Trying to Catch Up

This funny pot full of color is a ball of angora rabbit/merino wool spun as a single. I've dyed it by injecting color & also by soaking halves of the ball in a dye pot. I will need to ply it this afternoon but it will still be damp so I'll take the wheel outside as there is a steady shower on either side of the wheel as I ply this type of yarn.

I am trying to work on washing more of last year's fleeces as it will be shearing time before we know it. Al did shear Adolph, one little Shetland wether, last night. Shetland sheep are an old breed that have something called a "rise" which is the beginning of a natural shedding process. If a Shetland is not shorn before the rise, the fleece becomes matted together near the skin. Al mentioned that he felt he was a little late shearing this fellow but since we had temps in the teens last week we held off. I'd rather have a marginal fleece than a miserable sheep.

I've also begun some more felting. I love to felt & was inspired again by my week in the school. I've got another residency coming up so want to experiment with something a little different for the students to try. It is so much fun to fiddle around the house, stopping a few times a day to gather eggs!