Breed Book- North Country Cheviot

North Country Cheviot 

Photo credit http://www.nc-cheviot.co.uk/index.php/the-versatile-breed

Their fleece ranges from 5-10 pounds with a 50-65 percent yield from washing. 

The fiber has an average staple length of 3 1/2”- 6”.

 The average micron count is 27-30 for adults. 

Woolen

Prep-Soaked and then scoured, rinsed twice. Teased then carded. Spun woolen using a long draw.

I removed some straw and vegetable matter while I was teasing the fiber. There was still some vegetable matter present during and after the spinning process. Next time, I would spend more time removing the VM before carding to ensure a cleaner resulting yarn. The fiber was easier to card and held up in rolags very well. I felt it was easily drafted using the long draw method. The finished yarn did have a lot of bounce to it. Next time, I would apply less ply twist to allow the fibers to open up more. 

Suggested end use: I think socks are the best end use for this yarn. It has a great bounce and recovery but is not soft enough for something like a sweater.

Worsted

Prep- Dip washed, rinsed twice. Teased then combed. Spun worsted using a short forward draw from butt to tip.

There was some vegetable matter present during the prep process but a lot came out during combing. The fiber was very clean after I had combed it and  it also drafted really well. I decided to spin it very thin because I think the best end use would be a sock yarn. I really enjoyed making this yarn and was happy with the end result. The finished yarn has a lot of bounce and recovery and it spun very evenly. 

Suggested end use: I think socks are the best end use for this yarn. It has a great bounce but I don't think its soft enough for something like a sweater. I would probably do a 3-ply if I was going to be making socks out of it to help with strength and wear.