Dona writes:
<<However, the fiber that I have is *very* short. Maybe 2 inches. >
snip < I sampled some of it, but I can't get it to hold
together unless I spin it fairly fine with a high twist. The Romney and
mohair is a little coarse for that treatment, and the yarn comes out
pretty
harsh.>>
Few people seem aware of the problems of short, coarse fibers. There's
a reason why Romney, etc, are longer than Merino. Humans intervened to
create breeds with staple lengths suitable for the other characteristics
of the wool. Romney, Border Leicester, etc, will not be very spinnable
when shorter than maybe 5 inches. The lack of crimp, as well as the
relative coarseness of the fiber, are the problem. As in your
experience, if it's spun tightly enough to hang together anyway, the
yarn will be very wirey at best.
This has become a pet peeve of mine :) I've been seeing more and more
lamb fleeces of these medium breeds shorn at 4 inches and under, making
the wool virtually useless. But it *looks* so beautiful that it seems
like it must be great wool! I have a bag sitting in my studio right now
that I bought at MFF last year. A Romney lamb, I thought it had enough
fineness and crimp to survive being only 4 inches long. I was wrong :)
When such fiber is processed it becomes even more difficult to assess
its suitability for yarn--one of the reasons I do my own processing.
But sometimes we give in to the urge to buy easy, ready to spin, wools.
It's a shame we can't always count on those fibers being suitable for
yarn!
Holly
www.hjsstudio.com
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