A Bit About Blending
Blending of different fleeces can be a fun way to obtain unique, soft yarn, but there are a few suggestions that we have. First, try to blend similar staple lengths. This is the biggest problem that we have encountered. When you have, let's say, Mohair with a staple length of 6 inches and have it blended it with a Romney of 3 inches; when we spin it, we will have to set the machine to spin for the 3 inch Romney. This can cause your beautiful longer Mohair to be a bit overspun. Second, some fibers just do not want to blend well...bunny, or rather, Angora. We had a lovely fleece of Shetland that had been blended with Angora. When we pindrafted it, the Angora stuck to the rollers and by the second pindrafting, had nearly completely disappeared from the fleece! (We collected the "spat out" Angora and put it in a baggy for the customer.) All of the carding mills that we work with do an amazing job, so we can't blame them, darn. But if you have a similar length in your fibers and use fibers that "marry" well, then you will have fantastic yarn!
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