Saturday, December 11, 2010

Wool Works



I have been skirting fleeces lately. I was happily surprised at how clean the first one was. I really was expecting a lot more VM (vegetable matter)and BM (poo). But there was very little BM...almost none (I guess cleaning the sheep's sleeping areas nearly on a daily basis really pays off in the end), and except for a few clumps of throw-away where the burrs had got matted in, there wasn't a lot of VM either. Even some of the matted spots came out fairly easily. I found it better to pull the wool apart and out of the burrs than to try to pull the burrs out of the wool. If that makes sense. I love the feel and smell of the wool. It amazes me how much less lanolin there is in the Icelandic wool than there is in the wool of other breeds.
You can see that Zinnia's locks are about 8 inches long. Her whole fleece, after skirting but before washing, fills a king-sized pillow case!

I am working on little Cookie's virgin fleece now. It is so soft, but has much more VM and BM than the five I had here had. Not huge amounts of BM but a lot of VM. I can only guess that she was being kept on hay for awhile before she was sent up to me. Her raw fleece looks like dredlocks! I love that crimp she has at the ends of her locks.


Even though she was just born in the spring, her locks are already 6 inches long.
Her fleece will fit in a much smaller pillow case, though!

10 comments:

  1. Brenda, your wool looks fantastic! Makes my fingers itch. Since the lanolin is so low, have you tried to spin some in the grease yet? I bet it would spin great.

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  2. What gorgeous colors you have! Enjoy!

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  3. Thanks ladies. It's all so very exciting.

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  4. oooh how exciting for you! They look fantastic. Look forward to seeing what great projects you come up with over the winter months.

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  5. Hi Brenda, Your wool looks great! I saw on Bachar FArm's blog that you where going to make a saddle pad? Can you email me. I have a question to ask you. mgcaretakers@yahoo.com
    Thanks,
    Marie

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  6. ok so lanolin is man made lol and not something that is made with a chemistry set, i think i have seen it in lotion, hope im right there lol. so what exactly is it?

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  7. Yes, Marie...I will email you.

    Jen...lanolin is an oily substance that sheep produce naturally. It collects in their wool, just like people who have oily hair! You can really feel it in sheep's wool...it is almost waxy. But my breed of sheep produces much less than most other breeds, so their wool just feels really soft. It makes your hands feel all soft, too. Thanks for asking.

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  8. how is the saddle blanket coming...? How long will it take you to make it?

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  9. Sandy, it is coming along pretty good. It will take some time to finish it as I only sit and work on it some in the evenings. Once all the extra holiday stuff is over, I may try to pick up the speed a bit so I can get it finished. Then I will blog about it!

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  10. Brenda, just wanted to wish you and yours a very merry and blessed Christmas and New Year!!

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