Tuesday with Wool Woman

More wool, different task today.

It was a nice day, so I pulled out the brown fleeces and set up the deck for the usual wool processing. I could hear the neighbors saying "I knew she would be out working on that today". You have heard of the crazy cat lady...well, I am the crazy wool woman. lol

It only took 2 hours to process one fleece. By process, I mean sorting. I sort it into 5 piles. Clean, dirty, really dirty, lots of hay, and small and short pieces for felting. I added a sixth pile at the end too called, "too dirty/short/tangled/matted/seedy to bother with". I swear the brown sheep must have been raised in a hay loft! There are tiny particles of hay all the way down the fleece! It will all have to be combed (literally) to get it out.

I put the other fleece back in the shed, picked up my five sweater bags of full of fiber and began heating water on the stove. I filled the tub this time. I am growing impatient and the weather is forcing me to hurry and get the wool washed. It is getting warmer and hot dirty wool probably will not smell too good. Well, maybe to the neighborhood bear and that is just further motivation. :)

As I type this, the wool is on it's second soak in the tub. The first was very gross. I took a picture to give you an idea, but the smell is what puts you over the edge. Thankfully, I can open the windows and spray febreeze. When I drained the tub, it didn't get better, it seemed worse! I won't give details, but I am missing the washing machine method as I squeeze the excess water out of the bags of wool. The rinsing is going easier because I have a detachable shower head. I am trying to be careful to not spray it directly on the wool, just on the sides and back of the tub.

Last night, on the way to knitting, I stopped at the barrow pit to let Sadie run - boy did she run! Up and down the sides, around, through the woods and field non-stop. When she finally slowed down, I got her back in the car and to knit night.

I didn't take my knitting to knitting. I took some washed wool and combed, fluffed, and prepped it for the drum carder. What takes me 2 hours to prep, takes 15 minutes to run through the drum carder. It is not hard work, in fact it is relaxing. It gives me plenty of opportunity to chat and visit with the group.

I saw a nice spinning wheel on ebay today and sent the link to Barbara for her opinion. It is a good price and I may not have to wait until fall after all.

Time to drain the tub again, rinse, repeat. I want to get it done before dark, so I can hang it on the clothesline. It is supposed to be windy tonight and party sunny again tomorrow. Maybe I can do the other brown fleece tomorow?

Dad's Art Show is Thursday and Kristi will be here Thursday too...I am trying to get the guest room ready as it has been closed up since Christmas.

PostScript: Just added the second photo. The second photo of the empty tub was taken after the SECOND wash in the tub. After this photo, I moved the wool to the washing machine for the 3rd wash. I did not get the wool to the clothesline as planned. :)