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Thursday, May 6, 2010

What Do You Get...

...when you mix Buddy with Rebecca Boone?



Sterling silver!

I have so. much. Cotswold. fiber. Longwool breeds grow enough wool to shear twice a year. Plus they are bigger than say, a Jacob sheep, which also increases how fast their wool starts to pile up (more surface area).

One of the fun things about Jacobs is how many color combinations you get from blending different amounts of the black and white wools. As I was sorting through fleeces this afternoon, I decided to grab a handful of white (Buddy) and gray (Rebecca Boone) Cotswold wool, blend it and see what I got. Looks like we'll have a new roving color just in time for the new festival.

The worst thing about playing around like that is that as soon as I pulled it off the drum carder I wanted to sit down and spin it. I just don't have time. However, as I held the batt, admiring the beautiful color, the lovely sheen of Cotswold fiber, how it blended together but you could still see each individual fiber...I noticed that it felt like it weighed about 2 ounces. Two ounces is what I need to spin if I want to have something to enter in the skein competition.

I can rationalize just about anything.



Now if I could just find my wheel.

Currently there are 36 bags of washed wool in the shop. I think that truly makes it a wool house. I'm headed to Ohio Valley Natural Fibers on the 12th. I'll be kinda' glad when it's the carpet and couch house on the 13th ;-).

Do you have your fleece, skein and photography entries ready? Don't forget - there's prize money to be won... :-).

12 comments:

DayPhoto said...

Everything looks like so much fun and excitment building. The wool is beautiful washed and spun! I thank you for sharing it with us, esp me, because I really am new at all of this. I only saw wool shaved and then it was gone.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Leedra said...

That makes a person want to reach out and touch it.

Camp said...

It looks like a lovely little ole lady from behind ;-)


beautiful!

Peacecat said...

Sterling silver indeed! Beautiful fiber, and I don't blame you a bit for wanting to spin right away.

Your wool house is a FULL WOOL HOUSE!

Whew!

That's just awesome.

lisa said...

I have a guestion, we have friends that have alpaca's and she would like us to weave carpets out of it but we have never had to have the raw material processed or did it our selves and I would like to know if you know where I could go to get it processed and ready to weave? I would also love to get a spinning wheel but have not been able to find one that is all together and won't cost us a fortune to get it.

Alice said...

That shiny silver sliver smells as wonderful as it looks, and feels heavenly to touch. I hope all your wool puts a little jingle in your pockets as well. Baa-Baa Black sheep ain't got nothin' on you!

thecrazysheeplady said...

Lisa, I have a couple friends with alpacas. Send me your email address and I'll put you in touch :-).

thecrazysheeplady at gmail dot com

Deb W said...

'looks like my living room - ha ha

(I've GOT to start taking these fleeces I buy to the processor. They DO stack up!)

Ed said...

Now thats alot of wool..:-)

flowerweaver said...

Definitely looks like a wool house to me!

Karen Sue said...

I'm just a beginning knitter, but I think I'd like to see it from start to finish. I know I only see the end. I know someone who told me she has sheep and spins...funny, isn't it, how you don't always know the basic things about people until you ask the right questions??

theegggather said...

Oh, that looks sooooo soft. Makes me want to get the felting needles out and make something.

The festival in Lexington looks very inviting - I was just there last weekend for my brother's grand opening of his trailer sales. May have to make a trip back down.

Sardinia is just a few miles from my home - welcome to Ohio.