Wordless Wednesday

Washing Wool

I want to share how I wash wool. I know it is a bit unusual to post here, but it keeps you all on your toes, and proves that I do creative things other than hope chest projects. It also shows how I jump from one project to another. This aspect of my personality drives some of the people close to me CRAZY! I've also been obsessed with the new smash book fad, but we won't go into that now...

I assure you that I'm still busily working on hope chest things, but I admit that I am slow to get the final bits of my projects finished - so no pictures yet. I have three kitchen sets almost finished. Abigail is turning 17 years old in a couple of weeks and I still have the big projects, like quilts, to do. Time is ticking away and I am feeling some pressure to be finished with this. Only because I know how quickly these last years go by! I don't expect she will need it anytime too soon. I just want to see it done.

I think that making the kitchen sets has been my favorite part of creating the hope chest. I love embroidery and crocheting small (read quick) things. In fact, I love quick projects period. I like to see something finished in a short time, and you know that some things just seem to drag on and get put off. I have some embroidered quilt blocks that I've been working on and off for years now. Sad, I know. I will get them done sooner or later. I think I'm not the only one with less enjoyable unfinished projects like these.

Anyway, the picture above shows my husband shearing the sheep. He shears sheep all over the countryside around here, and even travels overnight to some larger flocks. He shears mainly small, backyard flocks for hand spinners like ourselves. AND, he uses hand shears, which is another story altogether.

So, on to wool washing. Once I have the wool fleece, the next step is to separate a small portion and "pick" it to remove as much vegetable matter as possible before washing. Depending on how dirty the fleece is, this can be quite a job.

I place the portion of fleece loosely into a mesh lingerie bag.

I use three buckets, lined up in my bathtub to wash the wool. I'll just say that there are many ways to wash wool. Everyone seems to have their favorite method. Some folks just use their washing machine. Some others have a kind of set up in the backyard. Using the bathtub to soak a whole fleece  is another method I've heard of, but I don't want this very dirty water to go down the drain into the septic tank, so I use buckets and lift and carry them to pour outside.  I fill two of the three buckets with water as hot as my water heater can deliver. The hotter the water the better to melt and remove the lanolin.  Then I add a tablespoon of Dawn dish soap. Lower the soap into the water, but don't swish it. Just let it melt off the spoon and disperse into the water. Suds are harder to remove later in the rinse, so I don't make bubbles.

 

When the soap has melted into the water, I gently lower the bag into the bucket and leave the wool to soak. Set a kitchen timer for 20 minutes.

 

When the timer signals, lift the bag into the second bucket. If the wool is particularly dirty, this bucket is a second wash with just a bit more soap. Perhaps a half teaspoon, or so. If the wool isn't too dirty, this second bucket is the first rinse. You can tell how dirty the wool is by the color of the wash water. If the water is very brown, I do another wash. Because we live in a dry, windy place, I almost always have to wash twice, but maybe you won't have to. By the way, the reason I filled this bucket with water at the same time as the first bucket is because the water will cool at the same rate and be the same temperature as the first bucket. This can be important so that you don't "shock" the wool by changing the temperature of the water. If the water is significantly different, this difference in temperature may affect the way the lanolin acts and it may also cause some felting. I've not had trouble with this, but am careful still.

Sometimes I have to do a third wash. While waiting for this last wash soak, I refill the other two buckets for the rinse. I try to judge and adjust the temperature of the water so that it remains as constant as possible.

Just as the washing, I lift the bag from one rinse bucket to another and time twenty minutes for each soak. I always do at least two rinses. Sometimes I will put a half cup of vinegar into the last rinse.

After the final rinse, I lift the bag and let it drain until it isn't dripping. Then I take it outside and whirl the bag around my head to allow centrifugal force to remove as much water as can be. Stand well away from everyone you don't want to get wet!

Then I take the wool from the bag and fluff it out onto a towel. At this point I can see whether the wool is clean or if there is still lanolin clumped in it. A little lanolin doesn't bother me, as long as the dirt is gone and it feels and smells clean. The wool will always smell a little like lanolin and wet wool, but it should have a clean smell also. Let the clean wool dry in a protected place, away from the wind. My enclosed back porch is perfect since then I don't have to smell wet wool inside the house. If the wool still seems dirty, just let it dry and then repeat the wash process.

Once the wool is dry, I like to store it in a brown paper bag. This batch of wool was for Abigail's projects and it fit into a shoebox. Another cardboard box would work too. Many people store their wool in plastic totes or other containers. Paper grocery bags work well for me. Although I haven't had too much trouble with moths, I have a natural moth sachet recipe to help discourage them and try to regularly check the stored wool to make sure it isn't infested.

There are times when I wish I had a better system. It would be nice to wash more wool at one time, and I would rather not carry buckets through the house. But there are benefits to doing small batches as well, so I try to be content.

Shepherd's Wool Lead

The point of the new Shepherd's Wool Lead class at our county fair is to promote the use of wool in fashion and to promote the wool breeds of sheep as well. The contestants visit with a judge in an interview, then model a handmade garment or outfit made of at least 60% wool. Then they return to the ring and show a groomed sheep in fleece. We had just three girls sign up this year, but Abigail had fun and hopefully the class will catch on and there will be more participation next year. The garments must be handmade or homemade, but not necessarily by the contestant. I made the outfit this year, a cropped wool sweater and a long, flared wool skirt. I am so pleased that both garments turned out well. Here are the pics from the show.

 

2013 County Fair

Miss Abigail's entries for the county fair were far fewer this year than in past years. There are many reasons for this, but the biggest is that she is growing older and is WAY more busy these days with all kinds of things! And I am also, trying to help her manage it all. Abigail's focus this year in 4H was on sheep and fiber. She showed a Finn ewe and a Finn ram in the sheep show and also participated in the Shepherd's Wool Lead class. Her inside exhibits were reduced to two educational posters and the Fibercraft Self-Determined project. The end result of this complicated project was 27 yards of handspun wool. I am really pleased at how well she has learned how to spin. She also completed the Archery project --and she is loving archery! Here are some pics. Watch for a separate post on the Shepherd's Wool Lead tomorrow!

County Fair

Miss Abigail did very well at the Santa Fe County Fair this last week. In fact, she can hardly contain her happiness at winning a coveted buckle for all her work on her indoor exhibits. Reserve High Point winner! She took 47 exhibits this year, including many arts and crafts projects. Seventeen of her 4-H exhibits were recommended for our State Fair next month. Usually fair officials provide a plaque for the indoor high point awards, but this year they awarded buckles and she is so excited to have one, maybe you can tell from the picture. ;o) Here are some other highlights of the fair...

Abigail was very brave to take one of our Shetland rams to the sheep show this year. This guy is named Romeo and is tame enough (and old enough...) to attempt the show. She also showed two Finns in the ewe class. The judge was very complimentary. She was the only exhibitor in the breeding classes. We continue to work on increasing the interest in this project.

Now that the fair is finished, I should be able to return to posting a little more regularly - hopefully! Thanks for being patient.

Pickles! and Cherries!

Miss Abigail did her fair canning yesterday. I was personally glad that she was willing to repeat the 4-H canning project this year. (If Abigail were a Border Collie I would describe her as "biddable." She is so good to go along with all I ask her to do!) I felt that repeating the project would help solidify the skills that she learned last summer and help her feel confident that she could preserve food this way. She canned regular quick pickles and two kinds of pickled fruit. The pickled cantaloupe recipe was a repeat from last year. We tried pickling cherries just because we had cherries ready to can. The cantaloupe looks so pretty in the jar that she will exhibit that one. Here is the recipe for pickled cantaloupe, in case you want to try it.

Cut one just barely ripe cantaloupe into 1" pieces, as evenly square as possible. 7 cups of cantaloupe will fill three or four pint jars. (Abigail used a melon ball tool, just so that the fruit would look pretty in the jar. Because the judge doesn't open the jar, about the only way to gain points in a judging situation is to be exact on the headspace and to make things as pretty as you can!)

Combine 1 1/2 cups white vinegar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan. Make a spice bag with 1 stick cinnamon, 1 teaspoon whole cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice. Bring liquid to a boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add melon. Let stand about 2 hours. Add 2 1/4 cups sugar to the melon. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat; simmer until cantaloupe become slightly transparent. (Don't let this go on too long or the cantaloupe will become mushy!)

Begin to heat the water in the water bath canner. Prepare clean jars and heat these in the water canner. Heat the lids in a small saucepan to soften rings. Working quickly, one at a time, remove the jars from the canner and drain briefly. Pack the hot melon into the jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Ladle hot pickling liquid over melon, again leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles. Clean the rims and adjust the two piece lids.

Once all the jars are in the canner, make sure there is about 2 inches of water over top of the jars and bring the water to a full boil. Process the jars for 15 minutes, keeping the water boiling the whole time.

Allow the jars to cool and listen for the "pings" that tell you the jar has sealed. BTW, sometimes you won't hear the ping, but when the lid is fully concave, the jar is sealed. Wash the jars and clean the rings before storing in the cupboard (and certainly before exhibiting in the fair!)

On to the other pickles...

and cherries...