Re: Spinning
Posted by: smarties <smarties@...>
>How did you spinners learn to spin? What about books/video's etc that are good >for teaching someone..any recommendations?
Ashford also has a video, and a book, and there are many books out there.
>I really shouldn't let all my wool go to waste. We didn't shear the llama's this >year, but next year we will have to I suppose. The sheep sheerer we had come >out this year has never done llama's before
We hand sheared our llamas this spring, it wasn't very hard at all. I just sheared a line along the spine from tail to head, and then slowly cut down the sides. It is mostly the fleece on the 'blanket', or body that is spinnable, so once that is off you can just leave the rest, some do, or trim the rest and use it for doggie beds or something like that. Did you know that llama is 40% warmer than wool?
>Ok, next question.... I have 5 sheep, 2 are baby doll southdowns, 2 are baby >doll/columbian cross, and one is a purebred columbian. I have no clue as to what >constitutes workable wool and most of all...how do you keep these sheep >clean???
All wool is workable. A short stapled wool is harder to learn with. The courser stuff can be used for rugs or blankets that won't touch the skin. Save the softest fleece for garments that will be against the skin. Our babydolls really only get dirty on the outside. They are so dense that the wool is pretty clean underneath. Except for the really stained wool on the backend, all the dirt will wash out. You can use the stained stuff if you want, call it naturally dyed, but don't wash it with the cleaner wool.
>But what other suggestions do you have for keeping the wooly ladies and >gentleman clean? Or don't you? My goats keep basically clean..
Some people put 'coats' on their sheep to keep the wool clean. We have considered this, but I'm not sure if we will yet.
TTFN
Jacqui