# Liese's Miss Betty (corridale hogget fleece)



## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

*My first look at Miss Betty: Don't you just love that crimp!!*

































*
After 2 hot water scours and a rinse: The crimp maintains!!*

























*After 2 cold water soaks: The crimp stays better, but the dirt just isn't comingn off.*

























*Hot water scoured fleece, carded and pulled into roving. Don't know if you can see in the pictures but the crimp is still there!*






















*I have a small skein spun up. Such a nice bloom on this yarn!!!*


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Cyndi, that it so wonderful of you to post about what is working, what's not and how the fleece is "performing" - for me it's like hearing from a teacher about how your kid is doing! LOL


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

The only thing that is bothering me with Miss Betty is I'm getting little noils while carding. I was very selective when carding this and it didn't contain any 2nd cuts (not that there were many I could find throughout the whole fleece - good job with skirting!!)

I thought maybe it might be the tips, but I gave a firm tug on all the locks and nothing broke.

Maybe someone can help me figure out what I'm doing to cause this?? Could it be the finer, crimpier locks that aren't getting carded well?


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Probably not related in any way, but I noticed that when I carded my white Romney (not a Liese fleece), there were a lot of unauthorized noils. Doesn't/didn't happen with the ********.......


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I know I have been told, cant remember by whom, that with finer fleeces if you over card them they can get noily. I have found this to happen to finer fleeces more that others. Have you tried to pick apart a noil and looked at it to see if it is a knot or something else?

Very nice looking fleece, but I'm not surprised.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

It's a knot.

These only went through the drum carder (deb's delicate deluxe) twice.

I'm not sure if I want to place the drums a little closer to card the knots more thoroughly or card a thinner batt??? Maybe comb instead of card?

I think I'll comb some up tonight (if my back can handle it - my ruptured disk is acting up again) bah!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I know if the fiber are really long they can sometimes tangle at the tips when they are carded. Twice through should be too much. Hmmm! Ill bet combing it will work wonders.

Did you get new batteries yet?


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Cyndi, I'm sure your little finger knows more than all of me but got a question - would a carding oil like in Amos' book be of value here, along with a slooow carding?


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Liese I'm not Cyndi but I can give my 2 cents worth on carding oil. Personally I don't like it here is why. I don't use up fleeces very quickly. I have some that have been washed and carded that I have had for years. I may use some of a fleece at time but rarely do I use the whole fleece for a project. One of the reasons I like Quail Hill so much is because they do not use carding oil. If carding oil sits for any length of time it gets sticky and to me it smells, sort of like a petrolium scent. Now maybe things have improved over the years. I'm sure using a carding oil just on what you will be using right away may help. I know for how I use fleeces I don't want an entire fleece carded with carding oil.

Okay, I'm finished :soap:


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## Cloverbud (Sep 4, 2006)

Is this a fleece that you could spin from the locks without carding? (asked while wearing my newbie hat!)

This is such a pretty fleece at every stage of processing! Could you bring some to the Fiber Fair so I could touch it? Pretty please with sprinkles?!?


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Susan I understand and completely agree that you wouldn't want to use a carding oil on the fleece and then store it away. I use it just on the portion that I plan to card the next day or even just an hour or so before I start drumcarding. Since I don't have a handy spray bottle I actually pour some of this hand made oil into a little dish -dip my fingers in then pick up a small hunk of fleece and tease it open whilst getting the oil into it. I'll do a batch and then start carding.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

*First skein from Miss Betty. I really love the bloom from this fiber. The 2 plys were fingerling weight but when soaked and dried, I got a loverly, soft bloom! *












*Miss Betty, COMBED:*












*See that crimp!!!!*










Yes, CB I'll bring some of both Miss Betty and Mr Darcy this Saturday


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Liese what sort of oil is it that you use? Where do you get it? The way you do it makes a lot of sense.

Very nice Cyndi!


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

I got the recipe from A.A. Big Book of Spinning - if you don't have it I'll look it up and type it out for you (and everyone else)

Hey, Cyndi I don't see any noils in that - what did you change/do/not do - looks perfect! And didn't it spin up beautifully. By the way, I'm guessing you feel pulling the batt into roving is worth the time and hand ache - but can you explain why it is?


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

The noils are in the first set of pictures - carded.

the second roving is from Miss Betty being combed.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I've begun to pull my batts into strips too. It is more of a dividing them really. I want to try Cyndi's idea of pulling it through a diz too. Maybe today, I have some of the Border Leicester carded on the drum carder.


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## Cloverbud (Sep 4, 2006)

Tonight I'm remembering *not* to lean over the keyboard while viewing these pics! I just want to hold it up and rub it on my cheek.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Marchwind said:


> pulling it through a diz too.


Here's my 'diz' ....












So go raid your spice bottles!!!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Cloverbud said:


> I just want to hold it up and rub it on my cheek.


You can on Saturday!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I knew you used something really simple but I couldn't remember what. Is that top one of those with the smaller homes or the larger holes, it looks like they are smaller to me but it's hard to tell in those pictures.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

That is the smaller holed one, but the larger ones work well too!


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

But how do you do it so your hand doesn't hurt? I tried this once with drum carded wool and my hand sort of cramped up.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Liese are you maybe trying to pull too much fiber through at once. Although I have never done this I have watched it being done. There never seemed to be any effort to this at all at least from what I have observed.

Cyndi do you just use a crochet hook to pull the fibers through to begin? I need to wash up more fibers and give this a try on my next set of days off.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Yes, a crochet hook to pull the fibers through.

Then draft enough so it goes through the hole comfortably. You don't want to force it through.

Liese, I have mild arthritus in my hands and they haven't cramped up yet doing this. I used to split the roving before putting it through the diz, but now I predraft the batts and pull them through.

I guess I could just draft the batts straight into roving without using a diz, but it seems that my rovings are more uniform in size when using a diz. HTH


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Yup, I think I was trying to muscle too much thru from the way your guys are describing the process. Now my next question is if you are carding, not combing, what is the advantage of then further processing the batt thru the diz? Cyndi, you note more uniform size but is that for a particular way of spinning? Usually I am spinning woolen but yesterday I met with a yarn shop owner and she's asked me to come up with a few skeins of sock yarn - she hasn't sold any handspun in her shop before- now I would think that I'm going to have to spin these yarns worsted so the socks are more durable - but we agreed on a $3/oz payment so I don't want to spend any more time on prep than I have to - that's why I curious about the diz(zing?) and whether doing that prep would give me a better end product.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Liese, I usually or almost always spin woolen also. Predrafting or even using a diz on carded fibers (as opposed to combed) just helps to make a more uniform single. I fine that if I spin right from the batt or rolag I tend to get a single that might or could be potentially lumpy. I think the diameter of the drafted fibers will help to determine the diameter of the single.

Does that make sense?


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