Cleaning up the fleeces from the two Whitefaced Woodland sheep has been an interesting experience. Who knew those two were so filthy!!
Even though I soaked both fleeces overnight in cold water both of them were heavily stained with sweat and minerals from the dirt. Still, by the time the wool is carded and spun it won't notice.
However, what will notice is the terrible level of debris on the second fleece. Despite 90 minutes of skirting (picking out the big stuff) prior to soaking, and then a further two hours picking during cleaning, it is still heavy with debris. Processing this myself means I'm going to have to sit for a few evenings picking more of this out because while carding can remove a lot, it won't remove all of this. It could end up knitted in to whatever I make.
Because of this, I've thought long and hard about what to do with the fleeces. I've had to admit that while I like giving things a go, the cost and time involved in carding kilos of fleece and then spinning it is too great. I already have too many hobbies that I struggle to find the time for so it is not realistic for me to try and fit more in, and i don't want to shove the clean fleece in a bag and leave them in a cupboard. Whitefaced Woodland sheep are rare breed and I want to use the wool.
So, I have contacted a small mill on the Scottish boarders who have offered to card and spin the clean fleece for me into 100g skeins of wool. It won't be cheap but these guys specialise in small batches and rare breed wool. Although they are booking fleeces in for September 2019, they've offered to try and fit me in sometime in January.
I'm a bit torn - on the one hand I want to get it sorted so I can do something with it, on the other it's straight after Christmas and Martin and I are about to book a break away in January.
Some serious penny-pinching and money-saving will have to happen between now and then to pay for all of this.
Just what I'm good at!
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