A class specifically to study the wool of different sheep breeds and their characteristics as they apply to spinning (and more) made for a wonderful woolly week. As always, instructor Deb Jones brought a wide variety of wools and other fibers for use in class.
Some of the spikiest of tools are used for carding, combing and blending the softest of wools.
Putting the fibers to work, the spinners had their wheels in motion, interspersed occasionally with faraway looks, contemplating which blends to combine next.
Swooning over all the wools and yarns from class!
Cindy R. shared her “Sievers Story” with us: “What a wonderful experience. The bunk house was fun and the class was out of this world. Deb Jones from The Fiber Garden in Black River Falls, WI is the best that is out there. Her patience, knowledge and giving is more than is expected. Wow! What fun and all we learned cannot even be put down on paper. I promise this will be my comeback place.”
For this and for all the other Sievers flocks, we will leave the gate open!
What a great time we had! The sheep just keep growing their fleeces and providing us with interesting information. We studied the fleece characteristics of length, durability, crimp, curl, wave, softness or coarseness. How well did it wash and what was the percentage of weight lost in the washing once the dirt and lanolin were removed? We all found fleeces we preferred to spin with and of course, wanted more! (There is so much more to spinning than Merino and we all need to use a variety of fleece). We made our wheels work for the us and adjusted our hands and treadle as needed. I made some new friends and as always, thoroughly enjoyed catching up on my old friends. Who else would get so excited about fleece but our “fiber friends”? I stayed in the dorm and really enjoyed it. We spun til late every evening so I was not at the dorm much. The bed was very comfortable and a welcome sight at the end of a long day. The convenience of being so close to Walter Studio was fabulous because it meant …more spinning time. I think the gals who work at Sievers are all top notch at friendliness and hospitality. Their frequent visits are much appreciated and our Scottish folk song solo by Cindra was a lot of fun.
Deb gave us a lot of information which was very well organized and quite useful! I know that I will refer to my handbook frequently. Thanks Deb for being a superb instructor.
Thank you, Sally for this perfect synopsis of your class with Deb and time here at Sievers! We so enjoyed having all the spinners here for the week and look forward to seeing you again in 2020! Carolyn
What an interesting synopsis! I especially like the ending with “we will leave the gate open!” Such excitement!!!!!
Thank you, Roberta and come through the gates anytime!