The craft/spare room has become something of a magic cabinet. Every time I go in, I come out with something new and exciting! The latest is a Shetland fleece that I purchased a few years back.
So I've taken it downstairs to process. Over the past few days I've scoured about half of it. The remaining half sits spread across the corner of the kitchen (picture above) while a quarter of it--already scoured--sits on a screen on the deck where the breezy, beautiful, warm air is drying it speedily.
Another quarter of it, that which was already dried from yesterday and some from earlier today, sits in this basket having been "picked". Picking is the process of opening up the locks and separating the fibers.
My scouring routine is to use two plastic tubs in the sink. I use hot tap water (it's pretty hot) and a bit of Dawn dish detergent (no more than a tablespoon) .
After a 20 minutte soak in the soapy water, I carefully remove it, wring it, and move it to the other tub with fresh soapy water for a second soak. As can be seen in the following picture, the first soak removes a lot of lanolin and muck.
After a second soak in soapy water, I wring it and lift it into a rinsing bath. Always matching the temperature of the new bath to the old, or hotter, but not cooler.
Rinsing is the last step in the kitchen, after which I take the wet wool outside, to the deck, and lay it out on screens to dry. When dry--which is pretty quick in this weather--I "pick" it; some may say "tease" it.
I am seriously thinking of dyeing these fibers before I spin them. I would like to create a heathered yarn. A nice heathered, Shetland, yarn.
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