This is just a quick follow up to the earlier CVM post.
I came home today to my copy of the Summer Spin-Off. What do I find but an excellent article on CVM by Robin Russo? It was good to see that my washing and combing experiences were fairly on target with Robin’s. I found that I had to have 2 soap washes (2nd wash had about 50% of the soap of the first wash) and 3 rinses to get all the suint and lanolin out, as opposed to a single soap wash and 2 rinses for the California Red. The soap washes and the 1st rinse were top tap water augmented with boiling water, resulting in baths of over 130-135F.
But her article did not mention anything about the double coat I noticed.
However, while on island, I had a nice long chat with Camille over dinner. Based on my descriptions and the pictures she saw, Camille concurs that what I saw was the lamb fleece vs. the incoming adult fleece. In her experience, the lambs are shorn in their first fall. Had that happened with Badger, the fall fleece would have been primarily white. Then the second year’s shearing would have provided the grey that I saw in the same locks.
So, mystery solved!
For those interested, the skirted fleece I purchased was a hair over 6 pounds. After scouring, I have about 4.4 pounds of fleece fleece. This is about a 25% loss due to grease. Robin’s article said to expect 35% loss to grease and vegetation. Since my fleece was coated and already skirted, I think my net is completely within the range.
Tomorrow is Spinning in the Winery. See you there!
Camille N
Hi Ann –
After talking with you last week and then also seeing the current Spin-Off I dug out my baby CVM fleece we talked about. As opposed to your long fiber mine is quite short at about 2.5″ unstretched and stretched to about 3+”. Mostly light color with some gray and moorit.
Crawled into the back of the cupboard to find the old Orvis Paste jug and proceeded to wash in my usual sloppy fashion so not all of the lanolin came out. Guess I better quick spin and wash again before it all gets stiff as a board. Did not even bother to put it on the Teal combs with that short length. I just put it on my fine cards and separated the locks ever so gently so I can do a version of semilong draw with the rologs (sp?).
Anyway, love your site! Guess I better get another cup of Joe and read on. See you soon up here in God’s country where the sun continues to shine gently down upon us.
Toodles, Camille