Navajo-Churro...

So, on a whim, I decided to purchase three Navajo-Churro fleece from Rancho Del Sol, out of Paso Robles, CA... I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into, much like many other things in my life... Well, after talking with the owner of the ranch and discussing a bit, she directed me to Jan... Jan has been purchasing, processing, spinning, and knitting with the NC for quite some time now and was a great help.

Raw NC still in the box

When the box came in, I was pretty surprised at what the fleece actually looked like... very long staple length. This is #74 and she has an 8+ inch staple length (wow)... I should probably let you know that here is still vegetable matter in the fleece, as well as some "organics" if you know what I mean... I picked out some of it before washing, but left a lot in and let the hand cards help me out...

Guard Hair

This particular sheep does have a guard hair (or kemp)... although it is not a guard hair like that in alpaca... these are about 2" long, very crimpy and super stiff.

Cold Water Prep

Navajo-Churro sheep are not a a high lanolin breed, so the water does not need to be as hot to thoroughly scour the fleece. To start, Jan told me to let the fleece sit in a cold water bath over night or for a couple of hours. This helps to remove all of the suint (basically it's sheep sweat), that has been building up on the wool.

After the cold water soak

First soap bath

After the cold water bath, I then made a bath of hot water (around 140 degrees) and some Dawn dishsoap (about 45 minutes)... I proceeded to then rinse the fleece in hot water, another wash with some Orvus (horse shampoo) again 45 minutes, another hot water rinse, then a wash with some Pantene Pro-V, once again 45 minutes... I know it sounds weird, but think of what shampoo does for your hair... it definitely helps the fleece out too... One more hot water rinse... spin cycle in the washer (make sure that your washer is capable of doing just a spin with no agitation, before you stick the fleece in there)...

Once the three washes and three rinses are done... as well as the spin... I soak the fleece in a mix of vinegar and hot water for about 30 minutes... drain and then do one more rinse in hot water for about 30 minutes... spin in washer again and lay out on a towel to finish drying...

 After all the washes, rinses, and spin cycles...

From there, I hand carded the fleece in super tiny batches, into rolags (little bundles of prepped fiber that can be spun from the rolag)... 

Prepped Rolags

Now the NC is ready to be spun into beautiful yarn that can be used for anything from weavings to shawls... just depends on how thick or thin the yarn is, also how soft it is against the skin :) Enjoy