Wensleydale Fleece

This is the first of my 2014 fleece that I have washed.  It is off a shearling sheep.   That is a sheep that has never been shorn before.   This means that the fleece has had a few extra months to grow and that the tips are truely tapering as they have not been cut before.  The locks are from 9 to 10 inches long ( 24/26 centremetres ) and the wool has a lovely sheen.   Some of  the tips are a little discolored as my sheep enjoy the outside life and as a result they get muddy and as with any fleece that has only been washed there are some bits and pieces attached,  these will fall out as you work the fleece.  I wash the fleece with a soap that is used to wash livestock  for showing and so it has no harsh chemicals or bleach.  The fleece can be used for many things  dyed,  carded, combed or used as locks.   It is not matted or felted and with care waste should be miminal.
  Only a small amount of each fleece is of this standard and only last years' lambs and so fleece of this type is rare.  I am selling the best of this fleece on my Etsy
  https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/194522005/washed-wensleydale-fleece-50-grams?ref=shop_home_active_1

Yarns

Some of my more recent yarns.  These yarns are not totally repeatable but I can spin yarn using the same dyes but of course it is impossible to get exactly the same proportions and colors.  Some of the yarns that I spin I do not put up on my Etsy website and others are only there for a very short time.. 
These yarns are Savanna, Raspberry Whirl and Turquoise Gem.
   I usually only spin about 500grams or so of any color way.  Not enough for a large project ,  However I do special orders should you wish larger quantities.  For these I send a sample of the yarn before spinning the whole amount to check that the color and weight is correct.
Just email me    mary@markreewoolcraft.com

The First of the 2014 shearing Washed

I have a big order for Jacob yarn and I was just about to start phoning round to try find some when Aidan contacted me to say he had 4 fleeces.  What luck!!   I am now busy washing and drying the fleece.  I need to have enough washed to fill the order so that it is all a fairly even color before I start so that will probably take me several weeks.  At the moment I am trying to find out exactly what my client wants as jacob yarn varies from white to very dark grey

Wensleydale Cross and Jacob Yarn

The yarn for this sweater was a special order.  It took several samples before we got the right mixture of black Jacob to white Wensleydale cross Suffolk.  It would have been nice to do it all in Jacob but all the Jacob fleece I had was too black.   There is very little black in this yarn but it looks quite  grey in the photo.   It was knitted on circular needles where possible which means that there is no seam line and change of color in the body or on the arms.   It is also a finer yarn than I usually spin and it shows the cable very nicely.  It is always lovely to see my yarn in a garment and interesting to see how the colours look.