Lovely Romney Fiber!

After a few weeks of washing and dyeing wool. I am taking a break from that step of fiber processing. It is probably a good thing because the oak trees are now shedding these long stringy things and they get stuck in everything. There are so many this year that they get all bunched up and look like tumble weeds rolling around in the wind. I had some wool outside drying and it took forever to pick all that stuff out. In the picture you can see that they got a piece of my wool. i think I will wait untill they are all off the tree and gone before I do anymore washing and drying.

I am now picking,blending and carding wool. The picture is of a basket of picked and blended white and dyed romney. This is such a lovely fleece. I bought it from a friend of mine at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival. I am planning on getting more from her soon.

I do like this picking and blending step because I get to handle the fibers and be creative with the blending of colors. It takes time but it is worth it in the end. This step will probably be easier with a picker but for now I just sit and pick while I watch TV or listen to music. Sometimes I just enjoy the quiet or listen to the birds.

I have seen so many different kinds of birds this year. I am not sure if I just wasn't paying attention before or if they are just starting to come around. I keep trying to get pictures of them. Sometimes I am successful and other times I am not.

I love taking pictures and will share many here at my blog and also at my website.

Time to get back to my picking and blending! Anne

No More Washing

Even though I took a day off yesterday and had fun buying beads and things for my jewelry making, I went right back to the job of washing wool again today. I think it is time for me to stop. This next batch of white wool is just too hard to get clean. I have deicded to let what i have washed today dry and send it to the mill to be washed and made into roving. I have a ton of white and dyed wool to start working with and I am anxious to get to that. So for now I am done washing the white wool. Starting tomorrow I will be washing the rest of the natural dark fleeces and then I will be done for awhile. Next step,picking, carding and blending. Have a great Day! Anne

Still Washing and Dyeing

Even though today was prom day, I was still able to continue to wash and dye wool between all the running around. I am still working on the white and cream colored wool and when that is finished I will go to the natural dark colors.

I have been dyeing quite a bit of the white fiber but there is still plenty that is just natural white.

I bought some new dyes and I am dyeing wool in blues and lavenders and mixes of those colors. I cannot believe how much I have gotten dyed so far. I have all these zip loc bags full of color. Soon it will be time for the next step. Stay Tuned!!!!

Great Day to Wash Wool

Well, I have decided that I am not going to try and process anymore of this mohair. The first fleece came out ok and I was able to dye it some great colors but this second fleece is so full of stuff, I just don't want to deal with it. Thank goodness for Zeilinger Woolen Mill in Frankenmuth, MI. They have processed much of my fiber over the years when i didn't have time to do it myself and even when the fiber was full of hay and chaffe the fiber would come back awesome for spinning. I am being pretty picky about fiber so I can process it myself now.
Today I went back to processing wool. My favorite fiber to process. The day was perfect for washing and drying wool. Not too cold and not too hot. It was a bit windy so I had to cover the fiber with a screen so it wouldn't blow away. I washed one of the fleeces I had found from last year and boy did it come out beautiful. It appears to be a Romney wool fleece and possibly a lambs fleece. Very nice!
The second fleece I washed was huge. It looks to be a border leicester fleece or a border leicester cross of some kind because it is very wavy. I had to wash it one half at a time. Both halves are still soaking. Because the fleeces were coming out so clean and have very little vm in it I am doing the rinse in my washing machine. I think this fleece will go from the rinse water right to the dye pot. Looks like I wil be dyeing tonight.
Tomorrow is my daughter's prom but I am hoping to continue to wash fleece in between trips to the hair dresser and florist and picture taking etc etc. I can't wait to see her all dressed up. I will post a picture when I get back on here. Have a terrific weekend...........Anne

A New Member of the Family

I am very happy to report that my newest grandchild safely came into this world on May 20, 2008 at 10:20 PM. Mother and son are doing great. He is just a cutie. His name is John Jr but I am going to call him JJ. He weighed 8lbs 8.8ozs. I am thinking 8 may be his lucky number. I am thrilled and excited to finally be able to see him and hold him. What a miracle these children are. Have a wonderful day! Anne

A Day of Processing and Dyeing

It was so cold yesterday which is unusual even for New Hampshire this time of year. I had hoped for sun but I ended up with partly cloudy with a little rain. That didn't stop me though. I filled those buckets up with hot water and laundy soap and started washing the mohair. It was pretty dirty. As the fiber was sitting in the rinse bucket, I started up the dye pots. No sense in drying the mohair just to wet it again for dyeing so it went from the rinse bucket to the dye pot. See pictures! I am now pretty much out of dyes and it is time to go and buy some more. I still have one more mohair fleece to process and I might as well do it today. Then it is back to processing wool. It is still cold today but at least the sun is out. Have a wonderful Day! Anne

P.S. For more information on dyeing wool and pictures please visit my website's blog at http://emeraldshandspunhandknit.weebly.com/emerald-hill-blog.html

Welcome to Emerald Hill

Hi, this is my first time having a blog. How cool is this. This blog is all about handspinning, knitting and anything that has to do with fiber. I hope you will enjoy it.
Mother's Day weekend was the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival. I spent the entire weeekend there. A friend asked if I would help out in her commercial booth and I agreed. She let me bring some of my handspun yarn, handknit items and my newest creation, Aromatherapy for Fiber.The night before the Festival I was sitting and thinking just how could I incorporate my aromatherapy into my fiber. I came up with aromatherapy sprays. I had a blast experimenting with different essential oils finding just the right blends for what I needed. I came up with 6 different sprays. Their purpose is to repell insects and moths while having a pleasant smell. All you have to do is lightly mist the fiber whether in the fleece or yarn. I usually then let it sit a few to dry and then put the fiber/yarn in a zip-loc bag. When it comes time to work the fiber it will not only be tactally pleasant but also pleasant to your nose.
Mother's Day was my 22 yr anniversary of the first day I started spinning. I spent this special day selling at the booth, spinning and sharing my knowledge of fibers with the public. This is what I love to do. There is nothing more wonderful than the look in the eyes of children as they learn about the fascinating art of spinning. By the end of the weekend I felt renewed. I left the Festival with less yarn than I came with and 4 new beautiful fleeces.
So guess what I spent most of this week doing? You guessed it. I was washing and dyeing wool. I had a ball. My deck and driveway were covered with screens full of beautiful natural wool and bright colors of dyed wool. At this moment I have a silver fleece drying beside some wool I dyed in canning jars and some silver wool I dyed green. Dyeing silver wool is awesome. The fiber comes out heathery.