Spinning lace from the lock, in a loose approximation of Margaret Stove's approach, without actually having the book or the DVD yet, has been a bit of an obsession lately.
I combed the washed and dyed locks open very carefully with a flick carder
and ended up with about 575 yards of 2ply lace from about 2 ounces of locks--about 4189 ypp. Not the finest yarn I've spun, but the finest I've spun from pure wool without silk or something else added to it--
Which should be enough for about half of an American Gothic (ravelry link).
I'm using 5mm Swarovski Crystal bicone beads from Caravan beads, my local bead shop here in Portland (Maine, the little one).
They remind me a bit of Valentino Rockstuds
I have two more fleeces coming today! A black cormo and a mixed Shetland from The Spinning Loft.