Wool in the Raw - Part 3

CVM samples
Originally uploaded by Project Pictures

While this is not the last in my series of dealing with raw wool (I still have several samples to go) it does for the most part finish up my attempt to clean, comb and spin the sample of CVM.

We start out with two itsy bittsy mini-skeins. On the right is the sleek 3-ply I spun from the leftover fluff of pulling out all the locks from the mass of fleece. I tossed that tangled poof into soapy water and let it soak and then very, very carefully loaded it onto the very edge of my hand carders and, in a way, "combed" that fiber. Since I only used the last few rows of tines it stayed pretty aligned, rather than getting jumbled up. Then I spun it from the tips. I was able to spin a very thin and smooth single.

The skein on the right is the leftovers from combing. This has lots of jumbled bits, nepps and short fibers. It is in some ways "trash". I took anything left on the combs after my four passes and tossed it in a bag. I then carded all those bits by hand and spun that batt woolen. I then wound a center-pull ball and made 2-ply yarn from that. It is much less even and a whole lot more fluffy. In fact, its quite a yummy, squishy little mini-skein.

The bird's nests of fiber that I dizzed off the combs I spun into a lace-weight single. I have skeined them here, but I haven't washed or set the twist, yet. That's largely because I cannot decide if I want to ply it back on itself, or if I want to ply it with something else, or if I just want to leave it as it is now. Any of these options are just fine. There are about 180 yards of singles, which is about 90 yards of 2-ply. Not a whole lot if I ply it on itself. But 180 yards plied with something else would be lovely. It is also a very nice lace yarn, but I think the CVM will really show it's lofty nature when allowed to open up with plying.

I'll let you all know when I figure out it out!