Washing Shetland hoggit fleece

So that Shetland fleece I bought at Rhinebeck... The one I thought was tan? Well I was WRONG. I decided to wash a couple of locks just to see if I could do it without felting the thing. I had heard so many HORROR stories you see about Shetland fleeces that felted in the bag on the way back from fairs.... So I wanted to be really careful. Even though I bought this fleece for demonstrations I still didn't want to RUIN it completely.




This is the Shetland ram lamb hogget fleece I bought. It's tan isn't it? WRONG!!! Look!



Locks of fleece living in there little fleece pens. Doesn't it look like I'm cultivating mold?


Fleece drying on a clothing rack that I've lined with paper towels.





Hmm.... the locks come in all shades of white to dark gray!!! What a dirty dirty filthy little lamb!!! This is the first sorting with the the first pile of cleaned locks. Obviously, I managed not to felt them. So... I went on to wash some MORE fleece.


Compulsive enough for you? I went from 5 piles of locks to TEN! and I'm not even half way through washing the thing yet.

This little lambie has just about every single possible color combination possible in his beaver locks that is listed for white to gray fleece on this site. http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/ssbg/colours.html


Pure white.


White shot through with black threads




A couple of shades of light gray and silvery gray.



2 types of musket, or a sort of agouti stripe. One pile is coarse than the other.



And the dark grays.

As well as a couple of piles of shorter locks and possible second cuts.

More sorting to go!

What am I going to DO with this once it's all clean??? Who knows... I'm sure I'll think of something!

Off to change the water in the sink.

Busy busy busy... Rhinebeck and Warrior's Naadam

So... on October 20 and 21st I and about 10,000 other fiber fans made our pilgrimage to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck NY for the annual Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival. (http://www.sheepandwool.com/)

But me? I had to be different... Why? Because the Silver Horde was having it's first ever Warrior's Naadam up in Putnam County and I wanted to go check out the event since I helped Mendee make Mongolian cookies the weekend before and if the rest of feast was as yummy well... I wanted to have some!

So on Friday, October 19th, I took the day off to finish packing and making my garb. I wanted to make Song dynasty garb since this was a close to a Chinese themed event as I was going to get and the announcement said to come dressed in Mongolian garb or in areas that Mongolians conquered. So I spent most of Friday madly finishing my sewing, because in a fit of madness I decided that I wanted one of those belt dangly things the ladies are wearing in all the paintings. Here is an example... http://www.chinapage.com/painting/guhongzhong/guhongzhong4.html

Anyway, because I'm a fiber junkie and I couldn't leave well enough alone. I had to spin my own silk cord from silk hankies (Chasing Rainbows, lagoon colorway). And then I had to tie my own knots. So... I spent the time the previous week when I should have been making my garb spinning silk hankies!

Here is the completed ornament.
I finally finish my garb around 4PM. Mary is calling me from the train station. I go pick her up and bring her back to my apartment. Where I start to madly pack. We have dinner and then we drive up to Kingston where Mary has a hotel reservation.

We spend the night in Kingston, the next day we wander wake up dark and early! It is SO foggy outside and drive over the Rhinecliff-Kingston bridge heading for the Dutchess County Fairgrounds. We get cider donuts at the 4-H booth! Yummy! By then of course I have already hit the alpaca fleece tent and have picked up a nice gray baby alpaca fleece. We comment that I really need to branch out with regard to my fiber choices... We get separated quickly because I keep on getting distracted my shiny things! I run through the fair at top speed picking up all the things on my shopping list. I want to be on the road to the Naadam by 1PM. I can't believe it! the backseat of car is packed with fiber and it's only 12PM. I've picked up most of the things on my list. I'm headed out to Putnam County.

I get to the Naadam and find most of my friends busy at work in the kitchen... I ask Nicole to show me the tent and help me with my garb and hair. We scuttle off. Nicole has a LOT of fun with my hair! She's turned me into a life sized anime... Sigh... oh well. I wander around for a bit and say hi to everyone. Then I head back to the kitchen where I find Mendee hand rolling dough for the fried dumplings (they look sort of like empanadas). I offer to help and soon find myself covered in flour holding a giant rolling pin. Things slow down for a bit and I manage to stuff my face with some of the dayboard leftovers. Flatbread yummy. We go back to making the dumplings. Raymonda has come by and Lada is showing her how to make dumplings. More rolling out of the ENDLESS dumpling dough... I never realized there was a reason Mom and Dad rousted us out of bed at some stupid early hour on a weekend... It was just so I could roll out dumpling dough as part of a SCA assembly line. hee hee

Court is announced and I make my way there... Since I have been informed and threatened by numerous people that I MUST go to court. I go to court and start spinning... What else is new? Oh dear... I'm being called up... oops! I give the wrong hand to my nice "escort." Hey!! I'm a modern woman. When someone offers their hand I extend my right hand and shake.... hee hee hee... Ok I kneel in front of the king and queen and and try not to fidget. Obviously, that didn't work very well since Alexandre kept on glaring at me... Sigh... The herald reads something and hands me my scroll. Neat! it's in Chinese. Hmm... must go home and find dictionary. I'm trying to read it and the herald and the king are saying stuff over my head... Oops I guess I should pay attention... Ok I guess I can go now... Oops maybe not... Oh well, his Majesty just nods and Alexandre is shaking his head and laughing... Eularia is just giggling. Sigh... I run back to the kitchen... It's safer there. Mendee just has a big knife and Nicole a giant wok full of boiling oil, but it's still safer.

Feast is really yummy. But afterwards I accidently instigated an indoor "snowball" fight with MARSHMELLOWS!!! Hee hee hee Nicole got her food fight after all.

After the marshmellows were cleaned up we went up to the bonfire and sat around. It was FREEZING!! So we wander back to our tent. Nicole and I giggle for a while then go to sleep. The next morning bright and early. I pack up my gear and head back to Rhinebeck. I wander around and pick up more fiber and stuff and I bought another sheep fleece. It's a nice tan color with black tips. It's a Shetland hoggit. It has some vegetable matter in it and it's kind of greasy, but it's soft and I think it will make a nice demonstration fleece.

Here is a picture:

I meet up with Mary again and we finish up our shopping. Then we pack up the car had head back home. Mary was highly amused by the amount of STUFF I acquired over the weekend.

More to follow on washing the fleece