A long wool destash

A very Happy and Woolly New Year to One and All!

And time for new Year's Resolutions. Er. Or at least a fleece stocktake and stashbust.

I need a certain reduction in my fleece pile up the loft. You see, I have long wool. Oh Lord, do I have long wool. Last year was my first full year of spinning, and I had it in my head that long wools were the best, finest, most useful wools ever. So I bought long wools. 2 Romney ewe fleeces in January, 2 Leicester long wool fleeces and a Herdwick cross in June. 12 kilogrammes or so of thick, curly, wiry wool.

They are probably very nice fleeces, as these fleeces go. Unfortunately in January I was still wet behind the ears about washing fleece, and after I washed and dried them, so were the Romneys. After 6 months stored up the loft in 40 litre honey buckets, the fleeces were felty and musty smelling. Oh dear. I had spun and knitted myself a shawl from the wool back in March, so I knew that the best bits were very nice. But the rest isn't very nice now.

The Leicester fared better, as the weather was warmer and I was more careful in June. This fleece is probably very suitable for spinning for strong warps. I've even spun some up for crocheting and knitting bags. But it's a bit harsh for clothing. I knitted some up but it causes me terrible sock itch (warning: read this sentence carefully if you are reading it aloud) when worn next to the skin. OK for a jacket maybe, otherwise it's basically rugs.

And the Herdwick. Why did nobody warn me about Herdwick? A lovely fleece, I hasten to add. Shiny, long, wavy locks. It is beautiful. But I can't spin it. Like my husband's hair, it won't be tamed. Spun up, it is harsh and wiry like garden twine. You can't use it for warps, it snarls up in the heddle which then sulks. You woudn't use it for wefts, unless you were weaving a gorilla costume (and even then. no-one would be prepared to wear it. It would probably make a good rug, but I can't think what else to do with it.

Luckily my indefatigable Make Everything (and I do mean everything) Himself husband has made me a couple of peg looms. A few weeks of wrestling with felty long wool fleece and we might have a few serviceable rugs to our credit.

Rugs, rugs....how many rugs can one family use I wonder? One thing's for sure, I know what everyone's getting for Christmas 2015.