Wool: A work in progress

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
18
Scotland
lots of spinners use dog undercoat, usually mixed with a bit of grumpy, long staple fleece to give it stability and llongevity :)

I know and his dogs coat should be toasty, cold weather breed. Maybe that's why his knives are so sharp... to shave the pooch!
 

Niels

Full Member
Mar 28, 2011
2,582
3
27
Netherlands
I know and his dogs coat should be toasty, cold weather breed. Maybe that's why his knives are so sharp... to shave the pooch!

I've been meaning to use his underfur for clothing. But my mother doesn't allow me to do it! She says it would be smelly. A dog wool shirt would be such a nice thing to have.
The knives are so sharp because I am obsessive about keeping them that way, as should be any bushcrafter:22:.
 

Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
lots of spinners use dog undercoat, usually mixed with a bit of crimpy, long staple fleece to give it stability and llongevity :)

Surely if you want llongevity you need to use the hairs of a llama? ;)

This is a superb thread. Looking forward to the next installment.

Thanks. Glad you are enjoying it. I'm having fun doing it, and already have a whole new appreciation of why 100% wool stuff is so expensive. It takes ages to make.
 

bb07

Native
Feb 21, 2010
1,322
1
Rupert's Land
A fantastic thread! So much of this sort of thing is becoming a lost art so it's so nice to see folks with the knowledge willing to take the time to share, thanks to Harvestman and Elen!
 

TurboGirl

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 8, 2011
2,326
1
Leicestershire
www.king4wd.co.uk
Surely if you want llongevity you need to use the hairs of a llama? ;).
Hahaha the lanolin is affecting you, my darlin'! I saw the caption comp pic on facebook with Elens Evil grin and a very dangerous looking bodkin, I warn you, this fibre feeling is totally infectious ;)

...a whole new appreciation of why 100% wool stuff is so expensive. It takes ages to make.
There was some shop soiled skeins going at texere yarns at the show yesterday being sold for dying at a crazily good price for 100% wool... can't find it on their site but heres the wool page incase anyone wants to enquire :)
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
18
Scotland
Hahaha the lanolin is affecting you, my darlin'! I saw the caption comp pic on facebook with Elens Evil grin and a very dangerous looking bodkin, I warn you, this fibre feeling is totally infectious ;)

Yuck, I hated bagging fleeces on the farm, Lanolin all over you, smelly horrible sheepy nastiness. Then again it is good for the skin, but it's not worth it.
 

Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
Looking good there, it looks like you have got loads to do....... how long should it take?

Well, two of the fleeces are Elen's, the other is mine. Given I only get to visit at intervals, probably years. Well, several more hours anyway.

She'll probably tell me I've been working on one of her fleeces, in exchange for the training...
 

Skaukraft

Settler
Apr 8, 2012
539
4
Norway
Aah. I hate you guys. Now I have to buy some sheep and carding tools to, as if I didn't have enough projects on my hands.
Seriously. Excellent thread Harvestman and Elen. If there was a thread of the year award, this would be the winnwr.
Looking forward to the rest.
 

Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
Aah. I hate you guys. Now I have to buy some sheep and carding tools to, as if I didn't have enough projects on my hands.
Seriously. Excellent thread Harvestman and Elen. If there was a thread of the year award, this would be the winnwr.
Looking forward to the rest.

All praise should be directed to Elen. She's doing all the real work. I'm just taking the credit.

This is a great thread, it takes me back to my college days when I did this. I only had a hand carder at the time. I can smell that wool now :)

Thing is, I have no sense of smell to speak of, so I don't really notice the sheepy smell all that much. :)
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
18
Scotland
So is soaking in brime. And that's much easier and less smelly.

Do you mean brine? Although brime is old Scots for brine. I do like a nice load of salt in the bath, as you say very good for the skin. Don't live near enough to the sea these days for a natural one too often and besides it's blinking cold here.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,120
68
Florida
Do you mean brine? Although brime is old Scots for brine. I do like a nice load of salt in the bath, as you say very good for the skin. Don't live near enough to the sea these days for a natural one too often and besides it's blinking cold here.

Yes. Both terms are used here but until now I didn't know the reason there were two (thanks)

Interesting to note that old time boxers (early 2oth century) soaked in it to toughen their skin and repair damage. Articles in health anf fitness type magazines indicate it's also good for the hair.
 

Elen Sentier

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Just think Niels, you could card some of the pups hair after grooming and make something warm and bushcrafty - like felty boot liners for those cold Dutch winters.

You've got a German shepherd haven't you, Niels? I've actually done that with their hair (we had a black one yonks ago) but it's the devil to spin! short staple and slippery !!!
 

Elen Sentier

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Looking good there, it looks like you have got loads to do....... how long should it take?

Well HM did a quite reasonable job of 1/3 of his fleece in about 2 hours, so that's 6 hours/fleece, and 3 fleeces = 18 hours. It would take me a couple of days to spin one of those fleeces (assuming I sat and did nothing else all day which is unlikely!). It will take HM at least 3 times as long as he's never really spun yet. Then a few more hours to ply the spun yarn. Then however long to knit it into something. If we decide to weave it will be a whole lot longer as neither of us are experts in that! We'd only be flat-frame (picture) weaving - if we had to set up a loom you could add another 3 days even for an experienced weaver !!! Now you see why hand-crafted woolies are so expensive? If you paid us at the minimum wage it would still cost an arm and a leg :D

The thread is really good fun to do, I'm loving it and I do hope it inspires other folk to have a go. It is important that more people know how to do it and, in any case, to wear comfortable, effective, handsome clothes you've made yourself is a real feel-good factor :cool:
 

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