Russian wool

[halay]

One of the items I've ordered from Wollknoll, Germany was also Russian wool, rather coarse (34 mic) which was declared as especially suitable for felting. I decided to make a base for my panel with black sheep (which is going to be my trade mark by the way, called Black sheep). This is what came out  Here I am showing only a detail for your to see how hairy and wirey it is. It took me a long time before it started felting. I was pouring a lot of hot water on it, used a lot of soap, mopping excess water as I was going. Fortunately during fulling it started shinking (I was already thinking this was another experiment which would end up in waste). So here is the end result (it is still drying and will need thorough shavingin the end)). I am going to stitch my sheep in the middle and use it as wall hanging.
I actually don't like this wool and fortunatelly I've ordered just a small mount . This is the second wool  from my last order I am not satisfied with(the first one was some Southh German wool which started felting very nicely but would not skrink so that in the end I got a pair of slippers for a yetty woman. Still don't know what I am going to do with them .

[Deleted]

Hello Nada, I think your Sheep Wallhanging is very pretty. I will look forward to seeing your stitching on it. Also thanks for the update on these two kinds of wood. I had not heard of either of these wools before.

[Shepherdess]

Nada that is hairy. It looks like it has a lot of kemp. Kemp is hair rather than wool. You might try using a sticky roller to see if you can pull most of the course strait hair out. if you cut them with the razor the cut parts still in the piece may still shed out.

[luvswool and dyestuff]

Very nice, Nada, and so much fun to experiment with different wools.

[halay]

Thanks Ann for your advice. I have a sticky rollers and will try. Judy I am not going to do any special stitching just attaching the picture to the base with some invisible stitches.
With this post I only wanted to suggest what to avoid in possible future purchasing. However, I am extremely satisfied with Mongolian wool from the same shop.

[Pandagirl]

Nada, I love your Black Sheep! It will make a great logo. It's always disappointing and frustrating when a new wool doesn't cooperate. Thanks for sharing!

[lyn]

Your sheep is lovely Nada - such a lovely expression!

[koffipot]

Nada, It looks rather like some Icelandic I have, which has more of the hairy topcoat and not much of the nice soft undercoat.

I made some slippers for my son which took ages to felt and full and still they were enormous. I felt I had little to lose by sticking them in the machine for a 60 C wash. They did shrink - a bit and were wearable, but they shed the hairy strands all over the house. I was pleased when he took them home with him!!!

[zed]

The colour reminds me of Manx Loaghtan. I like your logo, Nada

Nada, I know you prefer wools which are better for felting slippers, but we have a Fibre Marketplace section: feltandfiberstudio.proboards.com/board/11/fiber-marketplace

Maybe others would be interested if you wanted to sell what you have left, maybe take some photos, make a small felted sample to show the characteristics, and sometimes needle felters are interested in the coarser wools, especially those who make realistic animals.

[MTRuth]

Great logo Nada! It is always interesting to see what different fibers do. With a new wool, I always try and make a small sample so that I know the shrinkage and how it felts before doing something bigger.

Have you tried throwing the slippers in the washer or dryer? I can't remember what you told us about them.

I also think that calling a wool "Russian" or "South German" doesn't really tell you the wool breed that you are getting.

[Shepherdess]

I was in a hurry and forgot to say I like your sheep. I agree with Ruth the names for the wool are not very helpful.

[halay]

Thank you ladies for your comments. Yes, Ruth, I agree in that names don't tell about the breed, but this is the only information about the wool I have.
Thanks Zed for suggesting market section. If anyone is interested in having it I can send it.

[MTRuth]

Nada - I wasn't being critical of you - I just think sellers should give proper information and know what they are selling. It seems a lot don't have any idea.