Wool: washing, carding, spinning

In short

• Wool felts from three things: heat, soap and rubbing or a sudden change of temperature. When washing, don't stir and don't rub.
• It is washed in hot water at 60–70 °C (140–160 °F) with detergent, 2 washes and 2 rinses, the wool in a mesh bag.
• From greasy wool you are left with roughly 60–70 % (coarse hill wool) or 40–55 % (fine wool) of clean wool.
• Short wool is carded, long wool is combed. To begin with: hand carders and a spindle.
• Dye with plants and alum; heavy metals (copper, chrome) don't belong in the kitchen or in home dyeing.
• Moths are killed by freezing for 72 hours to 7 days; lavender and cedar only repel them.

What's inside

Chapters

1. From fleece to yarn: what lies ahead
2. Choosing and skirting the fleece
3. Washing (scouring) wool
4. Teasing and carding
5. Combing long wool
6. Spinning on a spindle
7. The spinning wheel and plying
8. Winding, measuring and washing the yarn
9. Dyeing with plants
10. Storing and other fibres
11. Common mistakes
12. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Wool calculator
• Yarn and dye calculator
• Fleece assessment
• Processing log
• Wool calendar
• Skein labels
• Equipment list