ohiogoatgirl
Well-known member
Today someone is mailing me out 9 adult sheep fleeces, basically her whole herd. I had dibs on most of them when she had posted when she would be gettin em sheared. Then as time got close most people forgot or "darn I cant now" and backed out. So she gave me a deal on the whole lot of em. I got two fleece worth from her last year for free because late shearing and not so good shearer plus she didnt want to mess with having to dig into her compost pile to bury em so the dog, who was enamored with the fleece, wouldn't be able to dig it up like it had the year before and "decorated" the yard with it.
So today I send her the money and shouldn't be but a few days before I get a nice big box packed full! I haven't ever had so much raw fleece at one time. I am so excited! Last year I did most of the fleece in a FSM cleaning. Fermented Suint Method. It wasn't any awesome wool and it was plenty dirty so pretty good for testing that sort of wash. Basically the sheep is naturally designed to keep it's wool pretty clean while it's on the sheep. The lanolin (ie grease) helps the rain shed off the sheep. And the sheep's sweat supposedly helps dissolve away dirt that gets into the fleece near the skin. So the FSM is taking these properties and bumpin it up and using it to clean sheared fleeces. The greasy sweaty fleece, plenty of water to cover, and a nice big tub or barrel etc, an old bit of fabric to cover, and time.
The natural stuff there helps clean away the stuff from the wool. It's like a wool sauerkraut washing! Hahaha! It smells like heavy not done compost but once ya rinse it out and then give it a quick soap wash it's really nice. A lot less work than all the handwashing.
Anyhow. I am uber super duper excited and contemplating sending it to be milled. At least the majority of it. The FSM worked great for me but this fleeces will be nicer and I really am getting over the doing every little step myself. It's long process and I want to spin! Haha. I still have to pick out the nasty bits and sort it and pick out hay and the "stuff" from it all before I send it to the mill anyhow.
* 2 black ram fleeces
* 2 black ewe fleeces
* 4 white ewe fleeces
* 1 white ewe cheviot fleece (all others are babydoll southdown breed)
I haven't spun cheviot before that I know of so that'll be interesting. If I send it to the mill I will probably send it in the groups like that, separate bags for different processing into batts or rovings. I have to double check with the Spinners Guild people who send fiber in and find out specifics though. If there is certain minimums etc I will at least do the black and white separate and leave out the cheviot to do myself by hand. I also have other raw wool here and will have several fleeces and fibers to pick from at the next guild meeting (Dye Day! Squeee!) so plenty to think about and sort it and decide what I want.
If I can get darn photobucket to cooperate I will try adding pics of my stuff here.
__________ Thu Jun 04, 2015 7:20 am __________
Drop spindle. Natural color alpaca fiber. yummy chocolately goodness!
Icelandic sheep wool. all dyed with vinegar and food coloring. spun on my spinning wheel.
unknown wool. Dyed at the guilds dye day meeting. this was spin on my first "wheel". lol it was a "for looks" thing but I rigged it to work for a long while!
a few years ago. the wool I washed and dyed at the guild dye day meeting. back home and out in the sun drying.
__________ Thu Jun 04, 2015 7:52 am __________
unknown wool. drop spindle spun. knitted into a scarf. I did all but feed the sheep and shear it!
Me! at the festival several years ago. now that I am back I will be a paying member of the guild again and be able to be in the festival again
And so everyone knows this is my favorite outfit and I wear it a lot! haha I have fabric for another set and a dress that I need someone to make for me. lol.
ignore the old messy room background! haha. but this is my old wheel that I had rigged up to spin on.
So today I send her the money and shouldn't be but a few days before I get a nice big box packed full! I haven't ever had so much raw fleece at one time. I am so excited! Last year I did most of the fleece in a FSM cleaning. Fermented Suint Method. It wasn't any awesome wool and it was plenty dirty so pretty good for testing that sort of wash. Basically the sheep is naturally designed to keep it's wool pretty clean while it's on the sheep. The lanolin (ie grease) helps the rain shed off the sheep. And the sheep's sweat supposedly helps dissolve away dirt that gets into the fleece near the skin. So the FSM is taking these properties and bumpin it up and using it to clean sheared fleeces. The greasy sweaty fleece, plenty of water to cover, and a nice big tub or barrel etc, an old bit of fabric to cover, and time.
The natural stuff there helps clean away the stuff from the wool. It's like a wool sauerkraut washing! Hahaha! It smells like heavy not done compost but once ya rinse it out and then give it a quick soap wash it's really nice. A lot less work than all the handwashing.
Anyhow. I am uber super duper excited and contemplating sending it to be milled. At least the majority of it. The FSM worked great for me but this fleeces will be nicer and I really am getting over the doing every little step myself. It's long process and I want to spin! Haha. I still have to pick out the nasty bits and sort it and pick out hay and the "stuff" from it all before I send it to the mill anyhow.
* 2 black ram fleeces
* 2 black ewe fleeces
* 4 white ewe fleeces
* 1 white ewe cheviot fleece (all others are babydoll southdown breed)
I haven't spun cheviot before that I know of so that'll be interesting. If I send it to the mill I will probably send it in the groups like that, separate bags for different processing into batts or rovings. I have to double check with the Spinners Guild people who send fiber in and find out specifics though. If there is certain minimums etc I will at least do the black and white separate and leave out the cheviot to do myself by hand. I also have other raw wool here and will have several fleeces and fibers to pick from at the next guild meeting (Dye Day! Squeee!) so plenty to think about and sort it and decide what I want.
If I can get darn photobucket to cooperate I will try adding pics of my stuff here.
__________ Thu Jun 04, 2015 7:20 am __________
Drop spindle. Natural color alpaca fiber. yummy chocolately goodness!
Icelandic sheep wool. all dyed with vinegar and food coloring. spun on my spinning wheel.
unknown wool. Dyed at the guilds dye day meeting. this was spin on my first "wheel". lol it was a "for looks" thing but I rigged it to work for a long while!
a few years ago. the wool I washed and dyed at the guild dye day meeting. back home and out in the sun drying.
__________ Thu Jun 04, 2015 7:52 am __________
unknown wool. drop spindle spun. knitted into a scarf. I did all but feed the sheep and shear it!
Me! at the festival several years ago. now that I am back I will be a paying member of the guild again and be able to be in the festival again
And so everyone knows this is my favorite outfit and I wear it a lot! haha I have fabric for another set and a dress that I need someone to make for me. lol.
ignore the old messy room background! haha. but this is my old wheel that I had rigged up to spin on.
