Zen Knitting

Washing and Scouring – The next step in the process is washing (scouring) the wool to remove grease (unrefined lanolin), vegetable matter and other impurities which gather in the wool from the range, feedlot, or shearing floor. The first wash waters are warm-up to 140 degrees F – and the rinses are cold. Then squeeze rollers and a hot-air drying chamber bring the moisture content to the right level for the next step in processing.

Blending and Dyeing – Each wool fiber absorbs dyes so deeply that dyeing at any processing stage is equally effective and durable. Wool dyed immediately after it is scoured (washed) and blended is stock-dyed. Spin it into yarn first and then it’s yarn-dyed. Weave it into a piece of fabric and then it is piece-dyed.

Carding – The carding process passes the clean and dry wool through a system of wire rollers to straighten the fibers and remove any remaining vegetable matter. The rollers vary in diameter and turn at different speeds in order to form a thin web of aligned fibers. Smooth steel fingers then divide the web and roll the strands over onto one another to create narrow continuous ropes of fibers called “slivers”.

This location has great carding tools: http://www.ashford.co.nz/carding/carding-frameset.htm

And then your Spinning

You need to get the worst of the dirt off and sort it throw away the stiff short hairs and the ‘skirtings’ (manured bits ) can be got off with cold water

sort into grades by sight and feel – put the different qualities into cloth pr paper bags not plastic keep it cool so the oil doesnt dry out and spin as soon as possible.

Tease out the wool by hand and get rid of anything that is not wool
and then card it with carders – they can be fierce so be careful you can buy small ones from a knitting shop or even use teasels but if you want to play with spinning a lot you may as well buy some – It is easier to spin if you wash it after spinning as the lanolin in the wool makes it slippier (and your hands softer)

Card it till it is clean and wispy and follow the directions for making it into a spinnable rolag.

It is good to wear a heavy apron whilst you are wrestling with the dirty part of cleaning it up amd sorting the staples.

If you got the fleece from a fence it may be harder to spin and you might want to mix it in with some easier bought wool fleece because the length of staples varies so you would need to examine what you have and play with it as parts of the sheep are easier to spin than others

I would get a book from the library about the carding process or join your local spinners guild.