In Sheep's Clothing

In Sheep's Clothing, A Handspinner's Guide to Wool by Nola Fournier and Jane Fournier is absolutely fascinating!  Okay, I just proved my fiber obsession, but I know some of you will like it too!

This book is not for the faint of heart. . . it is absolutely packed full of information about different sheep breeds and how to process wool at home for spinning.  Watch out sheep lovers, after reading this you may want to bring a little lamb or two home from a fiber festival this summer!  A major chunk of the book is dedicated to the different sheep breeds and the properties of their fleeces.  Charts are provided as quick reference guides for the different breed fleeces with categories such as: softness, elasticity and loft, staple length, luster, and felting properties.  There are charts for each category of sheep: fine wool, longwool and crossbred wool, down-type wool, other wool, black ad colored wool.

I found the last three chapters to be the most important to me.  The many fleece preparation techniques are concisely described with good pictures.  I especially like the section with the diz!  The first time I ever saw a diz was on The Woolery webpage.  I had no idea what one was or how to use it.  I looked through my numerous spinning and knitting books, there were only brief mentions of it and nothing that really helped me understand how to use a diz.  In comes YouTube, upon a search I did find a couple good videos that showed me how to use one. Enough on dizzes and back to the book.

I wish I had had this book when I first started carding fleeces.  I think it would have made it easier to decide if a carder or combs and a diz would have been better.  Live and learn!

I also learned about some other tools that are less often used but valuable such as a picker. One nice aspect of the book is that the tools are paired with the type of fleece (in general terms) that work well with that tool.  For my Shetlands I think combs are good for some fleeces and carding will be fine for others. I think a picker does not fit my life as I have little children but maybe when they are grown I can experiment with one. 

All of this information is grand but you really must experiment in order to discover what works best for you!  Happy Spinning!