wash day

Seems to be the time of year to wash the fleece. This fleece is not mine, but instead, belongs to a friend that lives down river from me. She has just started to spin (about 2 months ago) and is doing very well. She had started out to get just a fleece or two from a farmer who she brought her piglets from...but as chance would have it, the farmer was quite generous, and she now finds herself in possession of 20 fleece! She brought a few up to my house the other day, and we picked and scoured for a few hours in the afternoon. I believe we worked on a Southdown (the vanilla color) and a Columbia/Dorset Cross (the grey color). They both washed up quite well, but I have not had the chance to spin up any of it yet, as all of my bobbins were full.

At spinning group today, I worked on plying up the Alpaca that was on the wheel. I wound up with 310 yards of 20wpi, double ply, about 8oz. Just short of being able to fill the 6 foot triloom. My friend twisted up a piece of the Columbia/Dorset...and held it next to the Alpaca. It made a nice blend of colors. The bag was on my car seat when I went to leave, what a sweet surprise. I will have enough to spin up and put on the loom with the Alpaca, for a nice shawl.

One of the fleece she received was called a Baby Doll. I have not seen it yet, but have been reading about the breed. They are a miniature breed from a Southdown. They have the cutest faces, looking somewhat like a little teddy bear. No wonder they call them Baby Dolls! You can read more about them at this link.