Wensleydale Locks

My latest project was to dye some locks.  These I dyed after washing the fleece and then selected the suitable parts to produce locks.  I kettle dyed them in very little water.   The blue I used two different blue dyes and for the pink a dusky pink and a grey dye.  Most fleeces do not have very much fleece that will produce good locks and so I never have very many at a time.  Once I have dyed and dried the fleece I then tease apart each lock.  These locks are good for either lock or tail spinning as they have nice fluffy ends that will grab onto the yarn.  If the locks do not have these fluffy ends they have to be fluffed up before spinning.
 I have put them into 50 gram bundles and am selling them on my Etsy website.
Now I have to process the rest of the washed fleece by flick carding it before spinning


 https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/MarkreeWoolCraft

Redbridge Conor My New Ram

Conor on his first morning on the the farm.  A little startled and not sure what is going on.  He came from Freda Magill in Northern Ireland and needed a lot of paper work.  It took a long time and as a result lambing will be a little late at Markree next Spring.  He is only a baby and I hope will have many years with me and produce many beautiful lambs

Dying Wensleydale Fleece

I have been asked what is the difference between Wensleydale fleece and Wensleydale locks.
  Last night I dyed two different bits of fleece,  two different pots and then today I rinsed them and put them out in the sun,  which was rather short lived,  to dry.   The top photo is one of the pots with the dye dissolving before adding the fleece.  After dying this water was totally clear as all the dye was taken up by the fleece.  The other two photos are the fleece drying in the sun.   When this has dried (it is now back in my house) I will  gently pull the individual locks apart and so get Wensleydale locks.  The finer locks that are tight right up to the ends are suitable to use to make doll's wigs and others with slightly fluffy ends are the best for spinning as the attach to each other as you spin them in.   Other bits I will probably flick card and blend with other fibers on my drum carder.  Each fleece is different and it is not until it is washed that I can really tell what I will use it for.   There is a fair amount of waste at this stage as some of the fleece will tangle up and be unusable and some is still too dirty to use.  I may be able to card that dirt out.  Once the fiber is prepared it is almost totally clean

Why I love to Dye my Yarn

The latest in my lock spun yarns and I really love to dye in these mad colours.  A trim using either of these yarns would brighten the dullest day,  or use it to tie around the hand made present that you are giving someone.  I am thinking of using some to decorate my homemade jams.
Many of  my yarns are for sale on my Etsy website  https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarkreeWoolCraft

Dying with Willow Leaves

These are two skeins of wool dyed using Willow Leaves.   I  used Chrome to mordant the left one and Alum for the other.   Next stage is to check how light fast they are.   I could not find much information on dying with willow on the internet

Forty Shades of Green

I have just started working on this fleece,  again a huge fleece with such a long staple it is easy to mistake it for pure Wensleydale.  This yarn is made from several different dye lots but all using the same dye.  The shades are very different but when they are blended on the drum carder the yarn comes out a fairly even shade,  I blended it with a green Angelina to give it plenty of  sparkle.   I have called it Forty Shades of Green because of the colour and the sparkle make it  'Country and Western' and also the late Johny  Cash stayed in Markree castle for several days and recorded some songs there and so this is a tribute to him

A Dyeing Mistake

The dyeing of this yarn went a bit wrong.  I was hoping to get a really strong pink with a little dark blue but I must have had too much water and the dyes mixed too much and so I ended up with shades of purple.   A nice colour but not what I expected.   Next time less water and make sure the dye bath does not boil so fast.  Could be worse some colours would have come out a murky brown!

Bogway Hand Spinner

I found this at the British Wool Weekend.  A great little gadget that you can use anywhere (almost)  to spin yarn.  This really is suitable to take with you, small and easy to use.   You can spin and ply on it and it all happens on your knee so you really could use it on the bus or train,  maybe not Ryan Air.  I am delighted with it because now I can bring my spinning with me when I am on holidays or a short break and it is no more intrusive than knitting.  Sold by Low Lands Legacy  www.lowlandslegacy.nl

From Fleece to Yarn Workshop

Another workshop coming up. Covering preparation of fleece for spinning, spinning and using lots of types of dyes from natural to food dyes. A nice relaxed atmosphere and suitable for total beginners and for those who already work with wool and want a chatty fun weekend and to pick up a few tips.   Running on 12th and 13th October full details on the Markree Castle Hotel website, www.markreecastle.ie.  All bookings through the Hotel.

Lock Spun Yarn

The next yarn off my Spinolution Mach11 Wheel.   This is spun straight from the locks no carding or combing.  I just tease out the locks and spin them using the slowest ratio on the wheel.  I then plied them to give a nice even spin and to strengthen the yarn.  Wensleydale wool is very smooth and the locks can pull apart after spinning but once it is plied it is a strong yarn. This yarn has a natural boucle effect.
I then kettle dyed the yarn using a rainbow method to give these rich colors.  I am going to call it  Markree Woodland , here in the North West of Ireland we have the most wonderful Temperate Rain Forests which are darkest green at this time of the year.  Very little bark showing as the trees are covered with ferns and mosses.
 I am not listing this yarn on Etsy as I am making very small amounts

A Soft Morning

Starting to get the hang of my new Spinolution Mach 11 wheel and have spun this yarn using the high ratios.  It is 12 wpi  and this weighs 130 grams and has 270.5 meters.  It still takes much longer to spin than a thicker yarn but it would take hours if I tried to do it on my lovely old Donegal  and my leg would have to work really hard.  The yarn is a soft grey/purple with Sugar Plum Angelina through it.  It would knit up to make a beautiful evening wrap.   I have more to spin but each skein takes me at least 2 evenings to make.
I have listed it on Etsyhttps://www.etsy.com/listing/159496704/a-soft-morning-wensleydale-x-yarn-130?ref=shop_home_active

Is this Suitable for Doll's Hair?

These are samples of some locks that I have teased from my latest washed fleece.   I have taken photos of them to send to a client to see if they are suitable for dolls hair.  They are very long, that is an A4 sheet of paper so they are about 11 inches long but are they curly enough.  They should be super to lock spin and they will be very easy to flick card for worsted spinning.   I find it really difficult to get fibre suitable for locks.  Some fleeces work really well and this one looked perfect until I washed it

A Yarn is Born Part 1

This is showing part of the process I use when making yarn out of a shorter staple wool than pure Wensleydale. This wool in half bred Wensleydale and although it has a longer staple than most types of fleece I can pass it through the drum carder.
The first photo shows two colours that I have chosen for this yarn.  The red was from different dye lots and I have blended them while carding to make sure that the finished yarn is a uniform colour.
In the next I have blended 3 different red batts and  1 black
In the last 2 it shows the fibre ready for spinning,   I have passed the batt through the drum carder a final time to try and disperse the black more evenly through the red.  The more often the fibre is carded the smoother the yarn should spin.

Wensleydale Locks not Teeswater

Lilac locks which are more of my 'cloud'  series.   These are dyed in a steamer in the microwave and have a fair amount of the lock left in its natural white.  In this case it is a little yellow as it is difficult to get the last of the yellow out of the wool using gentle wash products.  All comes from my sheep living a happy life out in the field.
I am posting this as I want to point out that my sheep are pedigree  Wensleydales not Teeswater which is a separate breed.  I have noticed recently that people are selling locks that they call Wensleydale but are tagging them Teeswater and the other way round , not possible.  The sheep above are some of my year old 'hoggets' just before shearing.  These sheep produce the longest and best quality locks

My New Wheel

My long awaited spinning wheel has arrived and is now assembled.    Long awaited because it has taken me months, nay years to decide on buying one and then which one.   I have ended up with the Mach 11 from SpinOlution .   It seems to tick most of my boxes and not be so very very expensive.  The bobbins are huge and click in and out really easily and it has a really large selection of ratios And can spin any thickness of yarn And And,  I could go on for ever.
Now to get the hang of it and move on to spinning my Wensleydale locks

My New Flock

Away for a few days and I made these while waiting for the fishermen to return.  Now to think of names for them.

Recent Work

Some of this week's work.
    Pure Wensleydale yarn made from the long staple wool and then hand dyed.  I made 400gms of this.
 Some Wensleydale locks that I have named 'Storm Clouds'.  These are hand dyed using food dye and  the dye set in the microwave using the new steamer I got yesterday.  I think that I will dye more in this colour way and then spin them up myself when my new spinning wheel arrives.  I think that it will make a lovely art yarn.   My new wheel is on its way from the US and I am really excited as it will spin any thickness of yarn
   Lastly my soaps these I felt using  a coarser fiber that is not really suitable to make into yarn as it is not soft enough

Wensleydale Batts

The first wool batts from this year's fleece.  These are from a half bred sheep that I sold last Autumn to a neighbour.   I now have the whole fleece and as with my other half bred sheep it is a large fleece.  I have washed  and then kettle dyed some of the fleece using Gaywool dye.  This has produced a lovely denim coloured wool which I have blended with Angelina to make a lovely fibre ready for spinning or felting.  There is still a little veggie matter in the fiber although it has been through the drum carder 3 times to blend the dyes lots thoroughly.  I have put it up on my Etsy web site.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/153841397/victoria-beckham-hand-dyed-wensleydale-x?ref=shop_home_active 

Shearing the Sheep

A busy morning in the yard with the sheep shearers.  All the adult sheep are shorn and they will  be more comfortable for the summer and I have all their lovely fleeces to play with.
It is important to get all the sheep shorn when the warm weather arrives as all sorts of nasty beasts can make their home in all that wool, apart from it being very hot and the sheep are in danger of becoming 'cast'.  That is when they get stuck on their backs and they die very quickly.
All a bit uncomfortable for them while it is happening but it only takes a minute or two.
I took a photo of the rams enjoying the evening sun a few hours after their ordeal,  perfect weather for them.
The first of the fleece is already washed,  dried  and in the dye pot as I write this.    Great to have the weather to dry the fleece