When the postman knocked this morning he handed me a respectable-sized parcel. Nothing mind-blowing, just a white bag taped up with an address sticker on.
It was my order from Wingham Wool Works, in Yorkshire – just a few different types of wool and some lightweight hand carders to try out with my new wheel. Remember I ordered this on Sunday night, about 10pm, and it’s only Tuesday morning. It beat my Amazon order.
As soon as I opened it, the beautiful smell of wool hit me.
I opened bag after bag – each with their own scent.
Black Welsh – probably the most ‘sheepy’ smelling one, slightly musky, feeling slightly coarser than the others. A beautiful 80% dark chocolate colour.
Texel – Long staple length, so it should be an easy spin. Quite sheepy and a great vanilla colour.
Cotswolds – Feels hairier but softer than the texel, probably due to having less crimp. The least sheepy smelling one, apart from the flax.
Dyed Merino – I bought the 250g Brights mixed pack, to top up the merino I bought when I started spinning on the drop spindle. This is 21 micron and very, very soft and silky. Much softer than my last batch, which was probably more suitable for felting. The colours are just what I expected, maybe a bit pink-heavy, but a fair range. I’m very impressed.
Flax – bought to test my spinning skills and to try out something a bit different. It feels soft, looks hairy and smells like sunshine and grass, in a good way.
Although I was initially disappointed by the amount of fibre in the bag, I have left the bags open, and the contents is slowly expanding now it’s no longer squished. I seem to have bought a lot of wool. What a delicious adventure…