The Shearing Phone Call

Well, Howard got the phone call today. The 4-H Sheep kids are shearing Sunday, to be ready for the Fair. That means that I need to get the fleeces from last year washed up and spun. I have 3 fleeces washed up and on the back porch. There were 3 fleeces in the garage, waiting for me to get a move on and wash them. So, today I pulled them out and started them to soak. These aren't spinners fleeces, but from sheep being raised for 4-H competition. The fleeces were heavily skirted, and Dianne and I tossed the poor fleeces (there really weren't many bad ones.) This year I'm hoping to get some Suffolk fleeces too.

So, I put water in big containers outside, added a fleece, and let it soak. I tried, in the big garbage "can" to leave the fleece in a mesh container, but that didn't work out so well. So, I went back to leaving the fleece loose in the bin. Drain the bin, and fill again. Over and over. The water slowly gets cleaner, and then I'll move it inside and wash it that way. Wool absorbs so much water, that it takes a LONG time to drain. One of the fleeces is going to turn a bright white when it is finally clean. One has more yellow leanings at this time. The other? I don't know.

As you can see from the picture, I tend to do things wholeheartedly, my skirt got thoroughly soaked as well. sigh. Isn't it nice that today is laundry day too?

By the way, here is the picture of all three scarves together, just to prove that I DID get all 3 out of one skein. Or at least, I completed 3 scarves without frogging any!