Spinning and plying fibre from a prepared sheep fleece

Readers of previous blogs here and here will know that I was commissioned to take a very special sheep fleece, clean and prepare it and then spin the fleece into yarn ready for my client to crochet and weave with.

Shown above is the clean fibre being combed ready for me to begin the process of spinning. There are several ways to spin, just as there are several ways to clean a fleece. The spinning method chosen often relates to the final outcome for the yarn, however there are usually different ways to create each selected outcome. Here, I'm just sharing my chosen method and there are others out there too.

The first step is to spin the yarn into a single yarn - this means there is just one strand on the bobbin. I selected to use long draw spinning which means the fibre is drafted backwards from the spinning wheel as it suited my clients intended use of the yarn.

I then plied the yarn - that involves taking two of the single spun yarns and spinning or plying them together. This makes a yarn that is stronger and thicker, which is the type of yarn my client needed for their project.

From here the yarn is removed from the bobbins and wet finished - washed and hung to dry.

And some of the completed yarn. This was turned from skeins into balls to make the crochet easier for my client. The hand spun yarn is able to be hand washed and also dyed if they choose to.