Fiber Preparation............

can be a very smelly business. My eyes were trying to water when we had this dirty fleece spread out on a tarp and talked about how to sort a fleece.

The teacher, Crystal, was a little disappointed in the fleece as it wasn't as good a quality as she had originally thought it would be. It was a good example for learning what to look for as there were fibers that broke when you stretched them - a very undesirable quality when using that fiber for anything other than needle felting or stuffing.

This is my fleece soaking in Dawn dishwashing soap and hot water (Don't worry I cleaned the sink very thoroughly after I was done). I was a little nervous about the amount of bubbles..................

Thankfully the bubble action diminised easily with a few rinsings..........................

And here is the dried fleece...................

I had a very hard time trying to get the lighting for this picture, and it still looks dark and yellowish, but I swear that the fleece looks alot better!!

I am enjoying the different steps right now, and am looking forward to next Saturdays class where I will learn how to use hand-carders and a drum carder to prepare clean fiber for spinning. I have actually used a drum carder before, but I hope to fine tune those skills.