Mission the Second

There's lots more fiber to be washed and carded; techniques and tips to be tried. Three grocery bags of fleece are quequed up. Cleverly hidden in plain sight, they await their turn at a bath.

Home Depot had an inexpensive 6' by 8' tarp that I'll be using to sort out the fleece into smaller parcels for washing. This go round, I've taken the time to separate out locks from the mass. Grabbing the fleece by the tips while wearing rubber gloves proved helpful. It was easier to find natural sections and smooth down the hairs. How yellowed and sticky they were!

Some locks went into a compartmented mesh bag. Other wayward fibers went into a basic small mesh bag since there was no structure left to be preserved. I'll just card it at some point.

The rest of the locks went into what I'd hoped would be the start of something wonderful, a dishwasher basket!

It spoke to me when I passed it in a local hardware store. In between layers of locks, I used some leftover plastic mesh. This mesh is the kind that folks use to make latch hook projects.

Seemed to be a good buy. No locks could shift since their width is about the same as the basket. The latch stayed secure and the weight of the basket meant that I did not have to dunk a mesh bag to keep it under water during the soak.

See how the lanolin settled to the bottom of the bucket

 

 

All in all, I had about five ounces washed in this second mission. The locks drying in the center came from the compartmented mesh bag. They turned out ok. Just a little tangling from friction at the cut end to be flicked out. I think the best senario came from the batch in the dishwasher basket.

I've ordered a toddler dishwasher basket which is taller and wider to hold more fiber. Can't wait to try it out this coming weekend.

 

 

More in the next post on how this all flicks out.

Meanwhile

Here's some purple for your Monday.

It's Gale's Art BFL in Eggplant.
303 yards 6.5 oz and a mostly fingering weight yarn plied over the weekend. I'm hoping to make two more just like this in the weeks to come.

Fleece!

In lieu of spinning pounds and pounds of fiber stash to make room for more loot at this year's festivals, I have reached new heights of procrastinaton.

Last week,  the fleece bug hit me as randomly as it did when I bought and hid a five pound Romney fleece in my house after Rhinebeck 2011.
Yes. 2011, people. It was smallish and cleanish and smelled innocent enough. At the time I had no idea what to do with it, but nevertheless, home it came. All this time I'd stored it in a ziploc bag inside of a plastic storage chest. Unfortunately for it, the lanolin melted and stained what was a mostly white fleece.

Fast forward to a week ago where the impulse struck to rescue the parcel and there began a stealth  mission to wash and hand process this fleece into yarn. The first bit to be processed was about 3-4 ounces.
The fleece was all rolled and squashed. I have no idea what section I grabbed first, but the locks were about 4 to 4.5 inches long. 

 



So much information is available on how to wash and process fleece. Spin Off magazine, YouTube and Interweave videos, blogs and several books provide whatever you'll need to know.
My most recent research was with the dvd, Three Bags Full with Judith MacKenzie. It gave me the confidence to test my fleece to see if it was even salvageable. Once I did the snap test and found the fiber to be sound, I set to work in lightening clandestine fashion.

Like most, I used mesh bags to soak what I'd torn off from the sort of matted mass.

Two soaks in super hot water with Power Scour and a couple of rinses later, the water ran clear.
I was so glad that there was virtually no vegetable matter and no poop at all to deal with. In fact, the fleece never stunk, wet or dry. How lucky! Hope it's not the exception.

The bags dried in the sun spread out on a sweater drying rack.
It appeared that one bag was super white, the other stained by the sitting lanolin. Drat!
It was my fault for letting them sit for so long in storage. Oh, well. At least I relearned how to use my hand cards and combs. Not expertly, but enough to make a little yarn.

This whole day session was a such an invigorating learning experience. I'm obsessed!

 

 

 

Dearest Dorset

I chose you for my latest of spinning exploits because you were something new to me. Your svelte four ounce skein and squishy hand was attractive. The light brown Chai Tea colorway given to you by the good people at Gnomespun Yarn, brought to mind thoughts of unassuming gentility.

What a pleasure you were to spin! It had been about a year away from the wheel. Just a few rough inches and the rest of the 165 yards was a smooth, triumphant experience! To the tune of Alicia Keys new song, this wheel is on fire! Yes! We are well on the way to getting through my goal for Maryland Sheep and Wool.

According to your label and The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook by Deb Robeson, you are felt resistant.
For this reason, you are my dearest dorset, my new favorite fiber.

Welcome to the Thunderdome

The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is in May. It's March. I have cabin fever. As cat is my witness, there is no room for another tuft of fiber in the cupboards.
So, what is a spinner to do?
SPIN!! Spin like the wind!

Here is the deal. There are sixteen pounds of inventoried stash to my shame ( there's more, but if it ain't accounted for, there is no shame to confess). Pushing the limits of sanity, I think that I can knock out eight to ten pounds by May 2nd...
Who's taking bets!