Silver Corriedale preparation to finished yarn

Well firstly you get a very smelly filthy fleece and then decide it is so beautiful that you want to spin it in this state!  Yes I know I am mad lol.  But the lanolin that comes off with some dirt is so good on the hands.  Now is the time to insert a paragraph about proper hygiene etc lol.

In the pic above is the cloth, an old bathmat, that is placed across my thigh so that I can flick the ends of each staple with the little flicker brush against it.  It is covered in very greasy dirt as is my flicker so I have got myself another at the fibre muster a few weeks ago and shoved it in with some birthday goodies later this month.  That one pictured will not be able to go near washed fibre and as all the little wire tines are set in leather they are not washable either.  But it was only $18 so not a huge outlay.

Here's all the lovely flicked locks looking a bit cleaner but still extremely dirty ready to be spun up.  I have it stored in a scented bin liner to keep the smell inside the bag while I am not spinning it.  Anything unprepped has to stay outside otherwise the darn cat will sleep in it and stink.  Don't relish having to wash the cat to remove the filth.  These are all being spun from the same end of the lock in a worsted type yarn which when navaho plyed and scoured (washed) and thrashed a few times against a pole outside result in the yarn which is ready for knitting in the last pic. 

Hard to believe but so worth the effort.  I still have a mountain of this fleece to prep outside on a sunny day.  Definitely not a job for indoors but so worth it and yes unfortunately the photos are very accurate!

Dyeing for Mum

Mum came over yesterday so I could dye up a few kgs of wool for her on the side burner of our BBQ.  Two huge stock pots full of water and dye resulted in this plus many more washes and rinses to get the excess dye out of the fibre. 

Still damp but will bring it inside tomorrow and let the rack sit over the bath to dry quicker.  Also have a pile of wet grey merino for me out there too now.  Lovely cold damp day we are having which is perfect for wet wool and fleece lol.  Whoops!

I've also been asked to make some socks and a hat like I did for Alan so am busy prepping fibre, carding and blending to follow and then spin and knit them.  Going to take a while in this weather but thats ok.  A well paying order is not to be turned away but quite handy as I love the whole process and Lance believes he doesn't need too many socks!  I was just starting on some work ones for him which one pair will be finished this week and then hopefully the ordered ones will be on the needles this time next week. 

Did up a little sample skein for the sock order last night after blending a few rolags of blue merino tops, natural grey merino wool, with a smidgen of while alpaca and nylon.  The alpaca and nylon will help with wear and provide strength and a little sheen. It is also a little more on the grey side than blue unlike the photo below and it washed up so soft!

I have also finished off the Owl tops I bought and plyed it with a bobbin of tussah silk.  Also came up beautifully and will end up as a scarf or wrap.  The sheen from the silk makes it quite shiny but I really enjoyed spinning the silk for the first time.  Not as slippery as I thought it would be.

Well finished lunch now and back to prepping more fibre.  Enjoy your week everyone!