California Red sheep are a cross between American Tunis and Barbados Blackbelly sheep. I obtained a pound of California Red  from Apple Rose farms in New Jersey.  The wool is a warm oatmeal colour with raspberry hairs scattered throughout.

I spun the fleece just as it was when it arrived, with a fair bit of lanolin still  in it.  The smell and feel of the almost natural state of the fleece is like aromatherapy for me (it had been washed somewhat before being carded and shipped). Using my Fricke single tread spinning wheel I spun it with a Z twist following Judith MacKenzie’s advice for spinning woolen yarn in her DVD A Spinner’s Toolbox .

I plied 3 strands together, S twist, to create a lofty, warm yarn with plenty of bounce.

At this point, the yarn was still ‘greasy’ and felt too heavy so I scoured it well, using Calgon water softener (our tap water is very hard) and Woolite detergent.  I soaked and rinsed the skeins 3 separate times until the water ran clear and the yarn fluffed up.

I chose Susan B. Anderson’s 45 Minute Mitten Pattern to knit a pair of super warm, chunky mitts with my handspun California Red yarn, for those cold winter days when I’m on playground supervision. I’m talking minus 20 degrees celsius temperatures where I live! I’m confident these mitts are up to the challenge.

I won’t say I’m looking forward to those kinds of frigid temperatures; they’ll be upon us soon enough. But when the mercury plunges, I’ll be ready with these cozy mitts, thanks to the sheep that produced such luscious fiber.

I’ve spun 3 skeins of chunky yarn with the fleece so far and plan to spin a finer yarn with the remainder. This wool would also be very suitable for hats, scarves and lighter weight mitts.  The long red hairs in the fiber are slightly scratchy so I wouldn’t use it for a sweater or any garment that involves large areas of skin contact but for warm outerwear and easy spinning, California Red is a great fiber choice.

Posted in knitting, spinning