I think I found my new favorite fiber. BFL
(short for Blue Faced Leicester) is a wonderfully soft fiber that is
quite frequently compared to merino. They are close in their micron
count – 17-24 for merino,
24-28 for BFL – but BFL, based on my research, is said to be easier to
spin because of its longer staple length – 2.5-4” for merino, 3-6” for
BFL. I haven’t spun merino yet, but the BFL drafted and spun like a
dream. I didn’t have any trouble getting it
to draft and it stayed nice and fluffy on the bobbin so I knew that the
yarn would also still be soft and good for next to the skin wear. I
was still getting used to my spinning wheel at the time of spinning my
first BFL so I didn’t try to make my singles
too thin, I just wanted to get used to drafting and letting the spin
into the fiber at the right pace so my yarn wouldn’t end up over spun. I
honestly couldn’t have asked for a better spinning fiber. I am trying
to expand my fiber horizons and have purchased
a few different types of fibers. But I do have a 3ft of Sheep package
that is BFL, and I’m really looking forward to spinning that as well.
The fiber I used, I bought from Woolery.com and I got the un-dyed grey and white mix. I thought that spinning would end up mixing the colors together and the finished yarn would end up just a light grey, but I was pleasantly surprised. I got some very good marbling effect and I think once I knit this up, the fabric will be very nice as well. I had 8 oz of fiber and ended up with 245 yards of yarn of bulky weight (8 wpi). I have yet to set any of the yarn that I’ve made but I know that I have to set it before I use it and I really want to use this yarn. So it might be time for me to experiment with setting my yarn (maybe this weekend?). In any case, there will for sure be a blog post about that experience and I hope to take some pictures of the process.
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