In Which the Pirate Gives Up.

Last May we bought a fleece at MD Sheep and Wool.

We were only going to look at the fleeces, not buy one. We were only going to compare a few, not buy one. We were only going to pet them, not buy one.

Suuuuure we were.

Pictured: two people who don’t yet know that they’re in over their heads.

We washed it all, and opened up some locks, and carded a few batts.

Pictured: All the fleece that can be fed into a drum carder at one time. It is… not a lot.

And then we lost steam.

But today! Today was a fibre day. We were going to get this project reinvigorated! We decided to work on opening locks, so that everything would be ready for the drum carder. Two hours later the box of flicked locks was quite full but the fleece itself didn’t look any smaller… and we gave up. This is just too much for us. We have other projects that we want to work on, and quite honestly, this isn’t very much fun at all.

Pictured: a very, very small fraction of the total fleece, which weighs about 6.5 pounds after washing.

It’s a gorgeous fleece, and it’s going to go to a mill for processing, and then we’ll have the fun of spinning it without the tedium of carding it ourselves.

It’s been a beautiful learning experience, though.

Pictured: amazing fleece with amazing crimp.