Processing Velvet's Fleece

I've been working on Velvet's fleece. I had read somewhere about someone rolling the fleece in a sheet and letting it soak in the washing machine. I decided instead of a sheet, though, to use some netting that was in my stash, thinking maybe the dirt and VM could get out more easily. Here's the fleece laid out on the netting:
Next I rolled it up jelly roll style starting with the long side, then tied the ends and pinned it closed with safety pins.
I filled the washer with hot water, added Dawn dishwashing liquid, and eased the roll into the tub.
It soaked for about half an hour, and then I let the water spin out. (NO agitation.) I repeated this step, this time not letting the water get quite as hot, and then one more fill with plain warm water, almost a half-hour soak, and then one more spin.

Here's my make-shift drying rack. The panel is 16 feet long, so I just kind of laid it up on the porch and over the steps so some air could get under it. It was dry in about two days. (I did take it inside at night.)
I combed several locks with some Indigo Hound combs (the menacing beasts that they are), and here's the result:
I have to get some out now and then just to stroke it. :)

Working in the Wool

Remember some time back when we sent the wool from our sheep off for processing into combed top? It came back in a long, long rope, and the tag didn't say how much wool was in the finished product.I was curious as to how many pounds were in the sack, so I decided to weigh it out into approximately 4 ounce balls and then see what the total was. I used my digital scale and then marked each with the weight. Most are between 3.7 and 4.2 ounces. Added together, there are 5.4 pounds. That doesn't seem like much weight, considering that before processing, the wool weighed 19 pounds! The raw wool contains lots of dirt and lanolin, and many of the shorter fibers are removed in the combing process.
I'm probably going to keep part of it back for a sweater, and maybe some hats, and then probably put some in the shop just as dyed top and some as handspun yarn. The shop has been kind of neglected lately, so hopefully all this softness will inspire me!

The Wool is Here! The Wool is Here!

Yesterday the UPS man rumbled into the driveway and came out with a HUGE box. "My wool!" I squealed. Our processed wool had come back from the mill!Back in September you might have seen the raw wool.Off it went to Zeilinger's in Michigan for washing and combing. This was the first time we had gone to the extra expense to have it combed instead of just carded. We'd had it processed elsewhere a couple of times before (with just carding) and there had always been more VM left in it than I wanted to pick out before or during spinning. But this time it was different.

This fleece:Became this combed top:
Amazing, isn't it? I can't wait to spin some up! That is, if I don't just curl up and cuddle in it. :)

Fiber Update

Just a little update on the fiber I sent to the mill for processing. I received a receipt in the mail from the mill that said the wool I sent weighed 19 pounds. Of course, the processed top will weigh a lot less than that because washing removes a lot of dirt and lanolin, and combing will remove quite a bit of the short fibers. Can't wait to get my hands in it, though!

Yes, Sir, Yes, Sir...

Three bags full!

The weather has finally cooled off enough that I could get up the courage to sort through our fleeces. We had our sheep sheared later than normal this year and it was getting really hot by then. Too hot to want to play outside in the wool. So this afternoon I went through and skirted three fleeces to send off for processing. These are from our Rambouillet sheep. Their wool is really soft with a nice crimp. I'll probably have these processed into combed top. The sheep weren't coated (well, some of them were, but we had trouble keeping the coats on and finally just gave up), and I've been told that combing will remove the vegetable matter. This is the first time we'll have had any of our Rambouillet processed into combed top, so I'm anxious to see how it comes out.

Now to find a big enough shipping box...

Lots of Fibery Pursuits

Well, the sweater is coming along, though I hit a snag about a week after I started. One of the needle tips came apart where the wood fits into the metal base. I called Knit Picks, though, and they sent out a replacement right away. I've finished the yoke now and am ready to put the sleeve stitches on holders.

I also finally dived into our some of our raw fleece from this year's shearing. I had kind of planned on sending it off, but doing that is so expensive, especially since these hadn't been covered. After skirting the fleece, I pulled off a small section and washed it. I haven't done a tremendous amount of fleece processing, so I feel like I'm still learning. In the past, I've had trouble with the wool still being greasy even after washing (Rambouillet have really greasy fleeces). But this time I put it through three washings with lots of Dawn dishwashing liquid and two rinses, and it seemed really clean when it came out. Here's a picture of some raw fleece:

I used a mesh laundry bag to contain the fleece while soaking. Some people separate the locks before washing, but I'd rather wait until they're clean to mess around in them. Especially this fleece. It was from Max, our ram, who apparently doesn't care much about personal hygiene. In other words, be glad smell doesn't transmit over the internet. Anyway, here's some fleece soaking in the wash:

This particular batch came out really clean. They don't always look this nice:

Here I've separated some locks (now that they smell nice) and "lashed" them onto the comb:

Combing really seems to work well for removing the VM and other debris:


Then pulling the combed wool off the comb into a roving:

And finally a little wool "nest" ready to spin:

I've also recently been trying my hand at some felting, but I'll leave that for another post. :)