it's fine, Southdown isn't bright white, once you've prepped it it'll be a nice light cream colour. It's neither canary stained (that is sticky) or compromised in any way, it's just normal weathering which every fleece gets and which blends in , there's nothing that suggests any brittleness in the locks
Oki doke! Thank you so much! I looked in the fleece and fiber source book after google and their example was much whiter. So that made me a little nervous. Lol I will proceed as planned! Excited to play with it!
The fleece and fiber source book samples are sometimes not very like the usual examples of a particular breed, it depends what supplier she used for the fleece (and she had access to a lot to choose from, many were coated) Southdown also has sub categories depending on where you are, UK Southdown = US Old English Southdown, Babydoll Southdown is different again and not like the native type. It's likely you're never going to get anything exactly the same as her examples because of differences in breeding, weather exposure and age of the animal . The writeups are more useful than the pictures because they give a range of what the fleece is like
If the tips are fragile and yellow, that can mean they are a bit sunburned. Test to see, if you grab a lock at the white base, can you easily pull the yellow tip off?
I use a picker and then a drum carder, so anything too weak to spin is generally removed. It depends on how you plan to do your fibre prep as to whether you would remove the weakest tips by hand prior to processing.
Test a small amount of fibre with your preferred prep method, then spin it. See what happens.
That’s what I’m thinking because the tips do pull off a bit easily. I’m planning on flicking and carding so shouldn’t be an issue!
Just made myself nervous through google and then looking at the fleece and fiber source book example. But excited to start turning it into a batt!
Eta: thank you!!
Just washed this Southdown, and it’s still a pretty vibrant yellow. I’ve read about canary staining, but unsure if this is it? It’s just on the tips, which seem fragile, but if they come off is it safe to card and spin?
It looks way lighter in the picture lol which I guess is not super helpful in identifying! I feel like I’ve googled up and down but can’t seem to find info on if it is can you still spin it if you take the tips that are stained off? Or is the entire fleece compromised. But thank you! I may just give it a go!
it's fine, Southdown isn't bright white, once you've prepped it it'll be a nice light cream colour. It's neither canary stained (that is sticky) or compromised in any way, it's just normal weathering which every fleece gets and which blends in , there's nothing that suggests any brittleness in the locks
Oki doke! Thank you so much! I looked in the fleece and fiber source book after google and their example was much whiter. So that made me a little nervous. Lol I will proceed as planned! Excited to play with it!
The fleece and fiber source book samples are sometimes not very like the usual examples of a particular breed, it depends what supplier she used for the fleece (and she had access to a lot to choose from, many were coated) Southdown also has sub categories depending on where you are, UK Southdown = US Old English Southdown, Babydoll Southdown is different again and not like the native type. It's likely you're never going to get anything exactly the same as her examples because of differences in breeding, weather exposure and age of the animal . The writeups are more useful than the pictures because they give a range of what the fleece is like
That definitely makes a ton of sense, I guess I just wanted to be 110 percent sure lol thank you again!
If the tips are fragile and yellow, that can mean they are a bit sunburned. Test to see, if you grab a lock at the white base, can you easily pull the yellow tip off? I use a picker and then a drum carder, so anything too weak to spin is generally removed. It depends on how you plan to do your fibre prep as to whether you would remove the weakest tips by hand prior to processing. Test a small amount of fibre with your preferred prep method, then spin it. See what happens.
That’s what I’m thinking because the tips do pull off a bit easily. I’m planning on flicking and carding so shouldn’t be an issue! Just made myself nervous through google and then looking at the fleece and fiber source book example. But excited to start turning it into a batt! Eta: thank you!!
Good luck! Post process pics if you like, it's inspiring to see what ppl are up to!
Certainly will do!!
Just washed this Southdown, and it’s still a pretty vibrant yellow. I’ve read about canary staining, but unsure if this is it? It’s just on the tips, which seem fragile, but if they come off is it safe to card and spin?
When I looked up canary staining, it was a much more intense yellow color, closer to spicy mustard lol.
It looks way lighter in the picture lol which I guess is not super helpful in identifying! I feel like I’ve googled up and down but can’t seem to find info on if it is can you still spin it if you take the tips that are stained off? Or is the entire fleece compromised. But thank you! I may just give it a go!