Sun, 19 July 2009
Sandi Luck (from Purlescence Yarns) discusses selecting fleeces. When picking a fleece: 1- Smell it. Does it smell wrong? Sour? Ill. That's a "no" sign. 2- Has it been jacketed? They are less likely to grow mold or have sunbunt tips. 3- Is there a whole lot of vegetable matter? 4- Has the fleece been skirted? 5- How do the fibers look? Is there a noticeably damaged location? 6- Snap the lock by your ear. Does it sound like a guitar string? That's good. Crackling is bad. 7) Look out for short cuts. If you can't touch the fleece, listen closely to the judging. Judging is done by: 1) Staple length, by breed 2) Color quality 3) Strength of fiber 4) Damaged tips 5) quality of Shearing With micron count: Low numbers are soft, high numbers are coarse. |