I’ve started a new-to-me fiber for my spinning walks: Black Welsh Mountain sheep. This is a threatened heritage breed developed in Wales and imported into the Americas in 1972. The sheep are naturally dark brown or black, which I love because there is no possibility of bleeding dye. I purchased roving from Camaj Fiber Arts, and have another Shave Em to Save Em sticker for my Livestock Conservancy Passport.

I’m spinning the fiber up with a top whorl drop spindle that I made, and holding the roving in an arm bag to keep it tidy. The fiber is enjoyable to spin, soft but not slippery with some elasticity and bounce. It spins thin well and I’m finding it easy to keep the yarn thickness even.

Building an aesthetically pleasing cop of yarn is a skill, and one that I haven’t found talked about much. I build up several wraps at the bottom (the part farthest away from the whorl), then move up the cop in sections while wrapping. I don’t make an even single layer, but do several wraps at the same level. I find this stays better and looks nicer. It does mean that I unwind a little before wrapping, because before spinning I wrap the yarn down along the cop and back up to the hook to keep it from unraveling while I spin.