Well... So much for not getting any more wool. I completely forgot that the latest medieval spindle set I ordered from Etsy came with some sample wool. Duh!
Now it is serious. No more wool until I've spun up some. And embroidery threads do not count, they use so little fibre they are like candy of spinning. I need to spin some bigger projects, and move fibre out of my Ravelry stash. I hesitate going Cold Sheep for various reasons, but Chilly Sheep I can do.
I have started to catalogue the breed sampler on Ravelry. Since there are no bulk entry features, I have to enter each field for each sample separately. I did make a template of sorts in a text editor to copy text from; typing everything 30 times is just silly.
I have loosely grouped the wool into types — finewool, down wool, longwool, and primitive. Some wools I put into a group just by feel when I couldn't find in my wool reference books where it should belong. I probably got them wrong, but I can fix the tags later. 15 done, 15 to go.
Wool from Poland. Some carded, some combed, all of it sheepy smelling. Love that smell! It is interesting that the carded wool has actually longer staple length than the wool in combed tops have. I've decided to re-process them somehow into a more top-like form.
My mini combs are too fine for this again, but I am still resisting the urge to run rampant on the internet, buying more fibre processing tools like viking combs, a blending board, hand cards with finer teeth, and a drum carder. Just to start with...
Blending fine fibre like these merino tops are why I bought my double row mini combs in the first place. For this they worked perfectly. There was some waste, but no more than I expected from commercially processed top that still contains the short fibres.
This is an experiment in optical blending. I took each colour and blended it 50/50 with the next lighter colour, until I blended the lightest yellow with white. I got a really nice gradient going there.
I call this experiment a success. The new colours are even, and the little nests of top are so smooth. I love that I can make new colours for smooth spinning without picking up dyeing, which is a major hobby in itself. One could blend fibre on hand cards as well, but the combs give the smoothest prep, and smooth is what I love to spin right now.
Next up: a colour wheel. Or a triangle. I haven't decided yet if I go as far as quarternary colours, or stay with tertiary. It depends on if I have enough of the blue, there is not as much of it as there is of red and yellow.