The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Jukes Mum on June 10, 2015, 08:29:14 am
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I am having my sheep sheared tonight. One of the hogs has a lovely fleece and Ideally I'd like a ball of wool just to make a cushion cover or something to be able to know it was from one of my girls.
Any ideas how I would go about this? Is there a chance that a spinner would take 7 fleeces in return for a ball of wool? Or is there some other way I should approach this?
I had the same idea last year and went to a local wool shop to ask if they knew of anyone who would do this. By chance a lovely lady in the shop said she would love to do this and came and collected the fleeces straight way. She said it would take a few weeks but she would let me know when the ball of wool was ready. I never heard from her again :-(
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It might be worth contacting the local guild of spinners to see if they would oblige. I am too far away from you (South Devon!) to pop over and spin you a few balls of wool!
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Lovely idea, having meat sheep, our fleeces are rather uninspiring as a rule, but some of the shearling fleeces from my laymens eye still look and feel very soft and I would like to do that if possible. I ve still got some of the shearling fleece of our very first Molly lamb x
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One ball of wool sounds like not much to you, but it's a *heck* of a lot of work to the handspinner. So, depending on what the fleeces are (I think it's Ryelands you have?), how good they are, how well-shorn and presented they are, it may or may not be a reasonable swap.
Most of us say that the maximum number of fleeces we can process in a year is about 12. Many spinners just do a fraction of this, spinning from prepared fibres (batts, tops, rovings) the rest of the time, which is much much quicker.
And generally, when spinning from fleeces, most of us want to spin different fleeces all the time.
So the other thing about your offer, is that the recipient will probably retain one or two fleeces, and need to find homes for the other 5 or 6. if they are lovely, this shouldn't be difficult, but I will not be the only spinner who has ended up landed with a bootful of unusable fleeces. (Please don't take offence - you won't be able to judge yourself, although you can get an idea by reading this page (http://www.woolsack.org/AssessFleece).
Processing time... assuming the fleece is lovely, first the spinner must wash and dry it. This is a big job. Some people do the whole fleece in one, most wash 300-400g at a time. It is insanely time-consuming, and for the most part you can't really do much while the fleece is soaking, as in the hot soapy stages you don't want to leave it for more than 15 minutes.
Note, one ball of wool will generally be about 100g. It might make a cover for a small cushion, but I'd allow 200g or even 250g myself. You could reduce the amount if you were happy to use commercial yarn for one side, of course.
So, now we have our washed fleece. If the fleece weighed 2kgs to begin with, it has probably lost up to about 1/3 of that weight in dirt and grease.
Next, the preparation for spinning. Ryeland is probably best drum-carded, so each lock is pulled out of the mass, given a little comb to the tips and the butts, placed on the drum carder and wound onto the big drum. When the big drum is full, the fibre is lifted off and re-carded. Sometimes three times in all, though I generally do twice myself.
Now we're ready to spin. By now, all the non-spinnable fleece has been excluded, and our original 2kgs is probably not more than 1kg, possibly less.
As a rule of thumb, I reckon I would spin 100g in an evening if I am spinning reasonably chunky, as I would for a Ryeland cushion cover. Prep (selecting locks, topping and tailing, drum-carding) takes at least as much time as the actual spinning; some people say twice as long.
And then the yarn has to be plyed and finished. Plying is quicker than spinning, taking perhaps 1/4 to 1/3 of the time.
Next, the plyed yarn is wound into a skein. This is done onto a 'niddy noddy' and is time-consuming and tiring!
Finishing isn't a very big job, the skein is tied in a few places, removed from the niddy noddy, washed and rinsed a few times, spun and squeezed, then hung up to dry.
So to create your 200g yarn for your cushion cover would use approx. 400g fleece - probably about 1/5 of one of your fleeces.
Washing 400g - an hour (minimum)
Prep for 200g - 4-6 hours (minimum)
Spinning 200g - 6-8 hours
Plying 200g - 2-3 hours
So, for your 200g skeined yarn, approx. 15 hours' work.
Ryeland fleeces are easy to buy, and cost about £8-£10 each.
So, I am not saying you won't find a taker - and I will suggest some places you might ask in the next post - but please be aware what you are asking!
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Okay, that was the downside. Now the upside!
There are a surprising amount of spinners who don't particularly like knitting, crocheting or weaving, and whose family and friends have as many woolly things as they can use, but who still want to spin and enjoy spinning from fleece.
So there are people who will do you the ball-of-wool-for-a-fleece-or-several deal. Especially if it is a particularly nice and/or rare fleece.
Ryeland isn't rare, but it is very nice to spin, and makes lovely bouncy yarn for jumpers and so on.
I don't see many people taking up the ball-of-wool-for-a-fleece-or-several deal on Ravelry, but I have seen quite a few offered and accepted on Facebook 'Spinners in the UK'. And/or its associated page 'Spinners in the UK Marketplace'.
In order to find your nearest Guild, you can check the Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers' website. There is a map of all the associated Guilds here (http://www.wsd.org.uk/guilds-map.php). However, many many spinning groups are not associated Guilds; the most comprehensive list is in Yarnmaker magazine. You can buy a subscription or single issues on the Yarnmaker website (http://www.yarnmaker.co.uk/buy.html).
If you decide to just sell your fleeces for cash, then there is Woolfest in Cockermouth at the end of this month and Masham Sheep Fair at the end of September. Or you can advertise them on Ravelry.
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SallyintNorth- you are truly wonderful! Thank you for taking such a lot of time to reply. While it is not looking promising, I will follow the leads you have provided and keep trying to get my Mavis cushion cover! :hugsheep: :knit:
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I have Ryelands, coloured and white and I enjoy spinning their fleece but no one else in my spinning group will touch it. They don't think the locks are long enough. So you may or may not get any takers.
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If this direction fails, JM, there is always sending the fleece away to get turned into rovings and/or yarn. It's not cheap, but it should be much easier to sell rovings and yarn than to swap fleece ;)
Shout if you want some links ;)
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Jukes mum - give in, you're just going to have to learn to spin :spin: :roflanim:
That photo of Mavis is one of my favourite sheep pics ever :sheep:
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I offered up my four fleeces to a local spinning guild last year, for free, but said it was raw off the sheep. Only one person contacted me and she said she'd be glad to take them all off my hands but she'd want it washed, dried and delivered. I expect you can guess how I responded!
I have four enormous fleeces currently sat in the trailer behind my house. I really don't want to chuck them but I have no way of processing them really, no one seems to want them and I also have the Wool Board on my back insisting that I can't throw them away, I have to send them away to them. But of course I have to trim them, roll them properly, somehow get them to the nearest depot(?)...for the princely sum of approx 12p a fleece. I really don't want to do that!
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Unfortunately, Zwartbles isn't the most interesting fleece to spin. The fleeces are huge, it doesn't wet felt easily, being black it isn't very useful for dyeing, I don't know if it needlefelts.
You should be able to move it to gardeners for mulching and/or lining hanging baskets.
Or... learn to spin it yourself ! :spin: :excited:
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If you fail to find a way to get yarn you could consider felting the wool yourself. You could then sew a cushion cover. Friend who went to art college made some lovely pieces with no previous knowledge, you will have plenty of wool to experiment with, too. I've just googled "how to felt raw sheep's wool" and there looks to be losts of useful advice, including instructional videos. Just a thought :)
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Or you could spin enough yourself using a spindle. It will take ages but is an absorbing occupation and you can do it anywhere. ( Might be a conversation opening at parties, the bus stop or the check-out at Asda!!) It's easy to learn how.
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Peg loom :thinking: ? Card the wool and weave a seat pad or cushion cover. I'm going to try this with some of mine as I can't get to grips with spinning.
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Peg loom with thick rovings is a brilliant idea. I have had so much fun with my loom over the years. May have to get it out and have a go myself now - thanks :excited:
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Well, I've bought a peg loom, the sheep are shorn...I'm running out of excuses :innocent:
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Just wondered if you'd found anyone to make your ball of wool yet, Jukes Mum?
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no not yet. I've had rather a lot on since they were sheared on Wednesday. I have popped them all in old duvet covers and they are in the barn until I find a taker!
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Whereabouts in North Yorks are you? Are you going to the Woolfest in Cockermouth next week? I might know someone who would be willing to do this possibly!
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If this direction fails, JM, there is always sending the fleece away to get turned into rovings and/or yarn. It's not cheap, but it should be much easier to sell rovings and yarn than to swap fleece ;)
Shout if you want some links ;)
could you post some links? Thanks
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Griffiths Mill (http://www.griffithsfarming.com/processing.html) - I've been here and seen the operation. Karen is a spinner herself, and takes great care (and pride) in setting up the equipment just so for the fleece she is processing at the time. If you have more fleece than you need batts, rovings or yarn for yourself, she may be prepared to market some of it through their shop - it's worth discussing with her.
The Natural Fibre Company (http://www.thenaturalfibre.co.uk/advice-and-information). Have a minimum quantity of 20kgs incoming per breed/type, but do have a 'matchmaking' service where they can put two similar batches together. Output quality seems to be very good indeed, from all those I have seen and heard of.
Halifax Spinning Mill (http://www.halifaxspinningcompany.co.uk/). Many happy customers, but I do hear the occasional grumble.
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Whereabouts in North Yorks are you? Are you going to the Woolfest in Cockermouth next week? I might know someone who would be willing to do this possibly!
I'm near-ish Helmsley. I won't be going to Woolfest, but my neighbour is going. Could you find out if your friend would do this? If so, I will send the fleeces with my neighbour (and a donation towards your friend's efforts!)
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Thank you Sally
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Is Maisie, the sheep that you want the ball of wool from a greyfaced Dartmoor? If so I just wondered what their fleece is like to spin so that I can tell my friend! [size=78%] [/size]
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Hint: the wool of the GFD is used in the production of 'Twool', garden twine made of wool ;)
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She's a Ryeland
Sally says Ryeland fleece is nice :-) I like Sally :excited:
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I'm seeing my friend this morning so I'll see what she says! I'll get back to you later. Maisie looks so sweet!
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thanks Moprabbit!
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I've sent you a message with a bit more detail!
Could you let me know if you've got a message, cos it just seemed to vanish so I'm not sure if I sent it!!!
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Message received, reply sent and fingers crossed :excited:
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Just for information, The Border Mill will process small quantities of fleece, down to a single precious fleece. It does get more expensive to have a single fleece processed than say ten because the set up time for the machinery is the same, but it can be done.
http://www.thebordermill.co.uk/ (http://www.thebordermill.co.uk/)
Seven fleeces would be no problem but remember that they will charge extra to say skirt the fleece properly, and to sort the fleeces for cotted or stained areas. Also remember the old saying of rubbish in, rubbish out, don't waste your money by sending in dirty fleeces that are full of vegetation and/or second cuts. Poor quality fibre will give poor quality yarn, and to add insult to injury it will cost more to produce than when using good quality fibre to make good quality yarn.
Ryeland is decent fleece btw, but I wouldn't be attracted enough by seven fleeces of unknown quality that hadn't necessarily been shorn to hand spinner standards to feel I wanted to swap a full week of spinning time for them. Which sounds very precious of me I know! But even at national minimum wage that's ~£100 of work time (15 hours, as Sally suggests) , I can buy a good quality fleece from a reliable source that's been raised and shorn to spinner's standards for £10 or less.
Really, best thing to do if you raise sheep and want to get yarn from them is to learn to spin it yourself.
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Thanks for the info on Border Mill, Isabella - I had the feeling I'd forgotten one :thinking:
Their home page gives the impression it's all about alpaca - either alpaca fleece, or your rare breed fleece blended with alpaca. Am I misreading that? (Not to say that blending one's fleece with alpaca isn't a nice idea - it's a lovely idea! - just that if you really wanted yarn or roving that was all your own sheep's, then this would not be for you.)
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Thanks for the info on Border Mill, Isabella - I had the feeling I'd forgotten one :thinking:
Their home page gives the impression it's all about alpaca - either alpaca fleece, or your rare breed fleece blended with alpaca. Am I misreading that? (Not to say that blending one's fleece with alpaca isn't a nice idea - it's a lovely idea! - just that if you really wanted yarn or roving that was all your own sheep's, then this would not be for you.)
Yes they will blend all sheep fleeces with some alpaca. As their kit cannot handle "proper" :-J wool on its own I was led to believe. I just haven't got the cash for it this year.... again...
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I linked to this thread from a thread on Ravelry, where a Raveller had posted that she had made a hat for a farmer who had given her some fleeces.
I have just received a message from that Raveller saying that she doesn't want the Ryeland fleeces but that if no-one else offers, she'll make you a hat from 150g of Mavis' fleece.
Ravelry can sometimes be daunting, even unfriendly. But it can also deliver heart-warming Random Acts of Kindness...
Here's the thread on Ravelry, Jukes Mum linky (http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/uk-spinners/3223711/1-25#1), or if you want to PM me your details I will PM them to the Raveller.
:sunshine:
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I've sent you another message - not sure if you've seen it!
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Haven't had a reply so I guess you've got someone to do your wool. It's the woolfest on Friday and Saturday.
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Speaking of Woolfest, does anyone know if there's anything remarkably different about this years event which might tempt me to go? Mostly I hate it because it's such a noisy crush, with pushing and shoving, but if there's something I particularly want then arriving as the doors open and going straight to the relevant stand, then getting out, has worked for me in the past.
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I linked to this thread from a thread on Ravelry, where a Raveller had posted that she had made a hat for a farmer who had given her some fleeces.
I have just received a message from that Raveller saying that she doesn't want the Ryeland fleeces but that if no-one else offers, she'll make you a hat from 150g of Mavis' fleece.
Ravelry can sometimes be daunting, even unfriendly. But it can also deliver heart-warming Random Acts of Kindness...
Here's the thread on Ravelry, Jukes Mum linky (http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/uk-spinners/3223711/1-25#1), or if you want to PM me your details I will PM them to the Raveller.
:sunshine:
Apologies- I have been away. How lovely of both you to ask and her to offer. There are some nice people out there.
Hopefully I am meeting up with Moprabbit on Saturday, but please do extend my thanks to the Raveller :hug: