From sheep to camel, from mohair to alpaca. There are many types of wool. Most people buy products already made from wool. But would you know how to make something from that wool if it was sheered right in front of you? Probably not.
I am a crocheter, and wool is a very nice yarn product that can make many beautiful items. Lately I have been wondering how much cheaper would it be to spin my own yarn? What products would i need? What fibers can i use? Where do i get those materials? And so today, I have spent my time researching these things.
A dear friend of mine is getting ready to sheer her sheep and so I thought this would be the perfect time to learn. So this I have decided to write so that anyone of you who wants to follow me in this adventure can. Or for those of you who want to learn yourself can. ****most of this information will be based on sheep wool****
The basic thing that I learned today was…….
- That wool has a natural oil called Lanolin
- That the amount of Lanolin in the wool is the definition of fine to coarse
- That some sheep (since sheep is where mine is coming from) have many varieties of wool. Some have a very thick wool, while others have a mix between hair and wool. (my fleece is coming from dorper sheep)
- I will need a hand or drum carder, a spindle or spinning wheel, wool or fleece detergent and possibly a niddy noody (used in making skeins of yarn)
- Scouring fleece is a fancier way of saying cleaning the fleece
- And lastly that prepping (and the proper prepping based on fiber) is one of the most important steps
Now with that, I hope you join me in this adventure of spinning yarn and i hope that it will interest you as much as it does me. I also hope that you will learn from this as well.
A Kaleidoscope Life 