Here is the bags of fur that I now have to spin!
It also means that I do feel the pressure and was highly delighted when I showed her the small spun samples and the little bit of weaving that I had done. The weaving was done on a weave-it loom, which is only a square with nails and gives a fairly rough approximation of the final product. Fortunately, her immediate response was positive!
In testing out the spinning I used my small wool combs and loved the result so much that I determined to buy the much bigger English combs when I went to the Australian Sheep and Wool show in Bendigo in July. I've been playing with these monsters ever since, and just love the speed of preparation and the resulting ease of spinning. It is these that I will use to prepare the Samoyed for spinning.
Now I'm off to spin up some the wonderful wool top from Andyle to make into lovely natural coloured neckwarmers. I've just realised that without really thinking, I've been doing the right thing. In the middle of winter, when I can't really get any dyeing done as there's nowhere to dry and the boys don't really appreciate having their bathroom taken over by slow drying skeins, I spin natural wool tops that I get at the sheep show. It makes so much sense. Now, I have to make a special big effort over the summer to do alot of dyeing!
