# Been gone too long!



## lexierowsell (Dec 10, 2013)

I've missed you all so much! Life got crazy here (as it does...) and my time to sit and read and participate evaporated somehow. 

My shearer ended up injured, needing surgery, two days before my flock was booked. It was incredibly late in the season anyway because, well, life... I ended up doing all of the sheep on my property (23 in total) myself, 19 of them with hand shears. 

Interestingly enough, I have absolutely fallen in love with the job. Indoctrination by fire rarely does that for me, but it was like I slipped in time (ok, I'm a little kooky) when I got into the rhythm with my hand shears. Ok, crazy off. 

My Rambos are all wild. Absolutely untame, wild, skittish beasts. That said, I sheared them all in their little house in the pasture where I trapped them with a mixture of cunning and feed. What a riot that would have been for someone to watch. Needless to say, all of their fleeces, while beautiful (especially this lamb fleeces on my yearlings!!), were disgracefully tossed in dirt and manure. They are now building the base of a compost pile for a few years from now. 

I did however save the black fleeces from my two ef x BFL ewes. They are not well sheared, but gorgeous quality wool. I would like to play with them! 

I'm going to a craftmans village at a living history farm this weekend, low and behold they have a fiber shop. ((((DANGER DANGER DANGER))))

My question for y'all is this: what should I get to start playing with a couple "greased" fleeces??? I think I want a blending board, but will dirty fleece ruin it? I'm going to look for a spindle that speaks to me. I have a couple dog slickers I bought for this. Am I going to get discouraged using a fleece with (probably a gazillion) second cuts?

Thanks all you most wonderful enablers, er umm, helpful folks.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

Hmmmm, no fiber tools really work well with "fleece-in-the-grease". The lanolin gums up the teeth and tines. (Some people do this, but personally, I would not) 

Best to simply "tease open the fibers" and the get to spinning.  Be prepared for a lot of "drag" and "tearing" and "fighting" with the fiber. It will not draft easily as you attempt to spin it - so you might want to experiment with "pre-drafting". 

I don't sweat second cuts - to me, they add a rustic, "conspicuously handspun" character to the yarn. The second cuts will add a tweedy affect. 

This video will give you a good idea of what to expect. This lady is spinning a fleece just as it came off the sheep and you can see what kind if yarn she is getting. 

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5olY3oWXzA[/ame]


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Different sheep have different amounts of lanolin. If your fleece is otherwise clean of debris, give it a go.

I think my sheep always had fleece that was too dirty to spin directly off them. I used the mill, but I didn&#8217;t like what happened with the fine fleece, little nubs. My latest adventure involves soaking the fleece right off the sheep, allowing to dry, then using my combs to get out the debris before washing. Then, I have to comb it again, but I&#8217;m happy with it.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

What I have done- I got one of those flimsy plastic cutting boards, the kind when you are done chopping it can be folded to carry to the pot of food...Then I put it on my thigh and comb open the fibers a bit with a dog comb/brush. Be prepaied to get prickled, man that hurts...


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## DragonFlyFarm (Oct 12, 2012)

First off kudos to you for tackling such a huge job! My Jacobs are hard enough....wrestling a Rambo? Sheesh!
Why don't you wash your fleece before you start to play with spinning? You can wash a chunk and play with it, and compare it to spinning in the raw. Then you would know what works best for you. Let us know how it goes!


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## lexierowsell (Dec 10, 2013)

Would someone be kind (and bored) enough to walk me through washing and not ruining a fleece?


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## lexierowsell (Dec 10, 2013)

Look what I just found in my growing pile of "to read" books!


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## lexierowsell (Dec 10, 2013)

Hmm, my fleece is in chunks, not a nice blanket like Judith's... Advice?


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

have you been to the "stickies" at the top of the Fiber Arts page? There is a library of useful links and informational sources right there!

such as: http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/country-homemaking/fiber-arts/157527-washing-fleece-101-a.html

and you can also use the "search" field to find threads already chalked-full of instructions and questions answered.

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/country-homemaking/fiber-arts/505968-washing-fleeces.html

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/co...-arts/474421-need-help-washin-corriedale.html

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/country-homemaking/fiber-arts/471004-how-do-you-wash-wool.html


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## lexierowsell (Dec 10, 2013)

Oh boy...!!

My DH is out of town for a while, his father is in the late stages of Alzheimer's and has been moved to hospice, Steve is gone to take care of his mother; they've been married 69 years.

That said, I am presently handling the farm and our 30 member CSA program single-handedly. I would like to find something peaceful to do in my down time. I must be getting old because I just don't find watching TV relaxing anymore, and my brain is too tired to really read a good book. I think this is the perfect opportunity for me to deal with the 35lbs of pretty black fleece sitting in bags in my barn. 

Three Bags Full really took most of the fear of washing away. Question though, I have washing soda and regular laundry detergent and dish detergent, and Orvis. Which should I use? 

The fleeces are relative low grease feeling (certainly NOTHING like my Rambos), from EF x BFL ewes. They are pretty low VM, but the shearer did an awful job (haha) so there are MANY second cuts, and the fleece is in 500000 pieces. I think the staple is about 3-3.5", and a bit crimpy. I will pull out some locks and post pictures. 

Thanks so much for the links WIHH, on my phone I don't look at the stickies, just jump right to where I wanna go! I had actually posted on one or a couple of those threads!


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## lexierowsell (Dec 10, 2013)

Here are a few shots of pieces of the fleeces I plan to play with. I very much underestimated how much the two bags weighed, I would now say closer to 50lb the pair. 

First is Ella. She's very sweet, was in great body condition when I got her, and seems to have pretty high strength wool. 
















Second is Tina. She's still pretty shy, but is younger (2 year old) and even healthier, prettier wool.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I used to use Orvis. I can't find it now easly,so I use eather Dawn or shampoo. I use dog shampoo that has a brightner in it for white dogs for my white fibers.


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## DragonFlyFarm (Oct 12, 2012)

pretty locks! I use dawn for a medium grease fleece. You've got lots to play with!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Orvus paste works very well for cleaning fleeces. I have also used Suave Clarifying shampoo if you want some of the lanolin left in. Try soaking the fleece in cold water, and repeating that a few times. It will get a lot of the dirt and dust out. Then wash in hot soapy water and rinse.

As for the video WIHH posted, I see nothing wrong with the yarn that woman is spinning but I learned to spin in the grease. You can and should always wash your yarn after it is spun. If you spin it in the grease just flick the ends open or use a dog comb to flick or comb them open.

Congratulations for being able to get them all sheared. Have fun with this. You will have more where these came from so if you mess up learn from it and move on.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

Marchwind said:


> As for the video WIHH posted, I see nothing wrong with the yarn that woman is spinning but I learned to spin in the grease.


 I rather LIKE the rustic yarn that woman is spinning in the grease- I spin a LOT of yarn like that! :grin:


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## lexierowsell (Dec 10, 2013)

OMG! I went to the fiber shop in an anabaptist community here in Waco yesterday. What an amazing experience. I have a feeling I will be a weaver. 

I bought cards:









And a pretty, exotic wood, handmade drop spindle:









And got samples of the entire Kookaburra product line:


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## lexierowsell (Dec 10, 2013)

In sharing my excitement with my poor DH who is in North Georgia burying his father ( :-( ), he shared with me something VERY (potentially) exciting. 

His mother (he's the baby, she's in her late 80's) has had in her attic forever a gorgeous old wheel. I'm going to start a new thread with pics!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Score!!!!!!


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