Dirty Dorset: First Fleece to Yarn Project!

[Alexus1325]

I scored some super-cheap Dorset fleece on eBay being advertised for stuffing and crafts. SOOOOOOO dirty when I opened it up Way dirtier than the one ounce sample photo implied (I bought 40 ounces, it was THAT cheap).

Plenty of VM, yellow staining, and POO. Oh yes, there was quite a bit of poo.



So I threw a bunch in the sink, picked out the worst yucky bits and washed it as best I could.



Then I used my new toys, also purchased for waaaay cheap on eBay, to make fluffy awesome rolags. Took a while to get the hang of these bad boys.



And for some reason I didn't take a single progress pic! I was just so excited to hop to! It took four day to whip up 61 yards (69 before washing/setting) of worsted-bulky Andean-plied two-ply.



It's very "primitive" with lots of slubs from second cuts, but I'm really proud of all the work that went into it, and I even kinda figured out long-draw.

[papilionette]

Wow! That is so cool how it turned out. I love those kind of yarns!

[jexxican]

YAY! Wasn't it rewarding feeling? I love the second cuts in there. I'm so excited for you. Would you do it again, fleece to yarn?

[mrsflibble]

I love the handspun, and the more handspun looking, the better imho.

[Belladune]

It's such a hugely rewarding process to go from dirty flufff to yarn!  sorry you got a crappy fleece (haha.. so punny ) But seriously.  that`s never fun. I`ve had to deal with stuff like that, and it`s terrible.  Great work going from fleece to yarn.  and if you aren`t to happy with second cuts, you just have to pick them out before carding.  way easier then when in rolag form.... took me far longer then  I like to admit to figure that out.  Oh, and cutting off some yellowing will give you a shorter staple, but give you a nicer end prodict.  this was something I was afraid to do, but once I did it, I was so much happier with my end result.

[Trekky]

Great job! What are you plans with the yarn?

It is great that you have a before & after photos!

[Rodelphia]

wow! great work! I'm going through the same thing with a couple alpaca fleeces I aquired, its really encouraging to see someone go through it with such a nice looking end product.

[Alexus1325]

Thanks for all the kind words! Yes, it feels so good to know that I now have the skills to take fluff and make yarn!

I'm with MrsFlibble, I like handspun yarns that look handspun, which is why I have a serious weakness for bulky commercial singles

I only spun up about half of what I washed, so I think I'll spin up the other half as similar as possible (LOL, still so noob, so we'll see how that works out!) and maybe make a cabled fisherman's hat for my FIL. There's still a bit of lanolin in it, and if I remember rightly, fisherman's gear is supposed to be spun in the grease?

Gonna try to get my hands on some lingerie bags to wash the rest in the washing machine. I've got maybe another 35 ounces to go.

Note to self: borrow MIL's kitchen scale...

[mullerslanefarm]

Using a scale has been invaluable to me when spinning

I love your yarn!  It will look great as a hat or mittens.

The first pic ... is that yours or from the listing?  Besides the yellowing, it looks pretty clean.  I don't mind yellowing now as much as I did when I started spinning.  It can give the finished yarn a natural heathered look.

Dorset is a wonderful fiber for socks.  It wears so well and doesn't felt very easily.

[Alexus1325]

The first pic ... is that yours or from the listing?  Besides the yellowing, it looks pretty clean.

That's a pic of one 20 oz bag in my kitchen, and I totally agree that compared to pix of raw fleeces I've seen, it's sparkling! I was just taken in by a really nice sample photo on the eBay listing. I guess they picked out a handful of the nicest fluff to photograph. Even with the work of hand-washing, it was still a great price per weight.

Dorset is a wonderful fiber for socks.  It wears so well and doesn't felt very easily.

I noticed it puffed more than fulled when I whacked the crap out of it. And the crimp is so nice! It's really fluffy compared to the commercial top I got with my spindle. Now I just need to get a good lightweight spindle and work my way towards fingering weight yarns