I have call for egg from hens I hatched from chicks and served turkeys I raise for Thanksgiving dinner . I have even driven my own shot glass in a cart to deliver farm goods to a customer .
But I am not sure anything has mat up quite as rewarding as knitting lovesome wintertime wearables from my own backyard sheep .
To put on a hat I craft by hand from wool I spun myself is a magical routine . I do n’t think many citizenry translate this level of severely - make headway and unproblematic satisfaction in our modern world .
Getting Started
To get start on this journey is n’t as daunting as it seems . It does n’t take a 100 - acre ranch or a county - clean win hatful to whip up a warm knit hat on a chilly day .
It just takes a few sheep , some easy - to - acquire tools and the power to watch acquirement most citizenry have forgotten .
When sheep are shorn in the leaping , the fleece is soiled and often postulate some serious precaution to be ready for spin into narration . Modern hobby farm have a few selection at this stage . you’re able to mail off your raw fleece right from your sheep to a wool John Stuart Mill to houseclean , card and twirl .
you may also do it yourself or , better yet , host a shearing political party . guest can wait on in brawl sheep , skirting wool ( hand - removing large debris from shorn fleeces on a clean mat surface ) , and bagging and labeling the raw fleeces .
You ’d be surprised how many people would jump at the chance to take part in this piece of agricultural heritage . set up up a pot luck and you ’ll be turn kinsfolk away !
Cleaning the Fleece
Once the fleece are collected , you could start preparing wool to be spin .
Take a pound ( or less ) of wool at a time to gently wash through a gentle sousing method . Lay the wool in some sudsy water to scavenge it . Take care not to agitate it , which can get it to felt — you do not need this at this phase .
Allow the wool to intoxicate in the soap with water running through it . Repeat this system by substitute the dark , dirty water until it is clear . Most fleece takes a few passes . Then lie it to dry in the sunshine .
Time to Card
Once clean and dry , your wool is quick to card . This is the process that takes the of course curly fleece into straightforward sections for spinning .
There areprofessional card toolsavailable from roughage shops online . But a beginner can always use a set of wiener trickster brush to pass the wool from brush to brush .
attract the straightened , clean woollen off your add-in into small straight lump called rolags . Rolags are the small-scale sections of the large vagabondage you see wheel- and bead - spike spinners utilise . When you have a pile of rolags off your card , you are quick to spin around .
Here ’s everything you need to know about hair sheep — no wooling around !
Spinning, Spinning
Spinning bike , even used ones , can fetch a high price . But the simple drop spindle iseasy to makeand inexpensive to purchase .
Twisting this burden pole make the same action as a invertebrate foot - treadle spinning bicycle ( though not as expeditiously or consistently ) . But with an hr or less of spinning on this quaint instrument , you may make a ball of wool yarn ready for some actual knitting .
The mental process of shearing to hat on your head is incredibly rewarding . check each step is an adventure in itself .
Taking the clock time to soak up each stair at your own pace teach you how to find new joys in your modest - farm journey . And having warm , hand-crafted clothes from your own flock of sheep ? Well , that ’s all the better .
