Friday, June 18, 2010

Newfoundland Heritage Wool





I started combing and spinning the Newfoundland Heritage wool I got a couple of months ago. There is so much lanolin in it, it really makes my hands feel soft. However, it makes the wool slightly sticky. I bought the wool washed, and it looks pretty clean, there really isn't any vm in it. Anyway, I like the wool a lot. The locks are pretty long, and it is more wiry than the Corriedale is. It's at least as soft as the Corriedale is, too and I like the way it spins up. I am going to spin about 150 yards of a 3 ply and then dye it and knit a hat. I have visions of Noro colorways in my head, but I'm not sure how to accomplish the longer lengths of dyed yarn. What I might do is use 5 different colors and then stuff 15 yard lengths in the different jars on top of the stove. If I tie each 15 yard length up individually it should keep the tangles down to a minimum. I would have 2 repeats of the 5 color sequence. It would be much easier to do with a warping board, although even that might not give me long enough lengths.
I started a button cowl with the corriedale yarn I spun and dyed last week. It knits up nice and I think it will look good when I finish it. I am going to try and spin with projects in mind and hats are easy and fun. Plus I can get used to spinning different weights of yarn. I like plied yarns the best, and I like worsted but I should be able to spin a nice single ply in any weight, as well as thin yarn to ply.
On another subject, the youngest of our 3 guinea pigs died today. Her name was Pumpkin, but we always called her Tiny Pig, or Teeny Tiny Pig. She was a sweet little girl but very shy, she would spend a lot of time hiding in her hutch. We had her 5 years, and she came to us when she was just a baby. We really will miss her. She is the middle piggy in the picture, with her 2 sisters.

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