I'm fixin' to get ready to send fleece off for pro-cessing. Of serious and nagging business are the dozen (or more) fleeces in the garage which are becoming an increasing storage nuisance. Skirting is a warm weather business and unpleasant at best. I like to have some sun on the fleece as it warms up the lanolin and makes shaking out the nasty bits a little easier.
I've set up my skirting table on the west side of the garage and I'm started with this years shearing of Mickey. When I've skirted all of Mickey's fleeces, I'll box them up and ship them off for processing and start on the next group. I'm fixin'.
It was a day of fixin'. I'm soaking fleece here, fixin' to wash it. Mim told me she'd gotten a tip from Judith MacKenzie - put your fleeces in a cold water soak before you wash them, leaving them in the water for several days, and a week is even better. I guess something happens in the nasty water that helps break down the lanolin? Anyone, anyone? Ferris??
I carded the dark gray fleece that I had washed. These are great things to do on a laundry day since you can get them done in between loads, and it does make laundry seem a lot less thankless. I was fixin' for my spin-in today at a noon fiber play-date in town.
There were a half dozen of us at Allison's today. I spun this while we chatted and I cannot tell you how much good that did my heart. She has this in her home every Tuesday, from 11:00-1:00 and I realize just how important it is to make time for it. I left feeling like I had taken happy drugs. It was good medicine. I finished the day with a long over-due pedicure. I have to take Ian into town in the morning for an ultrasound and x-ray. He's still pretty rocky, but a much more compliant patient than he was a week ago. Thanks for all your comments and concerns on that front.
And of course, one of laundry day tasks is putting fresh linens on the bed. But there seems to be something under the covers. Will laundry day never end?!
It's the chief snooper-visor! He's checking to see if I made mitered corners and if you can bounce a quarter off the sheets. Yes and no. Oh, and I am going to bed tonight with lime green toenails which still make me giggle.
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10 comments:
I does do you heart good! Its so hard to convey that feeling to someone who doesn't spin.
I've been thinking of trying the pre-soak thing with one of my fleeces, but not sure I could take the smell :)
Charlie is too cute. I know what you mean about storing fleeces. I have some really old ones that I wonder about yet I can't bear to part with them. I know once the house gets organized and livable in every room, I'll be wanting them!
Such industriousness....send some of it my way! Sloth has overtaken me!!
I'm not a fan of tasks that involve getting my hands wet....so this looks like a nightmare to me.
Sue
Sounds like the perfect day! The green polish certainly sounds fun too. Good luck to Ian!
Oh it does one's heart so much good to break out of the routine and shake it up a bit.
Hope Ian's reports are good and that he'll soon be mended.
I want a pedicure! I don't know of anywhere I can get one, tho. I can't seem to bend over to paint my tootsies without getting all out of breath and light headed. I wonder why that is??? :) lol
I believe Judith said that soaking the fleece for several days in cold water would break down the suint...the sweat and dirt in the fleece and would help prepare it for a final scour. I myself have tried this method and I like it :-)
That dark fleece you're spinning is lovely.
I have two really nice Romney fleeces that I bought on ebay awhile ago piled up in my garage. They are both HUGE. I should fill a mesh bag with a big handfull or two and try the cold soak method. I have not heard of that before. I wanted to scour these at home and just hand card or flick them as I spin, and they both weigh so much that just washing them seems like a daunting task. My eyes were bigger than my stomach, so to speak, and I think the shepard underestimated the weight when he listed them. I'm used to buying fleeces that run six to eight pounds, and when I weighed these bad boys, one weighed just over eleven, and the other one weighs almost fifteen. They are both beautiful colors, but they have me intimidated.
Brenda.
finding a cute little four legged kitty in laundry at least makes the chore a little more fun.
I had fleece sitting around to and found it got so tacky I couldn't get it clean.
Hope Ian's test come back ok!!!!
Neil used to "help" me change sheets, too!
You are going to have to a lot of spinning when these fleeces get back, unless you are planning to sell some. Are you?
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