Cathy writes (and I'm not picking on you, honest :)
<<Neps come about from inadequate knowledge of preprartion/carding of
mostly
the finer fleeces>>
Well, sometimes. Finer fibers are more likely to be damaged in carding
just because they're finer, and therefore not as strong, as coarser
fibers. Bits can break off if the processing is harsh or the cleaning
was harsh, and those bits form the tangled balls of fiber we call neps.
But sometimes it's not really the processing, it's actually the
condition of the fleece. A fleece with breaks in it will come back from
processing either with neps (if the break was near one end of the
staple) or just overall very short fibers (if the break is near the
middle). This is not the fault of the processer. It should be the
responsibility of the sender to check the wool for breaks or brittle
tips, etc, before sending the wool for commercial processing. Oh, yeah,
another thing that can cause neps is lots of second cuts, another thing
that's not the processer's responsibility.
Not all wool is suited to commercial processing. Some is best saved for
hand processing, where the spinner can watch the fibers carefully and
use more gently means of preparation as needed. A weak fleece can
produce great yarn when processed by hand, where it might be ruined by
commercial processing.
Holly
To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
