As soon as I laid the blanket out on my studio floor and started skirting my wool, Bud came running in from outside.
Maybe it was the smell of the wool that pulled him away from his post in front of the big maple obsessively watching for the chipmunk to appear. Whatever it was, he didn’t stay long, and soon he was at his alternative post at the gate outside my door.
After skirting Kim’s wool I found it was cool enough to move outside. So I hung my speaker from the doorknob and Krishna Das sang while I chanted along and shook and pulled debris from the wool.
At some point, Jon let Zinnia out and the three dogs surrounded me, Bud at his post by the gate, Fate laying next to me on the blanket chewing on the stray piece of wool and Zinnia dozing between the two.
Most of the wool was clean but Asher and Issachar’s wool is thick and sticky with lanolin. It’s the first time I’ve had them shorn and it was impossible to get all the tiny pieces of hay and dirt out of it.
I was seriously thinking of getting coats for them. I’ll have to see if Deb at the Vermont Fiber Mill thinks the wool is clean enough.
Asher’s wool was a lot shorter than Issachars. I think I’m going to make his wool into roving (it’s easier to do with short wool) and maybe I’ll keep half of Issachar’s plain and do a barber pole twist with white for the other half.
We’ll be dropping the wool off on Sunday.
We’ll meet Deb on the porch at the Mill (we won’t be going inside) and we’ll wear masks. Because we want to keep our visit as short as possible I’ll use some of the same colors as I did in the fall to dye the white and gray wool.
I haven’t made those final decisions yet, but will have it all figured out by Sunday.
After going to the Mill we’re going to visit our shearer Liz Willis who lives close by. For the past couple of years we’ve talked about visiting her farm and are finally doing it.
Liz has over 40 sheep and lambs and I’m looking forward to seeing them and maybe meeting Asher and Issachar’s mom too.
Hi Marie,
I am just wondering about how you skirt your wool. Around here (Wisconsin) some of my friends use an old screen door, put it on horses to stabilize and skirt the wool on that. All the vegetable matter goes through the screen. Now I do not have animals or claim to be real wise about this, but I just thought it would be something you could check on. I may be way off base, but I just wanted to toss that idea out there. Have been following you both for several years. Love that stripped hat Jon had one a while ago, blues and browns. I want to try to make one similar. You are both very special people for all the good things you are doing for so many people.
Sincerely,
Joan from Wisconsin
That’s interesting Joan, That would make things easier for sure. I’ve always just done it by hand, picking through.
I like seeing Bud and his little smooshed in face.
He’s a cutie!