[Anke]

I am trying for the first time ever to spin one of my black Shetland fleeces.... but it seems to be just too fine for my drum carder (Classic carders, standard, I think 72dpi)?
For anyone who spins Shetland fleece a lot - is this common or expected (finer fleece for black than say white or grey from katmoget)? I have washed it, not felted up or anything, but incredibly soft and I cannot get it carded well enough to spin properly. I have tried to take it through about 10 times and no better... would the finer drum be better? I cannot hand-card anything more than a few rolags due to arthritis in my left hand in particular.

[SallyintNorth]

My experience is that with fibre as sproingy as Shetland, you have to be incredibly gentle while drum carding.  Very very slow gentle movements, or the fibres ping back on themselves and create noils.  And card once only or at most twice, if it’s got lumps in after that it won’t improve, so use for textured yarn, or spin longdraw and full hard to try to capture and secure the little nepps.

[SallyintNorth]

You may also find it very helpful to sharpen and clean your carder’s teeth

[SallyintNorth]

Oh, and some people say to place the locks direct on the drum, don’t use the licker-in.  (Will reduce the opportunities for getting stretched out and boinging back into noils.)

[Fleecewife]

I had started combing fine shetland fleece for that reason, but I'm losing the pinch grip in my right hand so difficult to do. Now I am trying using a blending board to just open and pull the locks down the teeth, then roll with a stick into rolags once the board is full - although I only do one side as it's easier to take short rolags off than long ones.  I tend to take the oportunity to blend in silk, or some of the modern plant fibres, which make for a flecked appearance when dyed as the wool takes up dyes differently to the veg fibres. 
I've never had a really good black or moorit Shetland fleece  . Lucky you!

[Anke]

Yeah, I think combing might be the answer -  but a whole fleece? I 'll do a proper clean of my carder as well and see if I can feed directly onto the bigger drum.

But I have also found that I shouldn't be doing black fleece in winter.... my lights are not good enough and it is very tiring on my eyes... so I have put it into a box for the time  being and can fiddle with it in the meantime, and wash a white fleece for winter work instead.
The other issue is that is also a shorter staple length than my white ones... the sire of that girl was a very short coated but fine black tup called "Muck"...

[SallyintNorth]

If you have small hand combs - Louets or Majacraft, for instance - you can spin directly from the combs.  Lash on, one pass, spin from each comb. It’s my go-to method for almost all fibre when I’m getting to know it, and for short staple very fine, it’s generally my preferred prep.

[Mad Goatwoman of Madeley]

I'm reading this with interest as I was gifted a Shetland fleece by a friend who visits Shetland several times a year and is always there for Wool Week. I've started teasing it out by hand and it looks as though it should just spin from the fleece. What do other spinners think?

[Anke]

I'm reading this with interest as I was gifted a Shetland fleece by a friend who visits Shetland several times a year and is always there for Wool Week. I've started teasing it out by hand and it looks as though it should just spin from the fleece. What do other spinners think?

Have you washed it?
I always wash mine, carefully with Ecover, then drip-dry over several days. I think there would be strong objections from the rest of the clan if I tried to spin a raw fleece in the house...
I have never tried to spin straight from the fleece without carding.

[Fleecewife]

If you choose your fleece well, then spinning direct without carding is a great experience.  The best fleece for that is a Shetland which has been roo'd clump by clump, and sorted while you do it.  It needs very little subsequent teasing out and can be spun from the side of the clump which becomes woollen spun, or from the tips.  Another way would be to spin from the fold over your finger, or to roll each opened clump into a mini rolag.  You could play with that over the winter while you wait for the light.  If you spread a white cloth over your lap or wear a pale pinny when spinning dark fleece it does make it easier to see.
A fresh roo'd ewe fleece really doesn't smell if you keep the well skirted and sorted main bulk somewhere else and only have a small bag with you while you prep and spin, but the oil in it make for great spinning, in front of the fire to keep it warm.

[SallyintNorth]

I'm reading this with interest as I was gifted a Shetland fleece by a friend who visits Shetland several times a year and is always there for Wool Week. I've started teasing it out by hand and it looks as though it should just spin from the fleece. What do other spinners think?

It will spin, why not do 10g or so, wash it and dry it and see if you like the yarn?  You won’t get as light and fluffy a yarn as you would with a rolag and longdraw, nor a yarn that gives as much stitch definition as a combed prep would, but you’ll get a usable yarn and if you like the yarn and like spinning it that way, why not? 

Have you washed it?
I always wash mine, carefully with Ecover, then drip-dry over several days. I think there would be strong objections from the rest of the clan if I tried to spin a raw fleece in the house...

Me, my clothes, my dog and my house pretty much always smell of sheep anyway, so I figure it makes little difference! lol. 

And I love the bloom you get when you wash a yarn spun in the grease.  The grease comes out (all milky white, looking like you spilled some milk into the bowl) when you wash the yarn in hot water with Ecover or whatever, and the spun yarn blooms into something softer and lighter than it seemed on the bobbin.  It’s the kid in me, but I love it! 

[Polyanya]

I'm rather late to this post but I work with my shetland sheep's fleece all the time and use a drum carder with 72 tpi also use a 48 tpi. I use Louet hand combs which are specifically for fine fleece. I don't have many issues with the carded fleece except having to put up with my husbands hand shearing methods of short second cuts (which leads to hundreds or neps  )
My process is to skirt the fleece and generally work with the superfine front half only using the back half if it doesn't feel like a brillo pad (black fleece can be very prone to this) and only using fleece thats longer than 2" because I find anything less a real pain.
I'll then soak it in hand hot water with copious amounts of Bio D washing up liquid (bearing in mind Shetland fleece has less lanolin than many other breeds) - no agitation and empty sink before the water cools. Usually I'm dyeing the wool so I'll only rinse once with similar temp fresh water.
I use the lakeland plastics mesh laundry bags and find I can get a whole fleece in two of the pillow case sized laundry bags BEFORE I soak in hot water.
Then its easy to lift each bag full of wet fleece and dump into the washing machine for a short spin. After that I have two drying racks and I fluff out the fleece to help with drying and turn frequently.
Before carding on the drum (and I use the licker) I'll open up small amounts of dry fleece and card away. I'll usually put it through the carder 2 to 3 times and when spinning, something that helps to tame the wool,  spray a little water/washing up liquid solution or conditioner,  on the pre-drafted length or rollag or however you spin.

You've probably got your fleece all sorted out by now Anke- but I just wanted to share my process of working with shetland fleece. What have you made with it?

[SallyintNorth]

The short cuts are easiest to remove the instant the fleece is off the sheep.

Take the fleece, throw it down outside down (so cut side uppermost) and you should be able to see and wipe away most of the second cuts

Once you start handling it, and definitely once it's washed, you have very little chance of finding and removing them.

Another option is to learn to shear the sheep yourself, of course

[Anke]

Well I have put the black fleece away for the time being and am currently spinning a lovely white fleece from a 1st shear ewe that also has some Gotland in her. Even though I also have to work round some double cuts from the shearer (but you cannot be too choosey if you want a small flock clipped in late May around here...), but it is manageable.

I am seriously thinking of getting a Gotland tup next year for my Shetland girls, not lambing this spring anyway, as awaiting hip operation.... (hopefully I can still spin after it...)

[SallyintNorth]

I found I got a lot less second cuts with the electric shearers when I asked the guys to use narrower cutters.  The big wide cutters are fine for a chunky, well-fleshed Texel type, but the curve of the little primitive's bodies make second cuts absolutely inevitable with the wide cutters.  It takes them a little longer per sheep, so I told them to charge me more to compensate.  At that time (four years ago), they charged £1.10 per commercial ewe and £1.25 for my little ones.  We had 230+ adult sheep on the farm, so it would be two guys for one day and one guy for a second day.  They'll not get rich, will they!