Did a bit more shopping (and now I MUST STOP ... unless I run across a great deal at a fiber festival), got myself a pair of barely-used wool carding paddles (documentable!) and that black Shetland fleece I mentioned earlier. And a copy of A History of Hand Knitting, but that's still in transit from the UK. Naturally, the first thing I did upon receiving my box-o-sheepy-goodness was to spread the raw fleece out in my living room floor. I'm now slowly picking through the wool by hand to separate the longer, coarser outer coat from the downy under-coat. Still looking for specific information about how fleece was cleaned and scoured in-period, but in the meantime a cold water soak to loosen some of the dirt and vegetable debris won't hurt.
I have established a line of communication with a shepherd in the UK who raises coloured Ryeland sheep (documentable!) and is willing to ship raw fleeces to the US. Alas, due to unforeseen veterinary expenses (the dog is fine, btw, just having some itchy skin issues that seem to be clearing up), and the cost of shipping something as large as an adult fleece I'll have to wait until the spring shearing before I can have one sent over. In the meantime, I'll carry on with my Shetland substitute, and see if I can convince the Husbeast that starting a small fiber flock is an awesome idea.
No comments:
Post a Comment