This is the first fiber that I spun on my spinning
wheel and, I’ll admit, it probably wasn’t the best choice. Before this,
the only fiber I had spun was some wool silver on my drop spindle. I
think the combination of it being my first time
ever using a spinning wheel and the fact that this fiber had very different characteristics than the wool silver caused this to not be
the best first spinning experience. Now, don’t get me wrong, it all
turned out okay in the end, but there were a few
bumps along the way.
For those who don’t know (and would like to), here is some information on Icelandic wool and the double coat. What’s important as far as this post is concerned is that the Icelandic wool has two types of fibers: the soft, downy fibers that helped keep the sheep warm, and the coarse, outer fibers that helped weather-proof the sheep. According to my research, sometimes these different coats will be separated and the outer fibers will be for things like rugs and the softer fibers are good for next to the skin wear. However, when these fibers are blended together, they create a warm and sturdy yarn that will stand up to a bit of wear and tear.
A few weeks after I finished spinning this wool, Expertly Dyed Fiber Talk had an episode on this wool and I discovered some of the same things that Jennifer talked about in her video.
I bought my Icelandic wool from the Woolery and it came in a very nice medium grey color. I really like natural colored fibers and thought this was a very pretty color. I really liked how you could tell that there were white and black fibers if you looked close enough
This wool was a bit rough to spin and I couldn't spin for long periods of time since the wool running through my fingertips made them hurt after about an hour. Also, there were a few places where the wool wasn't drafting evenly. Sometimes there were little puffs of the soft white fibers that wanted to stick together and other times there were mostly the coarser black fibers. So I had to focus more on the fiber as I was drafting it than I was used to. However, in general, I didn't have too much of a difficult time spinning this and ended up getting 175 yards of a worsted weight yarn out of the 8 ounces of fiber. There are still some thick and thin areas, but not nearly as noticeable as when I started spinning. I'm hoping that once I wash and set it that it might soften up a bit and then I can make earwarmers or something out of it.
For those who don’t know (and would like to), here is some information on Icelandic wool and the double coat. What’s important as far as this post is concerned is that the Icelandic wool has two types of fibers: the soft, downy fibers that helped keep the sheep warm, and the coarse, outer fibers that helped weather-proof the sheep. According to my research, sometimes these different coats will be separated and the outer fibers will be for things like rugs and the softer fibers are good for next to the skin wear. However, when these fibers are blended together, they create a warm and sturdy yarn that will stand up to a bit of wear and tear.
A few weeks after I finished spinning this wool, Expertly Dyed Fiber Talk had an episode on this wool and I discovered some of the same things that Jennifer talked about in her video.
I bought my Icelandic wool from the Woolery and it came in a very nice medium grey color. I really like natural colored fibers and thought this was a very pretty color. I really liked how you could tell that there were white and black fibers if you looked close enough
This wool was a bit rough to spin and I couldn't spin for long periods of time since the wool running through my fingertips made them hurt after about an hour. Also, there were a few places where the wool wasn't drafting evenly. Sometimes there were little puffs of the soft white fibers that wanted to stick together and other times there were mostly the coarser black fibers. So I had to focus more on the fiber as I was drafting it than I was used to. However, in general, I didn't have too much of a difficult time spinning this and ended up getting 175 yards of a worsted weight yarn out of the 8 ounces of fiber. There are still some thick and thin areas, but not nearly as noticeable as when I started spinning. I'm hoping that once I wash and set it that it might soften up a bit and then I can make earwarmers or something out of it.
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