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Post by tracer on Dec 26, 2014 16:27:07 GMT
Alright I just found out that one of my neighbors just started spinning. We got to talking about wool and then she said " I have a bunch you might be interested in. The fibers are to short to spin with so I can't use it. Also it's kinda dirty so you'd have to wash it." Well being a farm kid I'm not scared of a little hard work so I went up to her place to get this wool. When I got there it was in four huge trash bags and one smaller one. I asked her where she got it from and she said that it came from a local mill and it was what was cleaned out of the carder machines. The wool looks good but its full of dirt and vegitation and smells sheepy with a hint of oil to it. Its also pretty mixed up theres black white green blue pink and so on. mixed fibers also. So is all the effort to clean it up worth the trouble?
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Post by lyn on Dec 26, 2014 17:23:59 GMT
Sounds like a lot of work, and as a city kid, 'no' is my answer to your question.
However, maybe other forum members would not agree with my lazy answer.
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Post by MTRuth on Dec 26, 2014 17:41:24 GMT
I think the biggest problem would be all the colors mixed together. The dirt and vegetation aren't that hard to get out as well as any lanolin, but getting the colors separated so it was useful for needle felting might be a bit much. Most "free" wool isn't that good. There's a reason why it's free.
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Post by Teri Berry on Dec 26, 2014 18:24:59 GMT
I think you are mostly into needle-felting aren't you Tracer? I would be tempted to try needle felting a small ball with it to see how it behaves. If you like it, it may be worth washing and using as the internal body structure? Sometimes it is the free / cheap stuff that you can't identify that gives the most interesting results. This is a pod I made with 2 layers of merino and 2 layers of an unknown red wool, it produced this amazing brain-like surface:
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Post by Shepherdess on Dec 26, 2014 22:12:56 GMT
I would say try separating it. It would be unusual for a mill to dye wool and card it without washing it. It may be mixed in with unwashed wool. Dirt is easy to get rid off. Chaff is another thing altogether. To get rid of chaff you need to card ( you can do this with a couple of dog slicker brushes) and or comb the wool, or hand pick it all out. If the wool is clean and has very fine chaff you can often blow most of it out by tumbling the dry wool in the dryer with no heat. When wool is dirty it sticks to the lanolin and you need to wash it.
Give a small bit a try and see how you like doing it. Some peoples really enjoy the process. I know several people who do. I like carding but not washing or hand picking.
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Post by luvswool and dyestuff on Dec 27, 2014 1:52:51 GMT
Early on in my felting journey, I ordered some wool on ebay which I afterwards regretted. There was some shetland wool, mixed fibers and locks--all needed washing at a minimum, and the shetland also needed carding. It costs me a pretty penny to have that done by a local mill. Never again.
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Post by tracer on Dec 27, 2014 18:16:57 GMT
So half a day watching wool processing videos a little time sorting and a bout an hour washing and this is what I ended up with its still a touch wet so I haven't tried needling it. It still has some vegetation in it. So what do you think
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Post by koffipot on Dec 27, 2014 20:14:02 GMT
I'm not a needle felter, but it looks like it might make good core material.
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Post by MTRuth on Dec 28, 2014 0:11:47 GMT
Looks OK to me - I just used some wool that was similar looking to felt a rock. But that was wet felting. Just try a sample and see what you think once it's dry.
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Post by Shepherdess on Dec 28, 2014 2:29:40 GMT
It looks hairy but could be good deepening on what you are making. Core wool for sure. It looks pretty clean to me. give it a try as Ruth says.
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Post by tracer on Dec 28, 2014 3:32:58 GMT
So this is what it looks like just finished these owls used the darker wool to make them the look ok to me but the have lots of fly away wool. Is that because of how course the wool is or am I doing something wrong
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Post by Pandagirl on Dec 28, 2014 5:08:32 GMT
Its likely the wool. The coarse wools are pretty wild. I'm not a needlefelter, but even in wet felting it's wild.
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Post by zed on Dec 28, 2014 9:13:22 GMT
It turned out looking a lot better than I was originally imagining. picturing the stuff that's left under my carder! The owls are cute I agree that it depends on what you're making, I've never found a wool/animal fibre that isn't suited to something.
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Post by Shepherdess on Dec 28, 2014 16:02:13 GMT
They turned out well, It's likely the wool and not you. You can get some of them into the owls by needling almost parallel to the surface. It helps to tuck the fly always in without shrinking the sculpture. You can trim with scissors or shave them with a disposable razor.
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Post by MTRuth on Dec 28, 2014 20:16:31 GMT
Different breeds of wool felt differently. And I agree with Zed that the wool you showed looks much better than I had imagined. I don't mind the fuzzies on your owls - I think it adds to their personalities
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