Wool Anatomy

Day 332: As we were assembling to go on for our first dance set at St. Luke's English Fete, I noticed a woman demonstrating spinning, and laid out on a cloth at her feet were what appeared to be several fleeces. As soon as we were done dancing, I hurried over to find out if she was selling the wool. Then I noticed something I hadn't observed before: her right arm was missing from just above the elbow. I started chatting with her, watching her spin with one hand, and as the conversation progressed beyond fleece availability, she invited me to sit down beside her and as I did so, I noticed a pair of carders on the ground beside a basket of fluffy, carded wool. How did she manage? Carding for me has always been the hardest part of spinning because I've had a major shoulder repair and have very little strength in my right arm. I picked up a batt of wool, and even before I could ask the obvious question, she grabbed the carders and set one on her right knee, holding it in place with her amputee's stump, and took the other in her left hand, rested her forearm on her left knee and began pulling a new lock of fleece through the carding hooks. At that point, I explained about my injury and she happily coached me through the steps of her method. We swapped phone numbers and she offered to fill a bag with raw wool for me to take home. Using her carding method, I've filled a whole basket in just two sessions! Old dogs can be taught new tricks, no matter what people may think.

Working with raw wool is both a delight and a pain in the neck (or arm, if you don't use the right technique). Even skirted fleeces have some unsavoury bits, so it's best if you do your carding outdoors or with something on the ground at your feet which can be shaken out. Constant exposure to sun splits the ends of sheep hair just as it does human hair, so the tips of the locks are usually matted together. By working them gently with the carders, the tangles can be opened out. Spinners speak of certain attributes of various wool types, and these include crimp (the waviness or curliness of locks of fleece), staple (the length of the fiber) and micron size. Romney wool has a micron size of 31-38, and is one of the finest (size-wise) from the long-staple breeds.