[Jacob-list] Spinning

[Neal and Louise Grose]

I have indeed spun cow. We have a couple of Scottish Highlands, and for fun several years ago I clipped one (with cow clippers) and spun the hair. I was able to get a decent novelty yarn. Based on my experience I would suggest:
* Clip the animal BEFORE it starts to shed. Cattle mat (felt) first and shed second.
* It will work better if you use the inner down layer rather than the guard fibers.
* If possible, blend it with a small amount of wool of similar length.
* Card or comb the hair and spin it "in the grease". Washing it before you spin will yield a nice ball of cow felt.

Neal Grose
North Carolina
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: ACAMDA at aol.com 
  To: Jacob-list at jacobsheep.com 
  Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2005 10:05 PM
  Subject: [Jacob-list] Spinning


  We have one Belted Galloway Heifer in addition to our Jacobs, and belong to the association e-mail list.  Today, someone posted a question to ask if it was possible to spin a Galloway's hair.  Galloways come from Scotland, and have long (5 inches or so), coarse black and white hair.  So I thought I'd ask the experts.  Has anyone every spun cow hair?  I noticed that Zeilinger claims to process dog hair, but they didn't mention anything bovine!

  Kathey
  Swan Valley Farm
  Athens, GA


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