Spinning in the Grease

Renee here.  As you may know, I learned to spin wool this winter, and I’ve had great fun experimenting.  I recently became interested in the properties of raw wool, specifically, greasy mittens that would be water-resistant, more so than their washed-wool counterparts.  Even on the coldest days this winter, I could bury my hand in the snow-covered fleece on a sheep’s back and find a warm, dry critter beneath it.  The same could not always be said for my snowy mittens and hands inside of them.

In order to spin in the grease, I learned you need a freshly-shorn fleece, before the lanolin has time to get sticky.  I selected Cinderella’s lamb fleece from our last shearing, in part because she had nice long fibers (easier to spin), in part because she was very greasy (that’s the point, right?), and in part because she’s a favorite.

Cinderella in her fleecy snowy glory

It seems the greatest deterrent to spinning in the grease is the fear that one’s equipment will be ruined by it.  This leads some to believe they should have separate equipment for spinning in the grease.  Obviously, the mechanized carder we usually use to process washed wool would not do will with greasy, dirty fiber.  I opted for the combs.  Youtube led us to believe this is more processing than is necessary to spin raw wool, but the appeal of the combs was that they were handy, and looked relatively simple to clean and difficult to damage.

Getting ready to comb

From my Youtube research, I gathered that there is no one right way to use the combs, but gained some helpful hints on not smashing the wool together in a clump or spearing yourself.

I then set about combing Cinderella’s fleece.  I picked out only the largest pieces of vegetation, letting the combs do the rest.  As I combed it, the short fiber remained behind, set aside for felting, and the vegetation fell through to the floor.

Here we go

From the comb, I used a nifty trick to make roving: pull.  Amazes me every time. 

whoa, magic

Each time, I got a little ball of roving.

When they piled up, I took a break and spun them.  The voices of the internet claim spinning in the grease is easier, smoother, and more enjoyable.  They are correct.  Cinderella spun up rapidly, evenly, and painlessly.  Stay tuned for what happens next!