Yesterday, September 23rd, was Tad's birthday, he would have been 23. I took the day off from work, something I haven't done in the past, but I thought some fiber therapy was in order. I did nothing (well almost nothing, still a mother and wife...) but play with fiber. It was a relaxing day.
Last weekend I went to meet with members of the small but happy guild, Wheels and Whorls in Elko. I took lots of goodies to sell, one bag had this fiber in it. I am really glad no one bought it. Apparently I bought this then promptly forgot about it. When I took it out of the bag last weekend in the midst of all those wonderful spinners, I realized it was a beautiful brown/moorit color and quickly tucked it away again! Now I know why I bought it, even if I don't remember the actual transaction lol! Monday night, knowing I was staying home on Tuesday, I put this bit of fiber to cook, almost forgot about it twice but eventually got it virtually clean. It is romney if I don't miss my guess and was very greasy, hence the cooking rather than just washing it in the sink. Although it was a bit 'tippy', it worked up really nicely! And Ohhhhhh so soft!
This is my preferred method of processing, a dog brush and a cutting board.And here is an example of before and after... I cut the tips off because they had bad sun damage but even then the staple length was wonderful!
Viola! Is that gorgeous or what!!??!?!? After I flicked the locks with my trusty doggy brush, I ran it through my Clemes & Clemes drum carder (only took once through) and then predrafted the bats into nice long rovings.
This also came home with me from the meeting in Elko. A fellow shepherdess who raises red angora goats traded this to me for some of Terry Mendenhall's moorit fleece I bought earlier this year. This is a blend of red mohair and wool. I am not terribly fond of this preparation, but if I am to 'broaden' my horizons any as far as the types of yarn I make, I seriously need to consider spinning woolen AND worsted preps.
The yarn is not what most would call 'bulky', but it is heavier than I usually spin and a bit neppy. I'm what some might consider OC when it comes to neps in my spinning, so you know it takes lots of effort for me NOT to pull the neps!
And here is the beginnings of another scarf, this one for a dear friend for Christmas. She loves earthy colors but I am thinking I will spin one more skein of this and dye two of the skeins and leave the third natural. The colors will have to be subtle.
