I live about a half of a mile from New Mexico State University (NMSU). In the three years that I’ve been living in Las Cruces, I have met some of the professors on campus and now my daughter attends there.
Two of the professors that I know work in the Agricultural (Ag) department. One has invited me to come and do demos of spinning as part of his class that is for students who are not Ag students but need a class that is outside of their department. The other professor that I know in Ag works in research, directly with the sheep and after sharing offered me some of the wool.
My daughter, who is also a fiber artist, and I have been having a grand time with this wool. Yeah, it’s a bit messy from the dirt floor barn and wasn’t shorn with a hand spinner in mind. Nevertheless, we play anyway.
In my backyard one afternoon we sorted some of this wool. She took hers back to the dorm to wash, dry, pick, card and spin. I went through the same process, with larger equipment here at the house and took video of each step.
First step is washing the wool.
After I washed it in my kitchen sink, I took the bags of wool out back and spun out the excess water in my commercial salad spinner.
The link below goes to a Google page, they come in different sizes!
From the salad spinner and garment bags, to the homemade drying rack. I made this rack over 12 years ago using PVC pipe and fittings. It has never been stored in a climate controlled area. It went from an unfinished, unheated basement in eastern Colorado to living outside in southern New Mexico. I have replaced some of the zip ties holding the garden mesh on but that’s it.
When the fleece is dry, I put it through the picker. This is used to open up the fleece and prepare it for carding. It also removes more vegetable matter.
You don’t have to go from picking to carding, you can go from picking to dyeing. You can also dye the fiber after it has been carded. Dyeing fiber before it is has been spun into yarn makes the color richer, brighter and more saturated.
Then comes carding. I used a drum carder, it is a hand crank model and I made batts that were about 2oz each.
My goal is to knit a hat for the professor that gave me the wool. Lambing season has already come and gone, but it will come again and it will be cold, for southern New Mexico, and he will need a hat.
I am spinning the carded batts on my Louet S10 wheel from the 1970s. I will then chain ply the yarn for the hat.
Stay tuned, more to come!
Happy Making!
Azariahs Fibre Arts 