I’ve been busy: in the shop, knitting, fall yard clean-up, hanging out online, spinning, and what-all. Had a wonderful thanksgiving; all three of my sons came and the eldest’s SO was also here, so it was special for me, the mom. Great meal at my sister’s; my sweet potatoes were a hit (which made up for my creamed onions made with rice milk that didn’t thicken!), and after, we had a rousing card game, pounce, and thanks were given and blessings acknowledged.
I ordered a clearance fleece from Flawful Fibers; about 3 lbs of Dorset X. It arrived super speedily; I photographed it as I was getting ready to wash.
A moderate amount of lanolin, not much large vm, but lots of dust, small seeds, and thorns. I washed it twice, by the handful, and got this:
To see if it was do-able, I spun and double-plied a bit of the fiber I had carded on the new carder I own half of, sharing with a friend in town who owns sheep. She gets it to try soon, I like what it does, but this sheep has what is called ‘downy’ wool; so it has lots of loft and semi short fibers. This is what I got:
Seems to be coming out a worsted weight, and like all my spinning, still somewhat thick and thin. Some of the dust bits I couldn’t wash out I was able to ‘flick’ out as I spun; the rest are now part of the yarn!
There was Lanolin left in the wool, which I think helped me with the spinning. I soaked some of the carded roving in synthapol and tried dyeing. Microwaved to set the dye; the color seemed to take. What to do with these? Hats? Mittens?
We’ve had our first snow, last week: my yard has all the leaves left; the neighbors are so tidy!
And on the interior, my passion-flower vine is blooming on buds set while it was outdoors; such a bizarre thing.
