Spring time!

With the warmer weather (and being in the Chicago area, that means anything about 20F), my thoughts turn to two things: gardening and washing raw wool. Not the most exciting things, I know, but I'm content with it - both provide a heck of a workout!

The benefit of washing fleece is that often you can get it for a lot cheaper than roving. The downside? It can take more time/resources to make useable. Some people do spin yarn "in the grease" meaning they spin unscoured (unwashed) fleece into yarn and then wash it afterwards.  Some say that it helps the yarn keep some of the lanolin, which can make the spinning easier, but others think "ew". I'm not opposed to raw fleeces, obviously, but most of the spinning I do is in the house. Mr. WoolWeed hasn't been fond of the raw fleece smell, so it gets washed (or stored in the garage). One of these years, I'll give it a try.

So, if you have more time than money, you can buy a fleece for fairly cheap, depending on what you're looking for and where you are. At a Sheep/Wool/Fiber Festival, you maybe able to pick a full fleece up for $10 (I did). Yes, there are much more expensive fleeces out there, just as there are more expensive roving/spinning fibers. If you look for general raw fleeces (and avoid the ones that say "rare" or "lamb" or "first cutting") you can generally find good prices. Nothing beats a festival, though, when you can talk to the owners and often see the animals.

(I'll plug the Wisconsin Wool and Sheep Festival here, as it was a fantastic event, despite the hotter than hell day. Sheep were being sheared right on sight, and there was a 'meet and greet' of different sheep breeds. Fantastic event!)

Now, washing fleece can be labor intensive - depending on how you set up. There are people who use washing machines and more. I do it a little more old fashioned - I use tubs. Depending on how many things I'm washing I either use one tub or two, and do three washes - more or less if needed, and three rinses, the first of which will have some vinegar to help rinse the soap. Some fleeces take just one or two washes, and I've had one that took five. I carry the waste water outside to dump, as I back up to a wetlands, with an area I put in to help filter the water (rain garden). That's a lot of 5 gal buckets, mostly full, to cart and dump. And if I'm doing one tub - that's a 5 gallon bucket every 20 minutes, and if I'm using 2 tubs... it's every ten. Not much rest between carting and lifting. However, I'm getting a fantastic arm workout!

And if you haven't been scared off, and want to do this yourself, I would highly suggest starting with harder to felt fleeces.  Some of the more primitive breeds are harder to felt. Dorset, Ryeland, Manx L., and several others are hard/darn hard to felt. Stay away from merino, and the Down groups unless you're feeling adventurous. (And as far as adventure goes, washing a fleece isn't much of one, is it?)  The main keys to washing a fleece without felting - put it in, push it down until it's fully submerged and wet, and then leave it. Walk away and go set the timer. Come back when the timer goes off. :)
Washing a fleece has some benefits -  I'm always amazed at the difference in color and texture between raw fiber and washed. And I did that. I may not have the world's cleanest floors, but I can take dingy fleece and turn it into sparkling white. Yes, my fleece does have those funky little star effects. I may only imagine them, but they're there. ;)

Why buy handmade?

Some time ago, when I was first having fun with a drop spindle and spinning my own yarn, there was a curious woman. She asked me what I was doing, and then asked me if I knew I could buy yarn at a store.

I'm sure she thought she was funny.

But there are people out there that will ask us why we would make something that we can go to the store to buy. Society also seems to degrade the work that goes into craft work - it's a hobby, it's something to do in addition to "real" jobs or "real" work.

When I buy roving or fleece, I am generally buying from the shepherd/farmer. There are a few exceptions, but I'm never more than two people removed from the sheep. Often, I can tell you the name of the sheep from which the fleece came. I'm supporting local business, and supporting "hobby" farmers.

I spin the roving I get. Sometimes, I have to wash and/or comb/card the fleece I get first. I have to spend my money to get the supplies, and then spend my time to make the yarn. But everything there is made by one person (and often I can tell you about the breed, the best uses for that type of wool, and if it will felt/full).

When you go to the store, you're buying quantity. You're buying a standardized product. Often, you're buying mostly acrylic (plastic) and some wool. You don't know what type of wool you're buying, or where the animals are located. 

Have I ever bought yarn from a store? Yup. I have. And I still do on occasion. But more and more often, I buy from people like myself who spin it. And when I give a gift, and some one says "Oh, that's nice, a scarf/pair of socks/vest," I do tell them how much time went into making it. Not to make them feel bad, but to make them realize how much I love them. Okay, to make them also realize just how expensive a handmade item is.

Will I get rich spinning wool? Probably not. I hope to make enough to cover the cost of my next fleece purchase, taxes, and maybe a little extra. Enough to keep going and support some of the other "hobbyists" trying to make a living.

Aaaah, Jacob!

There are few fleeces I adore as much as Jacob. And, just to make sure you get a proper rest, I'm here to extoll the virtues of this fantastic breed! (I've been told many times that most people don't find sheep to be all that exciting.)

That being said, I will admit to getting some less than stellar Jacob roving. I'm not sure if the un-Jacob like fleece I received was from a less than honest seller, or an off sheep, but it was unpleasant to work with, and will be felted into something. However, that was one seller.

And where to start? First off, I love the fact that there are several colors on one fleece. Multicolors, one fleece. Being able to blend colors, spin a different color when you get sick of looking at the same one you've been spinning, and there's a nice ability to ply the different colors together for a nice effect. It spins up well, and knits up beautifully. It was the second roving I ever spun, and it was just amazing. My spinning was vastly improved over the "starter wool" I had been given. The dark colors also have some light colored pieces in it, giving it an amazing effect. Some of my first spinning, I ended up over-dyeing with indigo. It is a fabulous, almost black color, with those light pieces turning bright blue. A wonderful effect!

Jacob is also a primitive looking sheep, with often two sets of horns on any given sheep (male or female), which givens them a fantastic appearance. However, they do not have a double coat like many of the other primitive breeds.

Now, Jacob sheep have two modern lineages - British Jacob and American Jacob. British Jacob over the years were breed to be more of meat sheep, and are a "less" pure strain. The American Jacob, however, has not undergone any breed improvements, and are much closer to the ancestors of the breed.

The exact origin of the breed is still mired in mystery, but it's believed the breed began in Syria, and moved through Africa and Europe. Some point to Jacob in the Bible, gathering spotted sheep to raise, as the reason for the name. There is some research that British gentry kept Jacob sheep on their estates, possibly in the regency era.

One of my favorite reasons that Jacob sheep are awesome and worth investing in is that there this breed is being used to research Tay-Sacs disease. Now, this is one of those reasons that I often support local farms, as well as conservation breeds. A farmer wanted to know the cause of some lambs that had mobility issues, and eventually perished, and wanted to know if there were carrier sheep that shouldn't be breed. After some time, it was discovered that this was a version of Tay-Sachs, a 100% fatal, genetic disease that is found in humans (and it normally kills a child by age 5). When I took a course in genetics (that feels like 100 years ago), I remember Tay-Sachs being mentioned for several reasons - it happens more often in those of Jewish descent and it was one of the first diseases that the medical field tested fetuses for. Those at greater risk are those of eastern European Jewish descent. And Jacob sheep. And now, we have a conservation breed of sheep that is aiding in the research. And people think sheep are boring!

If you are looking for a good breeder of Jacob, I highly recommend Hill and Hollow Farm - www.hillandhollowfarm.com They can also be found on etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/HillandHollowFarm