The guild committee set the challenge for members this year. Using wool from new members who raise East Friesian sheep for the milk. We are to: clean, prepare, spin and ‘make’ something before October this year.
I bought 2 lb of locks (a little over priced, but this is guild driven) as I have in mind producing a lap rug which will have some naturally dyed features (walnut/indigo, indigo, and the natural white) in a plaid design. The second driver for this project is that it will suffice as an entry in the Blue Ribbon festival later this year that I normally attend.
I have been looking at the two shopping bags of wool for some time now, but today I finally tried washing a few locks using the standard wool process. Hot water bath with a small amount of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Soak 15 minutes, then two rinses at the same temperature and time. The first plain, the second with a drop or two of vinegar.
The locks were fairly dirty with matted tips and a reasonable amount of vegetable matter. The wash/rinse opened up the locks and removed a lot of the dirt. The vegetable matter will drop out as we card the locks and the blending will mix the small amount of staining to produce a slightly off white finished batt. There is a small amount of grease left in the lock – just enough for easy preparation and spinning.
I may end up blending in some Clun Forest locks as we card to bulk out the amount to make sure I have enough for the entire project. This wool has slightly less crimp, but otherwise the lock length and diameter seem pretty similar. We still have several bags of clean Clun Forest Locks.
Next step will be to wash larger lots and then hand it all over to Anne who is the carding expert. Once we have batts it will be back to me to spin.