Praise for Icelandic Sheep

At some point along the fiber-collecting road, I ended up with some commercial Icelandic roving. It was a pretty steel-wool gray color, and felt about the same. I wasn't so much impressed.

Fast-forward to working on my Master Spinner Program level-one homework. Part of it is a breed study, where you select 10 breeds, start with raw fleece, and work your way through scouring, prepping, spinning, and a small knitted sample. I tried to spread my breed selections out across a wide range of sheep (and fleece) types. One we had gotten samples of in class was Navajo Churro, and I knew I had more at home so I'd have enough to include that one. Except... my own stash of 4oz was nowhere to be found.

So. On to a substitution. To stay within the same type, I looked at other sheep with primitive or dual-coated fleeces, and decided on Icelandic. The sheep themselves are cute as all get-out, and I wanted to see if my initial impression of that commercial roving was correct or not.

Photo from ncwga.org

Icelandic sheep first ended up in Iceland thanks to the Vikings, who brought along sheep belonging to the Northern European short-tailed sheep family way back in the ninth and tenth century.  There has been little change or 'improvement' during the intervening years... intentionally. They are hardy, intelligent little sheep that apparently tend to exhibit a bit of personality.

In Iceland, most of the income from these sheep comes from the meat trade. But the wool fiber is highly valued too, both there and around the world.  The fleece has two layers... an outer coat called tog, which is longer and coarser. The undercoat, thel, is short and soft. They can be spun together, but often the coats are separated. The tog can be spun for stronger fiber needed for durable items, while the thel can be soft enough to use for next-to-skin items.

For class, I got both a lamb fleece and an adult fleece. The lamb fleece is incredibly soft, and I'll likely spin both coats together.

Lamb fleece

Staples from lamb fleece

The adult fleece has better definition between tog and thel and I'll be separating those coats out for spinning.

Adult fleece

Staples from adult fleece (those boards are 6" wide)

Both fleeces are from Sunrise Sheep and Wool, and I highly recommend them - they are in lovely shape.

Back to School

I'm way overdue for a report, so... here it is!

The last week of July I was up in Michigan for spinner's camp... or more formally, the Olds College Master Spinner Program Level 1. Last fall, I heard that The Spinning Loft in Howell, MI was going to start hosting the classes. As that's about 30 minutes from Ann Arbor, I could stay with my family and drive up for class, getting a nice visit and some education all at the same time. I was able to get registered for it (there was quite the demand!), and made plans to head up.

Because of the extensive supply list, I was glad I was able to drive. Even though I have my cute new travel wheel, the rest of the gear would have needed to be shipped ahead if I had flown. For the record - it is 546 miles one-way from my house to Mom and Dad's.

Nope - still didn't step on it.

I went up early so we could pay homage to the Art Fair (three fairs in one,  and MUCH bigger than it used to be), and hang out with family. Then on Monday the 23rd, I drove up for my first day of class. We had instruction from 9am to 4pm all week, plus homework most nights, and rarely were we done by 4pm. Great classmates, wonderful instructor (Coleen Nimetz), lots to do and practice, and surrounded by raw fleece and fiber toys. What a great way to spend a 'vacation'!

Fleece drying outside the shop.

A bit chaotic, but that's half the fun! And that's Tess up front.

We sorted fleece, we spun different ways, we dyed many the things... and this was all to get us ready for our homework/self-study. I've got a big list of things to complete before I can sent my notebooks in for grading. (And I'm sure I'll be posting about it more as I complete assignments.) It will be a fun and busy autumn, and I'm already looking forward to continuing on to Level 2 some time next year - I'll be signing up as soon as it's posted.

The class of 2018 with Coleen!

As The Lathe Turns, continued

One more piece of the puzzle is in place... a 'starter' drill press. Just big enough to do what I need it to do, which is drill a hole in the CENTER of something. Apparently I can't do that with a hand-held drill to save my life.

Does one thing - drills holes - and does it well.

In the last week, I did find time to keep practicing on my between-centers turning. The bottle-stoppers are quick little projects, and let me practice cuts with various tools - mostly the roughing gouge, spindle gouge, and - when I'm feeling brave - the skew chisel.

Far from perfect, but fun practice.

I picked up a bit of a head cold late in the week, and ended up blowing off Saturday's run. But that morning I did head out to the Waterloo (IL) sheep and craft festival. It's a fun little event at the Waterloo fairgrounds. Lots of fibery things to buy, from raw fleece to spun yarn; sheep and goat judging for the kids; sheep-pellet bingo for everyone; herding dog and sheep-shearing demos; and a nice selection of lamb chops, roasts, sausage and brats. Yeah, I know... petting the live ones and then buying some for dinner. Ironic or just sad... you decide.

Anyway, it had poured rain all morning, and was still raining by the time I got home. When it finally quit mid-afternoon and the sun came out, the humidity was high enough to choke a fish, so I retreated to the basement to set up the drill press. So... all I had last week was:

Tuesday: Garmin says 5.5 mi in 1:02:06 (5 mi = 56:28)
Wednesday: 5.25 dreadmiles in 1:01:xx (5 mi = 57:49)
Friday: Garmin says 5.55 mi in 1:01:35 (5 mi = 55:29)
Sunday: Garmin says a slow 6.25 mi in 1:13:44. But, it counts.

Sorted

Today's run/walk: Garmin says 6.15mi in 1:16:59. I was almost overdressed in capri tights and a lightweight long-sleeved shirt. The strong winds kept me comfortable given the mid-60s temps.

Taking advantage of the nice weather, I decided to skirt and sort the Jacob fleece I picked up this summer. It's definitely not from a handspinner's flock, so there was a lot of VM (vegetable material - grass, seed heads, etc) and some less-than desirable sections. I laid it out to get a good look...

Jacob fleece

... then went to work on it. I really didn't want to deal with any crappy sections, so by the time I was done, I had two small bags of brown fleece, one of mixed white/brown, and a fourth (about the same size) of trash-bound ick.

Three 'good' bags on the left; trash-bound on the right.

Then, since I was already covered in sheep smell and hay bits, I got the Shetland fleece out, too. These were part of a big lot of fleeces that we sorted through one Sunday at spinning group. Some were pretty good, some were OK, and some were quite dirty or felted. Despite my 'no new fleeces' vow, I'm glad I only came home with two of them.

Shetland fleece

The Shetland is a pretty color. I pulled all the second-cuts and ick sections off of it, as well as a few places where there was more VM than I wanted to run through my carder. I still had about three-quarters of it left when I was done. I'll try to get both the Jacob and the Shetland scoured up before the holidays.

New Fiber from Far Away

Today's run/walk: 4.1mi on the treadmill. Half-mile walk to warm up, ran 5K (albeit slowly), then a half-mile walk to cool down. Time - a leisurely 54:32. I used to be able to run a 10K in that...

Yesterday I got a fun package in the mail, all the way from Sweden:

Looks innocent enough...

I got my fleece from Renee! Back in the spring, I 'adopted' a sheep. That sheep lives in Sweden. It was part of a flock that was rescued by Renee, who used to own some of them... but long story short, she (and the sheep) needed help, so I donated to help cover food and care. 'My' sheep is named Merrin Tiberius, and she's part Wensleydale. Her fleece was also  a mess this year. But, Renee sent these:

That's Spelsau lamb on the left, and adult on the right.

I got samples of fleece from a Spelsau lamb, on the left, and from an adult, on the right. The fleece can change quite a bit as the sheep ages, so it will be fun to spin both and see how it goes. I scoured this today and it's drying in the basement now. More on Spelsau later.

I also got over 12oz of this:

Wensleydale/Jacob cross

It's a very dark brown, near-black with gold tips, and I believe it's Wensleydale x Jacob. I have Jacob, and have seen Wensleydale, but not a cross. This will also be fun to spin up. I scoured this today also. Once it's dry I'll take a look at the staple length and what kind of shape it's in, and decide if I will comb or card it.