Wool Breed Study

I have started washing samples of wool breeds for my group to use as reference. There are 46 one ounce samples and so far I have washed a dozen or so and mounted three. This is great because it gives me an opportunity to see and feel the breeds. Some are surprising. I had notions of what they would be like and of course I was wrong about some. I am opening the fiber and getting rid of debris and second cuts. Then putting it into cheesecloth squares and tying in a bundle. See the little tags on the table? They are cut from milk cartons and labeled with a permanent marker. I am placing them on one corner of the bundle when tying to make it easy to identify each sample.


Unfortunately this sample of BFL was not sound and I was not able to selvage much. One of the samples was full of moth eggs and casings. The samples came in Ziploc bags and one out of 46 was not too bad I think. That was a good opportunity to show my group what to look for when we had a *Washing 101* lesson on Sunday. It re enforced the notion to check your stash often. You never know when those little critters are going to get in.


This is how I am mounting the samples. A lock, spun singles, plied, a knitted swatch, a woven swatch and a small skein. I am labeling with wool breed,washing information and if the fiber was combed or carded, knitting needles used, etc. I do this for my own sample box when spinning. No, not every project gets in there, just when I think about it. ;-)