I went in with a list, and actually managed to keep to it pretty well!
Fiber arts are a wonderfully rich field. Each fiber has its own properties, and you can prepare it in various way to accentuate other properties, then spin them in different ways to - guess what? - achieve yet more properties, and finally, you can knit/weave/nalbind/whatever using different techniques to get different results. As a beginner, it's kind of dizzying.
I went in with the goal of getting some Viking wool combs and an Icelandic fleece to use with them. There are probably other breeds that are suitable from a re-enactment/heritage point of view, but Icelandics are the ones everyone talks about. Also, they are one of the dual-coated breeds, and I am very interested in trying to separate out the tog (long hairy fiber) from the thel (short fluffy soft fiber) to do weaving with singles. (The tog supposedly makes good strong warps that stand up to abrasion.)
I found Indigo Hound, who seems to be the main supplier of Viking wool combs to the world. Got a pair of double-row combs, a nostepinne from Mistress Brienne, and a plastic diz for pulling the combed roving through. Score one.
The Mid-Atlantic Icelandic Sheep people were there. Not knowing how fleece was sold, and having previously bought roving by the ounce, I looked over the fleeces and chose the one that looked prettiest - a soft grey thel undercoat and a red-brown tog overcoat. The tog looked very long and the color difference meant it would be easier for me to see it to pull it out. Well, turns out you buy entire fleeces. And that's how I ended up with four pounds of ram fleece to take home. I shall call him Stinky. The vendor said that "Healthy sheep have a healthy smell," but Stinky the Ram seemed to have a much stronger odor than the ewe fleece that was there. Not surprising - even a polled male is probably smellier than a female. I feel somewhat like a n00b, buying mostly for color rather than hand feel - but I don't even know what I'm looking for there yet. So - score two.
I got some more roving - grey Romney, since the Romney I got from Sabina was so much fun to spin, and some dark brown/black Icelandic mixed tog/thel, because impulse buy. Score three and four!
When I got home, I pulled off a little piece of Stinky to see how it was to comb and spin. Initial results seem promising! The thel handled like any other roving and should spin up fine. The tog was trickier to manage, like the long-staple flax was. I am hoping once I put it on a distaff, it'll be easier? But there'll probably be a learning curve. It certainly makes a strong, cord-like yarn! Very much not the fluffy sort of yarn you'd want to knit a sweater with.
Next steps are assembling the few pieces of equipment I need to wash and dry Stinky...
I also stopped in at the competition displays. There was some amazing artistry there! Felted gowns, knits, wovens, an amazing sheep skull made out of felt, hooked rugs... I feel like I could possibly make a legitimate entry into the skeins competition. Might try for next year!
Ooh I will be watching your progress with interest! I'm working on a similar project (haven't gotten any farther than the combing yet though). There are a few pics here, but I *really* need to post an update. http://ursuladestrattone.weebly.com/project-and-event-blog/update-rainys-fleece
Posted by: Diane Donald | June 05, 2017 at 05:02 PM