What?

 

Familiar?

Tom & Gracie

A few months ago, a fleece from a sheep named Gracie came to live with us. Gracie is a CVM/Romney, and she is so dark brown and soft…ooh, I really can’t describe. When Tom saw the fleece sample, his mouth opened and the words, “that’s my sweater,” came out. So. Gracie came home.

Designing a sweater for a guy is not really simple. Not if the guy wants to actually wear the sweater. Not if you want the guy to actually love the sweater you design for him. So, it took some doing. I’ve been through all the books. We talked about necks and ribbings, shoulders and textures. Ad infinitum. A woman in one of my Ravelry groups sent me an old Knitter’s magazine with an Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater. Good thought. But, no. However, there were elements of the “right” sweater there, and in another sweater in that old magazine.

The Swatch, the Needles, the Sweater Pattern, and the Cartoon

I had already spun a 20 yd sample of 12wpi 2-ply, thinking that would be about the right weight and spring for a sweater. And as soon as I had a chart for the allover design, I knitted a swatch. It’s fairly hard to see here, but…

The Successful Swatch

So, with 4 1/2 lbs of Gracie in the box, I set about deciding how best to wash her. I usually do a cold scour, but there has been so much talk about the Fermented Suint Method (FSM), that I decided to try that. In FSM, a fleece is soaked in room temperature water for a week. Just left to stew in its own juices. The water gets brown, opaque, practically flocculates, a slick of weird stuff forms on the top, oh…and it stinks. Does that make you want to try it? After that week, the fleece gets rinsed…I shot it with a hose…until the water runs clear. Guess what? The fleece comes out soft, locks intact, just swell! And it doesn’t stink. The best part is, or the most fun part, or the most really hard to get over part…is that that nasty dirty looking water is then reused, for more fleece. Yes. Just drop another fleece in…and in two days…that fleece is clean. Potassium salts from the suint do the trick. VM is loosened up, barnyard gunk drops out, pasty ends open up. It’s the closest thing to magic you will ever see in fleece washing land. The best part is…there is no soap, no stress about felting…no worries.

Gracie in the Tub – FSM Style

After the successful washing of Gracie, I started the process of carding. Carding and pulling roving.

Gracie Roving

Here’s a bit of the roving I’ve been pulling. We played a dance in Tampa the other night, and I carded and pulled for a couple of hours during the drive between Gainesville and the Rhapsody Ballroom. When we got to the dance, I showed a woman my little project. She rubbed her cheek against it, and proclaimed, “feels like cashmere.” Enough said.

Fleece Study, Part I

Navajo Churro, Cold Soaked for 6 Days

The Raw Wool Lovers, Unite group on Ravelry has been having a Fleece Study. Alice, aka shortsheepshepherd, has coordinated the purchase and distribution of a whole pile of fleeces…a variety of breeds. Last month, we received our first “installment” of 4 samples.

Fleece #1 Navajo Churro, was soaked for 6 days in a tub of cold water. I drained it and sprayed down the fleece when I got an algae bloom. The fiber is fairly coarse, but after the weeklong soak, it’s very clean, with a bit of grease…that, for me, is good for spinning.

Navajo Churro Locks, Ready to Card

I pulled off some clean locks from the pile of fluff. This stuff is long! I did card a small batt and it’s just lovely.

For the record, this fleece came from breeder Golden Ridge Farm in Vesuvius, Virginia.

Sally’s Fleece

Sally’s Fleece, Unwrapped

After a bit more skirting, her fleece weighs in at 3 lbs. Looks very oatmealy in color here, but it washes out very very light. I have 1/2 of the fleece soaking in a tub on my porch.

Here’s a close-up of the fiber. Nothing nicer than running your hands through this lanolin saturated stuff. So delicious.

A Summer Wool, Anyone?

Gulf Coast Sock Yarn Blend

Here’s a 4 oz knob of a blend of GC, bamboo, and, I think, silk. This was a gift from a gal who is trying very hard to move to this area. She was attempting to come up with a sock yarn for Florida using her wool. I am finding it easier to spin than knit. And, boy, do I need to get knitting. It has been hotter than the hinges of hell…and I’ve been finishing a big oak dais outside, wearing a rubber mask, and boy oh boy…am I a miserable beech when I’m sweating to death. So…I haven’t started the knitting projects.

I’m Liking this Yarn

Yessirram

Yessirree, yessirram, this yarn’s as good as fresh baked ham. Here we have more Reggie yarn…I really like those coarse hairs whiskering around the yarn. Is it awful? Am I a total geek? Or is this a really nice thread? I would wear it. Oh my yes. Yessirram.

Back to Reggie

Reggie, Combed

I just can’t get my stuff in one sock. I’ll tell ya. I want to wash fleece, but I am bouncing around like crazy. Back from Cocoa (where we played a dance) at 3:30 in the morning. To bed by 4:30. AM. Then it was take care of critters and gardens. Now, it’s pack the instruments in the truck and zip off to Gainesville to play another dance. This is all I could get done. Clean fiber…just needed combing. I started a yarn the other day. May as well add to it, yes?

Ever Get a DWS?

Spindlespun GC and GC Blend

Driving while spindling.  Well, no, I didn’t either. But then, I wasn’t doing both things at the same time. This was a road trip yarn. I’m not in love with this GC blend. Lends itself to lumps and knobs…it really drafts awfully. Ah well, it was a gift. Maybe if I prep the roving it will spin better. Pre-drafting is a good thing.

Mayday Alpaca!

Alpaca – “Reggie”

Spin a yarn a day. Here. This is from Reggie’s blanket. Yes, it feels as good as it looks. 

I’m getting to the point of actually having clear decks around here. May is an incredibly busy month here…and I have big fiber goals, as well as big music committments, and a giant deal with our gardens. I’m currently making an attempt to spin all the ends of projects…dribs and drabs of clean fiber…so that I can get to some serious fleece washing, dyeing, and spinning.

Over the summer, I’ll be making Tom’s Christmas present – ahem – from last year. We’ve been working on a design off and on since forever. I need to write out the pattern, swatch, and get spinning. The dark brown CVM/Romney “Gracie” fleece is dedicated to that end.

Then, there is “All Wrapped up in Natural Fibers” that has a May 20 deadline. I need to write a pattern - some sort of scarf. I’ve made several samples, for gauge swatching. But, now, we’re gonna get serious. I’ll be using Holly’s and/or Sally’s hogget fleece.

Okay. I also have made a promise to a designer to churn out a sample for her. I’ve spun the yarn, cast on, and found myself too busy. I have to make time for that too.

You see where I’m going with this? Yes…I need clear decks. That’s what today’s spinning is about. Chipping away at fiber mountain. If I can scale ‘er, heck, I’m not concerned with making the summit…but I would like to be able to see the sky again!

Month Ends with Beginner’s Mind

Beginner’s Mind: Border Leicester, CVM/Romney, Gulf Coast Native 40 yd about an Ounce

To end the month with a spin is good. To end, as one might begin, even better.

This yarn is spun with ends of runs…blobs with alfalfa, neps galore, uncombed locks. Just a pile of scruffy stuff that I loaded onto the handcards, cleaned, carded, and spun. I plied the dark CVM/Romney/GCNI with a fat Border Leicester single. Soo soft and delicious! Lumpy, bumpy, irregular, thick, thin, and a yarn any beginner would be horrified to spin.

This ends month #1 of Yarn Every Day on Ravelry. What a wild group! If you are a Raveler…come on by…we’ll be giving it a go next month, too!