We offer raw fleeces and roving for sale. Our fleeces run from very fine with a high degree of crimp and spring to long and loose.
We also offer lessons from picking and scouring fleeces, through carding and combing the wool, to spinning, plying and knitting the yarn. If you have a wheel but never learned to use it, dust it off and bring it. You can find them at estate sales. I’ll show you how it works and how to make any necessary repairs. You’ll learn about the sources of tension and how to adjust them. We’ll check the drive band and replace it if necessary. Sources of friction will be identified and eliminated. by the end, you will have learned how to maintain your wheel and make necessary adjustments and repairs on your own.
Spinning is best learned with the Goldilocks Method: not too much, not too little. There is no one right way, you, the spinner, decide how much carding, how much drafting, how much spin, makes you happy by knowing the consequences of more or less of each. You’ll learn how to join when the yarn breaks and how to change bobbins when they get full. Once we have enough yarn, you’ll learned to ply and weasel it and prepare it for the ball winder, resulting in a very pretty ball of yarn ready for knitting.
For me, it all started with wanting something more interesting than commercial yard to knit with. Now, I am in serious danger of becoming a spinning wheel hoarder, which is a common affliction among spinners. We also hoard dogs.
After a couple of years of making ugly things that even relatives didn’t want, I have graduated to lace knitting, which is addictive.
Hardscrabble Handcrafts 