Guess what breed of sheep this is and it's color??? Give Up???
It is an incredible Teeswater Fleece that came from a lady I have not talked with for about 7 years - thought she no longer raised the wonderful sheep but the universe connected us up and I am thrilled. Five pounds of lushes long locks of prime fiber...
For those who may not know this about me - I am very allergic to Lanolin - Yep a gal who raised sheep breaks out in bumps and a horrible rash and them my finger tips split and bleed. It is unbearable that the thing I love in life and hurt me so.. Hence the reason I also settled on Icelandic Sheep because they are more of a dry sheep - less Lanolin.
So in order not to injury myself I had on long sleeves, heavy rubber gloves and by no means scratching my face or any other part of my body.
The process is simple - I take a small amount, no more then two ounces at a time and gently lower the fleece into the sink with very, very hot water and my own homemade soap you slowly push the fleece into the water and let it sit while the soap and water does it work. That would give me time enough to run out to the barn and check on Sugar. I sat with the timer for 15 minutes and then ran back into the house. At that point I gingerly life the fiber out of the water and into a colander. The fiber is still very hot while you press the water out. Then the process is repeated over and over again till the lockets are spotless. Time consuming but well worth the effort. Trick here is not to let that fiber cool down and then get shocked when putting it into the water or you might just be making felt. Sometime I was not wanting to do.
It took a total of six hours to do the two fleeces - only one is from my friend - now they sit drying on the racks and soon I will be able to touch them with my bear hands - I am doing the Happy Dance....
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