Who spins yarn

[bergere]

I started spinning yarn, when I was raising breeding stock sheep for their fiber... goodness... 18+ years ago
I tried to have mostly black sheep, as I love black fleece, but I did have a few whites.

Fast forward to now.. only have three hair sheep as lawn mowers...    so I buy Roving when I have a chance.

Would like to be able to spend more time spinning,,, and I really, really want to learn how to weave... but I would have to find time.
 During the spring, summer and fall... seems most I do is keep this placed mowed... helps keep the ticks away and the poisonous snakes from getting a foot hold.
Wish I could afford to have someone mow this place for me.

Do run chickens around the house and in the two most close pastures and they are great at keeping the tick population from bothering us... turkeys around the house because they will either drive off or kill snakes.
I have never lived any where with so many stupid ticks!  Yuck.....

Anyway....  droning on as I am.  Here is some of the various yarns I have spun.   Would love to see what everyone else spins too!  Oh, an what they have spun and what is your favorites?

Coopworth fingerling....   from a breeder, that was the smooth and soft coopworth fleece I have ever touched.



British fleece with tussah silk...  find silk is really hard on my fingers.  First colored roving I have spun... is pretty but I am not sure I would do it again.



Blue Faced Leicester.... have to say one of my favorite fleeces how to spin... though I wish I could get more of that purebred, super curly, super soft Gotland from NZ...  best Gotland I have ever spun.






Also spun Brecknock Hill Cheviot (now called mini Cheviots.. basically they are the original sized ones) ,llama, Black Welsh Mountain,  Babydoll (soft but a pain since it is so short) Jacob, NZ Gotland... 
Sure I am forgetting something...

[Callie]

Those are all beautiful yarns! I haven't figured out how to post pictures yet. Maybe later today. I love the angle you plied the silk yarn. That's what I'm trying to get to in my yarns. I get it every once in a while, but then I go through a season of 'missing'.

I did my own little fleece study this winter. I'll have to get pictures of that and share what I found out about my own spinning and fleece likes and dislikes.

[Deleted]

I raise and spin mostly romney. Both black and white, although 12 out of 13 lambs this year are black...... I dislike spinning black fleece, preferring shades of grey to true black. The one is a pretty blue color but sadly a boy related to most of my flock...

I am getting two pure bred merino ewes this fall! One definitely white the other maybe a colored but I think I'll stick to white. Going to cross them with my romney ram for now until I have enough room for a merino ram too.

[Deleted]

Midnight is the dark one who just got sheared.  These are Clun Forest sheep and belong to a friend so the fleeces show up here almost every year.  There was a hair sheep who got mixed into the flock several generations back, so some of the fleeces are soft, some not as soft.  It's easy to tell the ones who have hair sheep hiding in their background.  Fortunately, Midnight is probably either pure Clun Forest or close to it.  Midnight and his friends live about five miles away in Kalopa.


Nice open fleece, soft, springy, easy to work with.  I like to spin it raw.


Nice heathery fat yarn for a rug although Midnight is soft enough to be a sweater.


It's a "mother and son" rug since the light parts are Flannel and the dark parts are her son Midnight.  Single strand fat yarn and done with a single crochet around and around.  Next time, I'll use multiple strands and a bigger needle.





This is Merino spun from raw wool.  It would be smoother if there was more prep done, but then it would take a lot longer.  The Merinos live in Waimea along with some Dorset friends.  He has some colored Merino, I don't know if they are purebred or not.  He says the original ones came from Niihau, I'd not known there were sheep on that island.  Waimea is about ten miles from me so these fleeces come from further away.


The orangish one is the raw wool spun up, after it gets washed the color gets a lot lighter.


Indigo grows around here as a roadside weed, so a lot of yarn is dyed blue.  Pick leaves from flowering indigo.  Put about 6" of indigo leaves in a bucket, fill it about halfway with water, add a half handfull of baking soda if you have acidic water.  If your water is already soft, you can probably skip that step. Leave it overnight, the next morning put your fiber in the bucket.  It will look like a swamp monster was in the bucket overnight, it's all murky.  Then go have a cup of coffee.


Pull it out of the bucket and it initially won't look like much.  Once the air hits the indigo, it will "rust" and that is what causes the blue to show up.  Since it is an oxidation process (i.e. rusting) it will stick really well to the fibers.


Keep dipping it in the bucket if you want a darker blue.  Rinse with a bit of vinegar to even out the baking soda.  Hang to dry and you're done.  This yarn is no prep raw wool from a local sheep along with some roadside weeds.  It does get washed after it's spun, though, so it's not raw wool going into the bucket.  But there's no mordant, no fixative and no heating.  It does help improve things if your local sheep is a Merino and the roadside weeds are indigo, though.  Now I put the indigo in a net bag to save having to pick all the pieces out, guess I'm getting lazy.



Then there's the bunny floof.  That sometimes get spun thick and chunky to make into insanely fuzzy and warm scarves and shawls.  If something is going to be handspun, it might be nice if it looks a little bit handspun so frequently, I'll leave the yarns a bit rustic.


Shawl from handspun angora.  I want it to look handmade so it's a thicker rustic yarn.  It gets an insane halo and softness on it.



Sometimes it's spun thinner for more delicate shawls and such.


I think this one is Dorset.  Just raw wool, no prep.

Well, enough of this!  There's a chocolate brown Merino I could be spinning!  *poof*  I'm gone a spinning now.

[Deleted]

Wow, that indigo yarn is just beautiful!

[bergere]

Just wow, I have always wanted to dye some of my yarn that color blue! I would have to either buy or plant indigo.
Hotcatz, love all your yarn and the cool things you made from it. And even a rug.... beautiful.


Thank you Callie. Can't wait to see your photos.

Lambsarecute,,, Romney are nice sheep. Way back when someone I knew, raised some very nice Romneys... blacks, browns, whites...
Let me know how you like spinning the Merino wool next year,,, one fleece, I haven't gotten around to spinning yet.

[Maura]

Where do you live that indigo is a common weed?

I started with a border collie, then got the 6.7 acres, then started building a house, then got sheep. Then finished the house and discovered lambs. My ewes were 3 Black Welsh Mountain and 1 Corriedale x Rambouillet. My ram was the C x R twin. So, for a while I had lambs with beautiful black fleece that was nice to spin. I don’t have sheep anymore, but still have roving and fleece and yarn.

I’ve filled all my bobbins and am waiting for my sister to return my glimakra and ball winder to me, which she borrowed last September. Well, today I was in an antique shop and dropped $25 on a little skein winder. I’ve started on the first bobbin. OnceI have two naked bobbinsI can ply the two together. I’ll get there.

[Muller's Lane Farm]

@hotzcatz has a 'miserable existence' in paradise  ... yeah, I'm jealous!

[Muller's Lane Farm]

Some of my yarn

From faulkland roving that I dyed.





The roving for this was purchased from Fae Ridge Rarms in IA




From Merino & Silk roving that I dyed

[Muller's Lane Farm]

Alpaca:




Border Leicester / Merino / Tencel 




Corriedale

[jd4020]

Oh. My.
Those are some really beautiful yarns ladies. And the blue color. yummmm.
I bought some cobalt blue merino roving? (I think that's what it's called) It's all ready to spin but I've been practicing on the other fleeces I have bought. I don't want to mess it up or waste it. I think I want to make a shawl with it (when the time comes) but I'm not for sure. Does merino drape like alpaca? Or does it hold it's shape better? oh I'm so uneducated here.
When I hear talk of "what a yarn wants to be" I understand what is being said but don't really know how to decide that. I know some wool is better for some garments, like the coarser fiber for an outer sweater or vest, but really, I think, I'd like blue socks, and this merino is so soft and I love this color, this is what I want. But is merino a more delicate wool that wouldn't wear well for socks? I also like the BFL wool. Is it a "middle of the road, versatile fiber for everything, from socks to hats? more learning to do.
But while I'm learning I'm enjoying the softness of the rovings and batts and yarns and fleeces....hhmmm,,,sinking into the softness of it all.
Well, carry on. and thanks for any & all help.
God bless,
jd

[bergere]

That is some beautiful yarn Cyndi!

[Muller's Lane Farm]

jd4020 ... For socks, I like a down wool breed or stick with superwash with a bit of nylon or silk carded in for strength. Merino doesn't wear as well for me in socks. It is great for shawls, sweaters, cardigans, etc. Depending how thick the yarn and what stitches you use, it can have a wonderful drape, or be quite solid.

I do like BFL but when asked my all time favorite, I have to go with Corriedale

Thanks, bergere!

I don't spin too much in the summer time ... too busy with the gardens, but once the last item has been canned, you can find me behind a wheel every day through February!

[jd4020]

Thanks Cyndi. A shawl it will be then when the time is right and I have gained more skill.
That's kind of what I felt it should be.
God bless,
jd

[bergere]

I haven't spun any Corriedale yet.... Now I am going to have to go find some! LOL

[Muller's Lane Farm]

bergere,
There is fine corriedale and medium corriedale, both are nice. Thre is also colored corriedale!

I love the crimps on a Corrie lock.

[bergere]

Thank you for letting me know. Sounds like they are coopworth in that regard. A lot of flocks are a medium.... then I found a flock in WA state, that had some coopworth fleece,,
that was ever sooo soft. Wish she still had her flock.

Will look for fine corriedale.

[Deleted]

I could look at yarns for hours!  That's some fascinating stuff with the indigo.  Thanks for sharing.

[Deleted]

Such beautiful yarn! I doubt that I will ever learn to spin, but I sure enjoy reading about it from all you lovely fiber artists!

[Muller's Lane Farm]

@mocrafter,
Did you ever take some grass and start twisting it? Yup, you've already spun!

[Deleted]

Mocrafter...beware... MLF is a premiere enabler. LOL!

[Muller's Lane Farm]

Why Thank You @kasota! I'm proud to say I represent that remark!!

[Callie]

Hotcatz: that was a fantastic tutorial and such great yarn! I wish I had indigo growing here! Maybe I should start some?

I did a breed study this winter. And of all that I bought or had on hand- corriedale was also my favorite! BFL would be my second choice. Maybe I can find a sheep that's a cross?

[Muller's Lane Farm]

Callie,

Did you try ramboulet or CVM for your study?? Those are my next favorite.

[bergere]

Cyndi, Those sound good too. I had better make it to the MD festival this year! Thanks you, I have a shopping list already. LOL

Mocrafter, like Cyndi said... its easy. You could get a spindle and go from there.

[Muller's Lane Farm]

bergere, I try to enable where I can!!