3 Bags Full.......Oct. 18, 2006

LIfe is finally settling down to a dull roar, and I am finding a little extra time for fibery things.  Earlier, I shared a bag of gorgeous fleece that I had purchased at the fair.....but....what I didn't share is that THREE bags came home with me!  It has been some time since I have purchased a fleece and somehow sitting right next to many tables of freshly shorn, wonderful fleeces was just too much for any fiber loving person to resist.

I can't explain what comes over me when I see a gorgeous fleece right off the sheep.  The smell, the textures, the luster....mmmm.....  I grabbed these fleeces and left them on my platform, telling everyone that I was not going to really buy them....I was just trying them on to see if they fit...hehe...

I gave it my best shot and resisted for a few days, but in the end, it was just no use...these fleeces were just to beautiful to resist.

Even though the weather today was probably not the best for washing, my fingers were itching to get at least one of the bags in the wash.  Usually I will have to skirt a fleece and separate it all out, but this particular fleece was so clean and consistent in lock size and texture that I only had to dump the bag into the wash.

After I crank the hot water heater up to it's highest setting, I use regular dish detergent for the first wash....in my gulp, washing machine.  You can't tell much from the picture, but the water was pretty clean for the first wash.

Needing only one hot wash and one good hot rinse, the fleece was ready to be put outside to dry.

Many people don't like to deal with raw fleeces, but for me, the transformation that the raw fleece undergoes and seeing what the final product is going to be, always fascinates me.   The colors in this young Romney fleece are so pretty.  Shades of chocolate and dusky grey are going to be so fun to play with!!

I hear-by swear to stay out of the fleece barn at Rhinebeck, scary things happen when I go in........!! 

Comments

[Denise/CT]

Love the fact that you just dumped the fleece in, lucky girl to purchase such a clean fleece. I have always used a bag to contain the fleece, I see that you don't. Do you leave the fleece in the tub and spin it out? Do you remove the damp fleece before you refill the washing machine? and BIG question...is this safe for my septic system processing fleece this way? Thanks for the help.

[Cindy D]

I know what you mean.....fleeces are wonderful right off the hoof. Hope I don't feel tempted to buy any at Rhinebeck....

[Julia]

Wow, right in the washer huh? Do you put it in a pillow case or something? Sorry, I am real ignorant of the processes that occur between the sheep grazing in the field and the yarn sitting in a bin at the yarn store. But I am fascinated that you treat cleaning a fleece like it's just no big deal. I am hoping to at least try learning to use a drop spindle at the Kid & Ewe fiber fest down our way in November. Have fun!

[jessie]

I LOVE a raw fleece.

There's no harm in going into the fleece barn if you only look and touch a few, right...?

[Manise]

I don't know, I promised Sandy I wouldn't chew up car space with the purchase of a fleece. I may have to reconsider ;-)

[Laurie]

HAHAHA out of the fleece barn, wench. Save it all for me me me!

Just kidding. I have enough fleeces, too. Yours looks beautiful.

[Cheryl]

I'll be staying out of the fleece barn with you, my fleece closet can't hold another one! See you soon!

[Mary Ellen Dadds]

The Black fleese is lovely.
I think id like a Black fleese one day.Maybe In May when we have ourSheep and wool show here in Maryland
Mary Ellen

[Carole]

We can stay out of the fleece barn together. Okay?

[PumpkinMama]

Wow - what a nice fleece. I need a black fleece. I long for the day when I have a hot water system that can reliably fill my washer with hot water (or my tub for that matter). Gone will be the days of stovetop heating and small fleece washing batches!!