I will endeavor to spin a fine singles for a finished 2-ply yarn. I want to spin the undercoat semi-worsted but with a soft twist to maintain its loftiness.

Long Wool Fiber Study, part 3

The first two yarns below are the fiber I scoured from last week (see post 6/4/12). It is now yarn and my notes about spinning the fiber are as follows along with 2 other yarns.

BFL - Bluefaced Leicester - in the grease - 1/2 oz. - spun 5/28/12

• scoured fiber before spinning - too greasy - too dirty
• fun to look at individual locks
• pulled off knots at each tip
• flicked each lock open holding the middle and working each half separately
• flicking lengthened locks after washing tightened them
• locks flicked open very easily - like a fluffy cloud
• 1/4 oz of dirt washed out
• spun tips first - woolen - very tangly - switched to cut end first
• modified back draft
• from lock was much harder to get even lofty yarn - very lumpy
• could not get smooth yarn
• very soft finished yarn
• 2 ply - 11 yards - 10 wpi (wraps per inch) - size 4 medium yarn

I really like spinning the BFL. It is soft and lovely especially as a finished woolen yarn. I also like the multi-shades of gray color.

CVM - California Variegated Mutant - Romney mix - in the grease - 1/8 oz. - spun 5/30/12

• separated locks - intended to spin in the grease but too greasy
• flicking clean fiber very easy and fluffy
• feels bouncy and spongy like the roving I spun prior (see post 5/26/12)
• spun from cut end of lock
• used forward draw worsted (used my fingers to smooth down fiber while twisting)
• lovely to spin - soft, bouncy
• spinning from the lock, the fiber is much springier than the roving
• lots of short fibers even after flicking and scouring
• 2 ply - 9.5 yards - 11 wpi - size 4 medium yarn

This was fun to spin especially after handling the fiber in the grease. The fibers are shorter than the BFL. The yarn turned out more woolen feeling than worsted. That may be from it’s natural loft or my poor worsted technique.

Romney - washed locks - 1 oz. - spun 6/5/12

• separated washed fiber for carding
• some dirt, dust and vegetable matter (VM) remain
• carded by hand into rolags
• spinning woolen with mostly forward draft
• yarn very lumpy - still lots of short bits
• not much luster or softness
• with this preparation I had difficulty achieving even yarn
• woolen spinning was a challenge
• 2 ply - 23 yards - 9 wpi - size 5 bulky

I was not really satisfied with how this yarn turned out. It was really fuzzy and lumpy without being part of the design.

I had a second ounce of washed Romney and decided to spin it worsted to see what difference if any there was from the woolen yarn above.

Romney - washed locks - 1 oz. - spun 6/11/12

• separated locks and picked out vegetable matter
• tried two different preps
•  hand carded but rolled sideways to keep fibers more parallel
• flicked locks
• carded rolags had lots of short bits still trapped in fiber
• flicked locks had lots of waste
• spun worsted forward draw
• flicked locks were much smoother to spin
• finished prep with flicked locks
• yarn has more luster spun worsted - it glows
• drafting form cut end easier than tip end
• 2 ply - 30 yards - 12 wpi - size 4 medium 

I have come to the conclusion that to achieve smooth worsted yarn I have to start with either commercially processed roving or flicked locks. I liked how this yarn looked - spun smooth but softly to get a more woolen feel.

I’m looking forward to the last two fibers in the Saturday Spinners study - Wensleydale and Shetland.

Long Wool Fiber Study, part 2

I’ve never processed wool from a fleece. Freshly cut, or sheared, sheep wool is full of grass, oils, dirt, and other things we don’t want to talk about.

For the long wool fiber study I’m currently working on, I have some Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) in the grease shown below. I thought to spin it in the grease just so I’d know what that was like. I’d already spun samples of rinsed but not scoured fiber and it wasn’t too bad.

But in the grease means In The Grease! As I started to separate locks in preparation for flicking them open to spin as is, it smelled bad. Not awful, just a basic animal smell. But not something I wanted in my home. Or on my spinning wheel. I realized that I would have to scoured these locks prior to carding or flicking. They were so dirty.

The fleece had been properly skirted (meaning the super dirty and waste clumped areas removed) prior to me getting it. But it was still sticky with oil and dirt.

On the left, I have separated the BFL locks, aligned them cut ends together. The pile on the right are the sunburnt tips of each lock. Really kind of yucky, sticky fiber knots that broke off as I pulled on the tip. I had heard there might be broken bits that needed to be removed.

Then I packaged the fiber into tulle net. This method should keep the locks aligned properly and let the water flow easily in the bath.

Hot water and Dawn dish soap. This is the 2nd tub of water. Still grey. I forgot to take a picture of the first tub. It had turned brown and yucky immediately after submerging the tulle wrapped fiber.

The locks moved and shifted in the soft tulle. I need to use stiffer netting and more pins to help the locks stay in place.

The picture shows less than 1 oz. of fiber drying after 2 hours of work. The fibers are clean, soft and ready to card or flick for spinning. Top row is California Variegated Mutant (CVM) Romney mix. Bottom two rows are the BFL.

What I really liked about handling each individual lock was the ability to see the curls or crimp, to imagine how the lock grew on the animal, and see it’s springy-ness. Even the kind of vegetable matter I found in the raw fiber was interesting. I’ve always spun from clean roving. It was fun to start from the actual unwashed lock.

However, having spent 2 hours working with only 1 oz of fiber, I can’t imagine how long it would take to wash a whole multi-pound fleece.