Finally fleece

Two years ago (maybe 3, who's counting?) I was able to get a proxy shopper to select a fleece for me.  I listed the breeds I was interested in, and we agreed we would actually split something.  She picked out this ribbon winning cormo/rambouillet brown fleece that is honestly just amazing.  Tight crimp, ultra soft, exactly what I had hoped for.  I even had managed to barter for a pair of mini combs.  

(Pictures of some sorted locks from the fleece)

Between the move, getting caught up on life, struggling more with autoimmune flareups in the white north, and let's face it, anxiety over ruining an expensive and beautiful fleece, it sat.  It sat covered in lanolin, in a bag, becoming naturally very stuck to itself.  

At Rhinebeck last year, I so very nearly bought a natural/white colored cormo fleece, and talked myself out of it, partially because we had no space in the van coming home, but also because I felt guilty.  I hadn't processed this one yet.  What business did I have shopping for another one?

I promised myself, since we had decided to scout out Maryland Sheep and Wool festival, that I'd get one then, if and only if I had processed "the fleece".  I'd had two partial targhee fleeces in Oregon, and learned some from them, but honestly not enough to feel comfortable with the luxury fleeces I really wanted to work with.  Only one way to really learn though.

At some point I bought a copy of a "learning to comb wool" DVD, and watched the part on 2 pitch combs and technique.  I watched youtube videos on viking combs.  I read tons of wash recipes, re-read through the fleece thread in Sweets off the Wheel, researched wool washes, and washed up some samples.

I pinned them in a mesh bag and washed with a drop or two of Unicorn Beyond Clean (the unscented version of Power Scour).   They came out a little fuzzy but overall, locks were intact and the grease was shockingly well removed.  I'm not remotely a fan of spinning from grease and these were almost dry enough to be a challenge to comb.

(washed locks)

The combs I have are Louet minis and overall I felt like they were doing the job pretty well, but a few neps were managing to find their way through despite my best efforts.  I chalked it up to newness (and that might be part) but twice in the last week, I've seen mention of cormo and cormo crosses requiring extra fine combs.  I'm going to keep going with my minis for now, but I'm absolutely shopping for some extra fines, hopefully at MDSW.   For now, I'm inching along, one small basket is full of combed nests that are almost, but not quite, nep-free.