In an effort to keep a "green guild" the following will serve as our program notes; there will be no handouts the day of the program. If you need hard copies, please let one of the board members know and we will be happy to print them for you.
Why start with a fleece? Because you can control every aspect of its prep. You can get EXACTLY what you need to make the yarn you want.
Jenn will provide an explanation of why all fleeces are not alike, how and why we have different breeds and therefore different types of fleeces. She will also lead a discussion on how environment and deliberate breeding lead to specific characteristics with some discussion on rare breeds.
From there we will discuss the main categories of fleeces including fine, down, long/"strong", dual coated and others such as karakul and churro.
We will learn about what makes a good fleece. Jenn will lead us in a discussion of choosing a fleece based on project choice, staple length, and quality (breaks, felting, and weak areas). We will learn how age, sex and weight for the particular breed impact individual fleeces.
The presentation will also discuss the connection between fleece quality and breeding, pasture control, feeding practices and shearing.
We will finish with a discussion of skirting and washing of the fleeces. Please enjoy this and this and this on the topic!
Check back tomorrow for more articles and links!
Hi Becky – I am unable to access the third link. It took me to google docs, which I signed up for, and it reads the page is not available.
ReplyDeleteHopefully I fixed the problem; please let me know if it does not work.
ReplyDelete