 I was fortunate enough to have a day where I could focus on getting the rest of my fleeces washed. I couldn't have done it without my wonderful husband. He has got me all set up when it comes to getting things done.   He got the fire going in our outdoor wood burning stove and hooked up a hose so that I could fill the washtub full of 180 degree water. Water hot enough that it will liquify the lanolin off the wool.  The first step after skirting and picking out the 2nd's, is giving the fleece a good pre soak. This gets the really nasty stuff off and helps prevent me from having to wash more than once. I fill the tub up, then add the fleece and let it soak for a bit. Then I drain it, take the wool Out and refill the tub. I continue this process until the water is pretty clear. The first two soaks are so nasty!  The next step is filling the washtub with super hot water, then I add the fleece being careful not to agitate it. The trick with wool is to NOT accidentally felt it. Any sort of agitation and water are not a good mix. Spraying water directly on the fleece is extremely bad.  I usually use just plain old Dawn dish soap because if it's good enough for rescued oil covered animals, it's good enough for my greasy wool. This year I thought I would try this new stuff called Power Scour and I have to say that it is very good. I just had to do one wash and one rinse with this stuff. (Not counting the two presoaks). once the wool ha soaked a bit, I turn the washer to the spin cycle and it drains the tub and extracts the extra water from the wool. I then pull the fleece out and rinse out the tub before I refill it with plain water and a few drop of cedar wood essential oil. This helps keep moths and other unwanted critters out when its stored. You could also use lavender essential oil. One thing I remember from my workshop is that moths are like bedbugs or termites, once there is an infestation they are HUGE headache to get rid of. They are attracted to the sulfur in the fiber, and the essential oils smell like poop to them so it masks the suffer smell which detracts them.  It always amazes me how white my fleeces are just by giving them two presoaks. The wool below is from the same sheep. The one on the left has just been placed in the presoak water and the one on the right is the fleece that has been soaked twice. Just plain water did that!  The fleeces below are all Shetland fleeces. The variance in color is awesome! The fleeces below are from Buckeye, Narnia, and a Shetland fleece that was given to me. It's a brown color called Moorit. I'm excited because I will have two of this color next year from my 2016 lambs.   Getting a closer look at Buckeyes fleece shows that he is grey,white, fawn and a little bit of moorit. His fleece is extremely soft as well, softer than all the others. It feels good to be done with the washing phase. At least now I can not worry so much about storing them till winter.
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 Photo Source: Belle Manor Farm  Photo Source: Belle Manor Farm We have a new ram that will be living with us later this summer/ early fall! Nancy put me in touch with Lynda from Belle Manor Farm in SW Missouri. She had a beautiful little ram lamb named Buckeye that was born this spring. He has beautiful color and will be our stud ram that will replace McDuff when he goes back home. He is a spotted yuglet. He is the one standing in the photos. His face reminds me of a panda! And here are the latest pictures of the two shetland rams that were the last to be born.  This is Little Dixie's Robin. He looks as though he is a grey Katmoget.  And we have Little Dixie's Batman. He is a black Krunet with a little white on each side of his face as well.  The photos are not the best since they were taken with my phone. We are shearing next Wednesday so hopefully I will get some good pictures of that process. Also I plan on weaning all the lambs in the middle of June so they should be ready for their new homes the first part of August. |
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