Preparing WoolCleaning, Picking, and Carding the WoolThe sheep are sheared in the spring, and their fleeces are skirted and sorted. "Skirting" removes any low-quality or especially dirty wool. I use that for mulch in the garden. The longer (best) fiber is sent to a mill and that is the roving sold on my Etsy site:
Since the mill cannot process wool shorter than 2 inches, I keep and process that myself. This shorter wool is stored in the dry barn so air can circulate around it. When the weather turns hot, the fleeces are soaked and washed in tubs outside until clean, then thoroughly rinsed. Next, the wool is placed in laundry bags and using just the spin cycle of the washing machine, most of the water is removed. To dry the wool completely, it goes back outside to catch the breeze in a shady spot.. |
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After the wool is thoroughly dry, it is picked, picked and picked some more by hand. This is very time-consuming and tedious since the sheep accumulate a fair amount of vegetable matter (stems, seeds, etc.) in their fleeces.
While being picked, the wool is also pulled apart, fluffed up. This helps "open" it, helping the carding process go smoother. This next picture is a close up of the picked wool. As you can see, there are still small particles, but most of the vegetation has been removed. Most of the remaining vegetation will fly out during the spinning process, and the rest will continue to disintegrate over time while the wool will maintain well.
Carding is done next. At first glance, it seems like the purpose is to align the fiber in the same direction. But Babydoll fiber is best spun "woolen", which means aligning the fiber is not important at all. In fact, if it is hand-carded, spinning from the sides of the resulting rolags (little rolls or tubes of fiber) means the fiber lies perpendicular as the twist enters it. This gives the resulting yarn even more loft. That is the purpose of spinning the "woolen" style--yarn with a lot of loft and cushion. The resulting yarn is wonderful for garments that keep us cozy in the winter. |
Handcarding is VERY time-consuming, so I usually use a larger carder designed to handle more fiber at a time. The batts it makes (mats of fiber) are more aligned, and spinning is usually done from the end, drawing out the fiber in a parallel fashion from itself. But Babydoll wool is naturally so crimpy and elastic, it does not seem to matter. The resulting yarn will have plenty of cushion!
Next: Dyeing Wool |
