This is definitely a fleece that prefers combing, and spinning from the bottom of the staple in the grease. Flicki
ng didn’t work, as at the bottom end there are a lot of shorter, finer fibres. With combing, I was able to remove these and set them aside to see what they spin up like. I’ll probably scour them and then put them through the wool combs.
I did scour a couple of lots of uncombed staples prior to spinning, but due to the high micron count, leaving the grease in is kinder on the hands (and everything else). I have yet to decide how to tackle these.
Back to the combed staples. The longer fibres were e
asy to manage, and quick to spin and ply. The resulting yarn is quite pleasing for a first attempt – definitely too coarse for much other than a carpet, but still with a degree of softness. After scouring the skein, it came out whiter than white. I look forward to seeing how well it takes dye.
The next step is to spin some singles for warp. As the total fleece weight was 2.7Kg, there should be enough to experiment with.
Hedgerow weaver 
How did you go with the tukidale. I just bought some and I’m hoping to use it as the pattern weft in a couple of overshot floor rugs which will be mementos of this trip (my son and I have travelled from Sydney and will take the Ghan to Darwin in a couple of days).
I bought about 1.5kg from Ewe2. Lovely long fibres but how does it stay together with no crimp? You mentioned you combed it — was that using the “Viking” combs?
I was thinking of using carpet warp for warp and tabby.
Love to “chat” with you about all this and look forward to hopefully hearing back from you.
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Hi Jenni, no problem with the fibres staying together as they’re so long. Have you ever spun ramie? Similar. I used a metal dog comb to remove the shorter fibres and to loosen the locks. The yarn was strong, like old fashioned bailer twine before it was made from plastic. No stretch, and I’d imagine very rigid in weaving with little give or squish factor. Looking forward to hearing how you go with it,
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