It's a Corriedale fleece, and there's nothing really wrong with it. The trouble is, I've been told to spin it into a fine yarn. This is basically an exercise in contradiction--and therefore, an exercise in frustration. This fleece, by nature, wants to be a medium yarn. The fibres are not particularly fine, they're just not. You can see my attempt at a fine yarn: the strand immediately above the clump of fleece--it's not particularly fine either. This exercise for my Spinning Certificate Folio is to spin a fine, medium and bulky yarn from the same fleece. It made sense to start with a medium fleece and try to push it to the extremes on either side. All the time my fingers are reinforcing the message, "spin to suit the fleece". It's hard work trying to make fleece spin into something it really doesn't want to be. I have yet to try to make a bulky yarn from this fleece. I'm hoping that will be less frustrating. And I'm so looking forward to the next exercise when I will do my best with a fine yarn from a fine fleece.
4 comments:
you do get to make comments and document your exerience / discoveries in the portfolio too??? it sounds like these experiences really reinforce the learning about fleece suitablity for each yarn type.
Yes, in fact I'm planning to print out the relevant blog entries and include them:)
It's so much easier to spin to the thickness the fleece wants to be. I gave up trying to spin merino when I was just a newbie spinner - it wanted to be superfine thin & I just didn't have the ability to either spin it thin, or argue with it.
Hope the bulky yarn is easier!
Are you using different preparations for the 3 yarns? Or do they all have to be the same?
It has to be worsted, but it doesn't specify how I prepare the fibre--I could comb it or flick it. I flicked for the fine sample to prepare it as well as I could. Not sure what I'll do for the bulky one.
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