That is exactly what I wanted to hear! Any advice on how to tell if it's fine etc? Also, do I need to wash it?
Somewhere on TAS, or maybe it's on my website, is a description of how to assess a fleece fully. Briefly, here goes: First off, check that the fleece is not matted badly ie it's not hard to pull it apart with your hands. Check it's not full of stuff, such as feed, bits of vegetation, the odd bit of barbed wire, or whatever - the prep would be too great to make it worth spinning. Then just feel the fleece, or small bits of it. The butt end (which was closer to the skin) gives a more accurate result than the tips, which as Sally points out are often dirty or stuck together. If you close your eyes, you can feel with different parts of your hand which is softest and which is harshest. Next, take a very small clump of fleece, hold it one end in each hand, and open it out into a mesh. Everything looks fine at first when you do this, but if you take different parts of the fleece, or bits which feel softer or harsher, and compare them against a contrasting background, you will see that some are finer than others. Then you want to check for crimpiness. In general, crimp (crinkles along the length of the fibres) increases with the fineness of those fibres. Reasonable crimp makes it easier to spin, up to a certain point. On many sheep breeds, the britch wool can be the coarsest, with little crimp (this is the bit they point to the worst weather, to keep the front end at least slightly dry). The best and softest fleece can usually be found on the shoulders, flanks and around the neck - except the neck is also where the worst vegetation and dropped feed tends to lurk). The coarser area can be used for outside clothes such as work jumpers, or for weaving, whereas, depending on breed, the finer areas may be fine enough to wear next to the skin - eg Shetland.