The Late, Late, Late, LATE Show

 

Ok, so I fell behind a little... This is my February installment of the 2014 Fiber Challenge: Polwarth.  I have to say, contrary to expectations from things I'd heard about it, I didn't really enjoy working with this wool. It was slippery, and waaay too eager to fall apart.  I was informed by a knowledgeable friend after viewing a Facebook photo of the unspun fiber going into the orifice that it looked as if it may have been over-processed, but that might be my fault for overdrafting it.  Anyway, plying it was much, much better; I tried two different things and really like the way they both turned out.  First, I had two bobbins so I plied them together; then when I ran out of one, I used black thread and beads.  This one is my favorite - I am so enamored of how it turned out... as you can probably tell from the amount of pictures.  My next challenge shall be Navajo Churro.  I make no punctual guarantees.

  

Well, DERP

So, I find a correction is in order for my previous post.  This doesn't bode well.  So, I got gifted three bags of fiber from a friend, and in the bustle of our weekly meeting, I forgot to nail down the information on the two animal fibers (the third was a bag of cotton).  On the bag of the fiber I chose to spin first was written, "Gray Suffolk," which I find now is NOT referring to breed of provenance, but rather to an arbitrary color grading system.  The gray fiber I have is Gray Suffolk, but the fiber is Herdwick.

Herdwick sheep are very tough and durable, and as I noticed while spinning the 8 oz. I was given, this quality extends to their wool.  The Wikipedia entry for this breed is quite an interesting cross-section of their history and the history of the British Lake District.

Next month's entry in the 2014 Fiber Challenge will be Polworth, purchased from a farm right here in North Carolina, Three Waters Farm, and the month after that I suspect will be the other bag of animal fiber that I was gifted which I have asked, confirmed, and double checked as Navajo Churro.  Let's hope this goes better in the future...

2014 Fiber Challenge: January/Suffolk (HERDWICK)

One of my craft related resolutions at the beginning of this month was to experiment with a wider variety of fibers and to keep notes on what I thought of them.  At the moment I have four small quantities of fibers I haven't ever spun or even handled in their raw state before.  This includes cotton, which I've been playing around with a little since I got it.  Not promising.  Lots of swearing.  But more on that later.

My first entry will be Suffolk.  Now, Suffolk is primarily a meat breed, and so the fiber is very coarse.  Generally, I'm told, it's used for outdoor blankets or rugs, and I can see why.  It's scratchy and sturdy, and reminds me a little of butcher's twine.  It's also pretty easy to spin up; properly pre-drafted, it doesn't break off (at least in the section I spun last night, which is about a third of the amount I have. 

Now, as I said, normally Suffolk is not used for fine garments such as shawls, but I have a special all handspun shawl that I'm working on, and I'll be using at least a portion of the Suffolk in it, even if it's just a stripe.  Here are some pictures of the wool, both spun and unspun.

Maybe I'll try to do one new fiber per month or something along those lines; I suspect it will take me the whole month to complete the cotton, if I can do it while holding on to my sanity...