I have
bought, traded, bartered and been bestowed my breed fibers so one bit of
housekeeping before I start my fleece odyssey is to thank everyone that has
contributed to my fibery flock. I’d name you all but would hate to miss anyone
and thus making anyone the black sheep, so to speak.
Black sheep
you say?
As I plunge my hand into a basket
crammed with fiber baggies, I emerge victorious with my first sheep breed fiber
to spin….almost
I recorded commencing
spinning on the 9th March (Why a Friday, I have no idea. I also have no idea why it bothers me so
much that it should be a Friday and not a Sunday) but some 5 months ago I do recall it going something
like the above scenario, except the basket was so jammed packed I was like a
monkey with its fist in a jar and 3 baggies popped out. Immediately the intense
black fiber caught my eye.
With Aubrey
(my Schacht Matchless DT) all oiled up, glass of wine to the left
(more of a completely reasonable
assumption than actual recollection), my ball winder to the right, I deftly release the seal of
the snack sized, no-name plastic baggie. Intensely black fiber bursting forth from its plastic restraints…
In the
beginning there was the Black Welsh Mountain Sheep.
Black
Welsh Mountain Sheep
Primitive, rare breed (approx 10,000 worldwide)
Staple 5-10cm
Micron 26-36
About the
Black Welsh Mountain Sheep: Originally from the Southern mountains of Wales, these hardy, self-reliant,
small black sheep have been around since medieval times. They are easily
managed with a natural resistance to disease.
With a true black (Cuchddu) fleece, they are devoid of wool on the face
and below the knee & hock. The meat is lean and the wool medium soft and
dense.
My
Spinning experience: My
sample came from the UK so apparently not as fine as the US flock. This fleece
is truly black. My sample was washed fleece locks. A little dry but easy to draft right from the
lock. No need for carding. It spun up easily and evenly and bulked up after
washing. Did I mention this fleece is black? If you were to work on a
knit/woven project using natural colours, then this is the black you need. I
did say it was black, right?
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