Fiber Friday - Granulito

This is the first time I have spun Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) on my wheel. It was the first fiber we used on a spindle in my spinning class. Both times the fiber proved to be a good experience. It was easy to prepare and draft the fiber for spinning and the resulting yarn is soft. It's a good thing too, because when I was getting my stash of spinning fiber together I bought a bunch of the BFL in all types of colors.

BFL is a longwool English breed that had a fiber staple length of about 3-6 inches. I think that length is part of what makes it a nice wool for beginners to use for spinning. I did a little reading and found out that the blue face comes from their bluish black skin covered with white hair. They have no wool on their head and neck. An entire fleece will typically weight 3 to 6 lbs., with a fiber diameter of 56s – 60s count, or 24-28 microns, creating high quality luster yarns with beautiful drape.

I do have plans for this yarn already. This skein is destined to be part of a shawl. I have several colors of the BFL that seem to coordinate very well so I am thinking of putting them together into a feather and fan comfort shawl. I've got five colors I think will work - but I need to get them all spun up to make sure. I've also got to be able to spin each skein to a somewhat consistent thickness. I'm really excited about the idea of an actual project out of my own handspun.

Details
Brand: Geddesburg Handspun Yarn
Content: 100% Bluefaced Leicester
Fiber Source: The Fiber Denn on Etsy
Skein Weight: 3.75 ounces
Skein Length: 238 yards
Spinning Ratio: 10 to 1
Plying Ratio: 9 to 1
Other Details: 2-ply, hand wash