From Sheep to Whatever

From the sheep to the whatever.

Actually, from bags of dirty fiber to yarn.

After picking through it and removing as much of the vegetable matter as possible it went into 

mesh laundry bags.

Then out to the kitchen.

Into hot soapy water to soak.

Some were very dirty and required repeated soaking while some only needed a couple of soaks. I was careful not to change the temperature of the water throughout the process.

I used shampoo for the first few and then switched to Dawn.

It is easier to rinse the fiber washed in shampoo. The dawn seems to need more rinsing and I ended up felting a bag of alpaca fiber trying to rinse out all the soap. Into the trash it went. Less soap from now on.

 I used a few drops of lavender oil in the final rinse.

This Chesterfield wool was washed a few days ago. I had it drying on the sweater drying rack, on the deck and the wind blew it everywhere. My driveway looked like a sheep exploded.

These net laundry baskets hung on the railing work well.

The fiber stays put and drys well in the sun and wind.

Some mohair.

Some alpaca.

Some Chesterfield.

Washing small batches at a time.

The process is time consuming and I haven't put a dent in the bags of dirty fiber.

Learning as I go.

Karen