[Crafty Soo]

Hi,

The title says it all really...I have acquired the fleeces of nine Hebridean Black Face sheep and want to put them to good use. I am a total novice on this,  but I do love a challenge. I've done some research on washing fleece and it looks like I will be doing it manually as my washer is a front loader.

With a long haul ahead I would be really grateful if anyone can give me some idea what I can look forward to making with the end product? I don't mind pulling a heavy cart but a carrot at the end of it will make it easier...if you get what I mean. 

[Fleecewife]

Hi Crafty Soo.
I assume you are not talking about Hebridean Sheep, but about a variant of the Scottish Blackface?    I could share lots of info about Hebrideans, but I don't have any experience of working with Blackie fleece - sorry.   
Have you had a good look at it, to see if it is a double or single coat, how fine or coarse it is, whether straight or curly and if so how crimpy?  How old were the sheep it came from ie first shear or later?  How clean are the fleeces - are they dirty or do they contain a lot of veg matter?  Are the fleeces matted or open?
 
Are you looking to spin, or felt, or make pegloom rugs?  Do you have some idea of the kind of thing you would like to produce?   Will you be dyeing the fibre?
Even within a breed, individual sheep differ, so we need a clue before we can come up with some ideas 
 
I would always recommend that you hand wash raw fleece or you are likely to get a large felt ball from a washing machine.  You could I suppose use the machine to soak and then drain without any agitation, but I know my machine will not do that.

[Crafty Soo]

Thanks for the rapid response Fleecewife. 

The fleece is coming to me from Great Bernera in the Outer Hebrides. The attached photos show the sheep and the condition of the fleeces, which look fairly clean, on and coming of the sheep! Hopefully someone will be able to identify the breed from them. All the sheep have lambed this year and I can ask my friend, the owner, about age and shearing etc. later this evening.

I'm hoping to make as much use as possible of these fleeces. I am ruling out nothing that this wool could be used for Fleecewife, so dyeing is definitely on the cards if it can be used for tapestry or knitting. I can turn my hand to most crafts and this is one of the most exciting thing I have ever considered. I was already researching spinning from last year and when my friend offered the fleeces, free, in my ex-WRAC group I leapt at the chance! 

I am resigned to washing by hand and hoping the promised 'Indian Summer' turns up for the process. 

[Fleecewife]

Aha - the 'tying the legs together' shearing method      I don't know much about Blackies but they are probably Lewis Blackface - any other ID offers?
 
They do look nice and clean - I think it's been quite dry up there.
 
I might have put a bit on here, in 'crafts' or 'sheep', about how to assess a fleece before you decide if it's worth working with.  I don't know how to search for a specific topic (not overly computer literate  ) but if anyone knows where it is it would save me typing it out again - I use two fingers only so it takes a while 
 
From the photo the fleeces look to be a double coat - have a close look and see if you can see the long hair layer and the woolly undercoat, or there might only be a top hair layer.  Blackface fleece tends to the coarser end of the spectrum, so you won't be able to knit anything soft, unless there is an undercoat and you can separate that out, which is what I do with my Hebridean fleece.
You might like to try a pegloom rug - I think there are crafters on here who make those to give you info.  You don't have to spin the fleece first, but just use it as it comes.
 
Fleeces like that were used to weave very rough, hardwearing fabric.  You separate the two parts of the fleece and spin the hair for warp and the undercoat for weft.  It would be very itchy though.
 
You could cut off the hair beyond the tips of the undercoat, where it is coarsest, then spin the rest to make a very hard wearing outdoor working jumper - you would need to wear it over something to keep the itch out.
 
Would you be interested in making felt?  You could make thick felt table mats with added embroidery or needle felting a pattern on, or tea cosies or a floor rug, or a waistcoat/sleeveless jacket.
 
With nine fleeces you can probably do a bit of all those things and someone else is bound to have more ideas.

[YorkshireLass]

Fleece washing  http://carrotandrabbit.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/woolly-thinking/


Let me see if I did a post on peg looming...

[SallyintNorth]

I might have put a bit on here, in 'crafts' or 'sheep', about how to assess a fleece before you decide if it's worth working with.  I don't know how to search for a specific topic (not overly computer literate  ) but if anyone knows where it is it would save me typing it out again - I use two fingers only so it takes a while 

I have these bookmarked 
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=10846.msg105149#msg105149
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=24966.msg242838#msg242838

[Crafty Soo]

Fleecewife,I did wonder about the 'tying the legs together' method but I'm not one to look a free fleece offer in the mouth, so to speak

SallyintNorth supplied links to your advice on fleece assessment and I've been copying and pasting like a daemon. I liked the way you recommended spinning the wool with the fingers to get a feel for it. I can hardly wait to get my hands on the stuff to find out what I've got to work with.

Rough, hardwearing fabric sounds like something worth trying out. It could result in a warm, lined jacket or just a piece of, "I made that" to add to my collection. I found the peg-loom thread by Yorkshire Lass, which had some really good fleece washing ideas from you (Bath, Ecover and clematis netting), so I've downloaded a set of plans to make myself a peg-loom.

I'm not really into decorated stuff but will probably have a go at making a nice thick felt pad for my dining room table. My nan had one and I could dispose of individual place mats and coasters and just go back to tablecloths.

My mind is racing away with all the ideas and advice provided by you fantastic ladies. Thank you very much Fleecewife, SallyintNorth and Yorkshire Lass.

[Fleecewife]

I might have put a bit on here, in 'crafts' or 'sheep', about how to assess a fleece before you decide if it's worth working with.  I don't know how to search for a specific topic (not overly computer literate  ) but if anyone knows where it is it would save me typing it out again - I use two fingers only so it takes a while 

I have these bookmarked 
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=10846.msg105149#msg105149
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=24966.msg242838#msg242838

 
Oh thank you Sally      It's the second one which will be useful for Crafty Soo, I hope.  See why I couldn't face all that typing again 

[Fleecewife]

Fleecewife,I did wonder about the 'tying the legs together' method but I'm not one to look a free fleece offer in the mouth, so to speak

I think it's one of those things which when we first see it we think 'hey, that doesn't look very kind', but if you look at the sheep in the photo they seem perfectly relaxed, and if having them held completely still prevents cuts and struggles, and if it works maybe it's ok.
 
You must keep us up to date with these fleeces and what you do with them. I like the idea of a felted tabletop protector.   I would particularly like to know what you find when you do the assessment, with a close-up photo of some staples laid out, if you can

[Crafty Soo]

You must keep us up to date with these fleeces and what you do with them. I like the idea of a felted tabletop protector.   I would particularly like to know what you find when you do the assessment, with a close-up photo of some staples laid out, if you can

I will keep you up to date but it will probably be a slow process. I hate rushing into projects...experience has taught me that slow and steady wins the race. I'm considering edging the tabletop with soft leather...I have collected a lot of different materials, over the years, being a pack-rat of the first order. 

Close-ups are guaranteed...I just googled staples and now know what you mean.   

[Red]

I've just dug out my British sheep wool book which is great and apparently the main uses of this wool are for carpets, blends of tweed cloth and a lesser extent used in matress' so looks like rug making, which is really lovely to do or weaving into a heavier tweed, I bought a lovely sturdy harris tweed scarfe once ... just an idea 

[Crafty Soo]

I've just dug out my British sheep wool book which is great and apparently the main uses of this wool are for carpets, blends of tweed cloth and a lesser extent used in matress' so looks like rug making, which is really lovely to do or weaving into a heavier tweed, I bought a lovely sturdy harris tweed scarfe once ... just an idea 

Thank you very much for the response Red 

The fleeces have arrived in London and I'm hoping to pick them up next week when the Olympics are over. I had read about the mattress use and I'm considering making some cushioning for my swing seat and other garden furniture.  As I was typing that I began to think of fabric and wondered about spinning and weaving some of the wool into fabric for the canopy... The itchy factor wouldn't matter in that situation and wool does have a water resistant factor too. 

I can see I will have to begin a new thread once I have the fleeces...to find out if my idea is feasible. 
I can't see why it wouldn't be, in theory, as the wool keeps the sheep dry and they're out in all weathers too.   

I love the new emoticons...I'm trying to create an animated gif of a spinning wheel! Never done it before but it has to be worth a try eh? xx

[Red]

please post some pictures of what you make

[Crafty Soo]

please post some pictures of what you make

I will do...even if the results suck...