The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Crafts => Topic started by: RUSTYME on July 11, 2010, 03:31:32 pm
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I have just been given (not picked up yet , that should be tomorrow ) , a Jacobs fleece . I got it off freecycle.
I was wondering how they are to spin . I have spun , what I would term , ordinary sheep fleeces before , both with a drop spindle and on spinning wheels , but never had any Jacobs.
Does anyone spin Jacobs ? if so , is it much different from 'normal' wool ? I will be using a drop spindle as I STILL haven't finished my spinning wheel . Would there be any preference between top weight and bottom weight spindles apart from personal ? I just slide the disc up the dowel to adjust !! I have no preference for either , just wondered if it made any difference ?
I have no idea if the fleece is full or how large , just that it has just been taken off.
How big is an average Jacobs ? 3lb ish ? I haven't got it yet , and my auntie wants to know how much wool there is so she can work out what to knit !!!! I can't knit by hand , just with a machine and then not the little home ones , but the big Dubied hand operated machines.
I hope drop spindle spinning is like riding a bike , so to speak , and that it doesn't take too long to get back into spinning decent, fairly even wool ? , there has been a very long gap since I last did some . I do have a few lumps of wool that I have picked up walking along the road ... ::), so I have a bit to practice on first.
cheers
Russ
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This is one for Linz (Fluffywelshsheep) but I don't think she comes on here much now. If you don't get an answer I'll email her for you.
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cheers Annie,
if my nephew picks it up ok tomorrow and brings it over fairly soon , I shall find out how it spins anyway ...lol. Just thought there must be someone on here that has done it before ...I hate re-inventing the wheel , just for the sake of it . ;D ;D
cheers
Russ
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Linz is on holiday so might nor get her quickly
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Not really that much different form other wools, like anything, you get good ones and bad ones, but if you have spun before, you will probably be able to tell if it's any good. The advantage of Jacobs is the colours, you can seperate them but I think it looks best just spun randomly.
Weight about 2 -2.5kg ( over 4lb?) but that is raw, so will be less once washed.
I can't see that it matters whether you use top or bottom whorl, whatever you can use most comfortably, I prefer bottom whorl, my mum will only use top. As long as it does the job.
I'm sure it will all come back to you pretty quickly :)
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thank you very much MW .... that is perfect ... more wool than I thought , so hopefully it is a big fleece . I dug out a spindle today from the shed .. been in there too long ...buggered... got snapped somewhere along the line ...lol So will make a nice new one ... I had a big car crash , with quite bad head injuries since I last used a drop spindle in anger . My hand eye co ordination isn't always as it should be , some things I learnt to do before the smash I can still do ... others like speaking Welsh I can't . I spent 3 years learning to speak Welsh , and now can only understand the odd word here and there ... the smash wiped it out completely ... lol .. anyway .. fingers crossed ( well if it all goes wrong they may be ...all tangled up !! lol )...
thanks again
cheers
Russ
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Good luck with it, if I can be any help feel free to ask.
It can be quite relaxing when it's going right, not so much when it snaps though ;) And more portable than a wheel too.
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thanks again ... will do .. I can remember it being very calming in the Inglenook in front of the open log fire on a winters evening , even when the electricity was off , as it seemed to be all the time then ...I have what feels similar to a frozen shoulder at the moment (fell over in the ice back in the winter ), but that is my left arm so I should be able to raise the right arm ok ... it is just the winding on the spindle I have a few concerns on . Been playing with a pencil and some string ....and it wasn't going well ...lol , a bit like rubbing your tummy whilst patting your head .. Will make a quickie whorl out of thick cardboard and poke the pencil through , and practice with some wool tomorrow...
I didn't tend to snap it too often .. but I did over spin it for a long time .... it all used to try and twisty wiggle up sort of thing ... I hope I don't do that again ..
cheers
Russ
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No worries, always happy to help if I can :)
Can sympathise with the falling in the ice thing, I did the same and injured my foot, couldn't treadle a wheel - or wear shoes - for a fortnight.
If you do have problems with overtwisting for a while, try putting a lot of twist into a short length and then putting the spindle under your arm/between your knees, while you draft more wool out until the twist is evenly distributed.
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I used to put it between my knees , as it used to go into some sort of rats nest if I tried it under my arm!!! I had forgotten about that ...lol.
Hope your foot is ok now ... I went over on the ice and did my wrist and my shoulder in badly , I was already suffering with a detached ligament in my left knee . Not easy to walk 8 miles a day on that ...in snow and ice as well ...lol.. Just hope I don't poke my eye out with the spindle now ... ::) ;D
cheers
Russ
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Hi Russ Have you tried a turkish spindle? Very easy to spin with, suitable for Jacob fleece and you get a centre pull ball at the end, so with two of those plying is simple. If you have never seen one I could try to post a pic here, but haven't found out how to do that yet :dunce: I think it would be easy to make one.
If you are over-spinning with a spindle, just let it hang and it will unwind as much as you want it to before you wind on. Simples, as the meerkats say :)
I used to keep Jacob sheep and learned to spin with their fleece - it is one of the easiest to spin, being average weight, average crimp, average staple length but wonderful with the different colours.
Hope your new fleece is a good one. Remember that most of the work of spinning is in the fleece preparation - if you do that thoroughly the spinning will flow well. Let us know how you get on.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jEQg6PFe04
I hadn't seen one of those before . As you say looks easy to make , however my bench and tools are buried in 'carp' at the moment , so will have to make do with an ordinary spindle . Thanks for the tip on unwinding the twist , I must remember that , as I will most likely overdo things AGAIN...lol.
I will also have to prepare properly , id tend to just hit the floor running with most things ...slowly slowly catchy monkey.... what monkeys have to do with wool spinning I have no idea ::) ;D
cheers
Russ
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RUSTY is that a misspelling or are you suffering from a bad infestation of fish.
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lol... every now and then I actually succeed in curbing my foul mouth ... and I either * out some letters , or swap them about .... as in this case....
can you imagine the smell if it really was knee deep in carp ?
cheers
Russ
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good luck with the fleece. the wife has just bought a wheel. and strangly handed me the carders. only 15 fleeces to do.
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http://handspinner.co.uk/ashford_drum_carder.html
Thats the toy you NEED now then !!!! lol... I used to card for my late mum . We lived in a rented farm house where they kept a few hundred sheep on the land . At shearing time they bagged it all up and only ever took some or most of it away ...those huge sacks were left full of fleeces so we used them . There was a permanent smell of sheep in the house ..lol .
I did have a set of plans to make a drum carder , but can't find them now . Also , you used to be able to buy the carding 'cloth' as they called it , the bit with all the bent staples in it !!, but I can't seem to find that either now !!! Oh well start saving my pennies for a pair of hand carders ... in the mean time ... raw, as is , will have to do .
Good luck with your carding !!! (you 'NEED' the little toy at top of page !!! )
cheers
Russ
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the wife has just bought a wheel. and strangly handed me the carders. only 15 fleeces to do.
:D :D :D I love it :D :D :D
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the wife has just bought a wheel. and strangly handed me the carders. only 15 fleeces to do.
:D :D :D I love it :D :D :D
Me too, he must be really well trained ;D Only 15 fleeces :D