what fibre for beginer spinner

[ina]

are you going to knit it in the grease too? i wouldn't.....

Why not? Means it's waterproof...

[red]

are you going to knit it in the grease too? i wouldn't.....

Why not? Means it's waterproof...

yes...and dirt sticks to it

mind you i prefer to scour the fleece before we work with it in any way. I keep my hands soft by patting the sheep

[Silver Ether]

are you going to knit it in the grease too? i wouldn't.....

dont worry red its not for use just curious

[red]

pfew!

[Silver Ether]

Next stage ... I have spun some jacobs wool that I purchase all clean and ready to use it lovley... Just seen on a tutorial that to se the spin I have to put it in warm water.
? do I do this
? what sort of temp.
? in a skein

[snapdragon]

Is it single spun or have you plied it?
I set the twist on plied skeins by laying them in hand hot water with a dash of washing up liquid (to remove any grubbiness from during spinning) and then rinse in same heat water with a sloosh of white vinegar, then hang them on a hook. If the skein hangs loose and doesn't twist then I let it hang and dry, if it twists itself then I will slap it on the wall a couple of times (this also helps fluff up overspun sections) and if that don't settle it hang it back on the hook and hang a tin of peas or similar in the loop of the skein while it dries.
All this of course is because I don't do perfect spinning - really must try and work out how to use the wheel

[Silver Ether]

Its single spun I intend using it as single, want to try everything at each level, dunno what I am gonna knit yet though ...wait till I got enough spun before applying brain to that. Thanks for the info, everyone is being very helpful with this. A wonderful place.

[Silver Ether]

ok its washed ... and dried ... it has thicked slightly is this because maybe not spun tight enough? and something that does cause me concern ... I can smell sheep.. I bought the fibres ready to spin ... is this normal?

[snapdragon]

errm - not usually if it's been scoured properly.
fwiw I wouldnt try knitting my singles - they'd fall apart or knit at an angle- but then I'm no expert, I use singles for weaving though

and yes it will fluff up and seem thicker once washed

[Silver Ether]

errm - not usually if it's been scoured properly.

and yes it will fluff up and seem thicker once washed

I thought not .. the smell that is... I remember having an afgan coat millions of years ago that hadn't been cured properly and that got wiffy when damp ... looks like an email.. glad I worked the flufffing up bit out ..TA

[oldhaus]

I'm a Drop Spindle spinner (along w/ a Great/Walking wheel) Spinning in the grease is an "ok" thing to do, but at some point you will want to "de-grease" your wool. I find clean wool is much easier to work with.

It isn't a bad process to wash raw wool. Here are a few links to get you going.

http://mary4169.tripod.com/id57.html
http://www.fuzzygalore.biz/articles/wash_fleece.shtml
http://www.mielkesfarm.com/woolwash_instr.htm
http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/washing-fleece.shtml

Here too are a couple articles about spinning in the grease...
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51797.asp
http://www.spinninguru.com/qa.html
http://www.chimayoweavers.com/Merchant2/spinning.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wOtpVHjve8

I love YouTube there are tons of valuable spinning resources available (including one from my spouse) :)

Good luck!

JLH

[Silver Ether]

oooooh lots there ... Will take a look a little later thanks ... It was a tube tutorial that set me in the right diretion ... makes life so much eiser to learn than following written instructions...

[snapdragon]

fuzzygalore and joyofhandspinning have been a great help to me too
fwiw I found that 'Morning Fresh' washingup liquid (with very hot water) was about the best for smell and grease removal (sort of guessing it equates to the USA/Canada 'Dawn')
I did try s'permark't own brands/cheapos and fairy too but found MF worked best.

was your fibre still in the grease? must have missed that - There's a tutorial somewhere here from Red about scouring/preparing fleece (instructions will relate to spun grease fleece too I reckon)

[Silver Ether]

The stuff I had of Gert was and that was just for practice, but I have resealed the bag and may come back to it to clean etc... But the jacobs that I bought was all clean and in lovely long pieces ready to spin ... there is definatly a smell of sheep about it and while I dont mind the smell of sheep ... it should be on the sheep not me So I am going to use a wool soap to see if that removes it. Its a shame as its lovely stuff.

[Silver Ether]

UPDATE Well I have washed it a second time and its much improved the smell.

so here is a picture of the first ball I made and have tried knitting it. This is the one that thickened up after setting.


And this is the second ball I made. Its just dried from setting . It's much improved more consistent and has stayed nice and fine after the set bit ...




I can see that I am really going to enjoy this new skill... thanks again for advice and help.