Tales from the Infirmary: Day 2
Thank you all for your well wishes for Hannah! She was feeling better yesterday but still not well enough to go to school. She slept until after 10 (which is quite late for her), got up and watched some tv, ate some jello and toast, and then napped on the couch for the afternoon. These stomach viruses can really take the wind out of a girl’s sails. I’m happy to report that today she is back to her grumpy teenage self and has gone off to school. Whew.
So, what’s a mother to do when she’s home for the day but not needing to play nursemaid constantly?
She knits.
Socks for Jessica. The yarn is the perfect transition for Project Spectrum March into Project Spectrum April. It’s red and orange and yellow.
And she spins.
This is still the Romney I bought at SPA. It’s almost gone and I’m glad because I’m ready to spin something else but I’m sad because I love this stuff.
And then she remembers something she’s been itching to do! (Okay, enough of the third person, it’s annoying.)
I suddenly remembered the bag of fleece I bought at The Mannings last November. I dug it out of the fiber drawer and commenced washing. This is my first time washing a fleece but I’ve read about it on so many blogs that I felt like I knew what I was doing.
First I spread it out on the counter. Smelly, but not terribly smelly.
Then I put it in a sink full of warm water and Eucalan. The water turned dark brown within seconds. I rinsed and repeated 4 times until the water was mostly clear.
Then I spread it on the deck to dry.
Turned it over and spread it out some more until it got nice and fluffy.
Then I packed it up to bring to Blogless Sharon’s to be carded on the drum carder, which is currently residing at her house.
Oooh. Fiber batts of my very own making. They look like big ole Tootsie Rolls, don’t they? I probably should have rinsed more times or used hotter water because the fiber has still got a lot of lanolin in it. But it’s soft and I think it’s going to spin up very nicely. It will be perfect for spinning at a living history we’re doing next weekend.
Now, do you want to know the truly sad part of this whole process? I’ve been thinking about how the fiber festival season is drawing very close and how I really need to start spinning more of my fiber so that I can make room for what I want to purchase. Makes sense, right? When I thought of this bag of fleece, I thought, yeah, get that washed and carded and out of the way. Out of the way? It took up a lot less room when it was dirty and smooshed into the bag.
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I feel your pain on the space issue, Carole. I love my stash but I need to put an addition on my house to hold it. Teri and I just started a destash blog if you’re interested in joining (to sell, not to buy of course). Just go here: http://destash.blogspot.com
Very neat! The spinning lots so even — Rosie and you are definitely a great match! And you go girl with that fleece — you make it look effortless!
Ooops! Glad that Hannah is back to her teenage self — she’s a sweetie!
I hope it spins up nicely for you. Nice color fleece. Sorry you haven’t been feeling well, have some tea. Great socks too!
Pretty socks! And that fleece is going to look beautiful spun up. Do you have a project in mind?
Those stomach viruses – yuck! So glad Hannah is feeling better.
Nice job on the batts. Hotter water is probably what you needed – a lot of home hot water heaters are not set for hot enough temps. A big lobstah pot for heating water and soaking fleece works well for getting out the lanolin.
Love the dark brown fleece! Do you know what breed it is? Yes – you’re going to need a lot more room come fiber show season.
Love the color of that fleece — kind of chocolatey.
So glad Hannah is better. ; )
Sounds like your girl and my boy have the same bug. Nothing like barfing red jello on Mom’s comforter, eh? I think he’s on the mend too.
Lovely transition socks! That is what I am doing too with this hoodie pattern – little bit of pink little bit of orange 😉
So, festival season – that means you are coming to Sheep and Wool, right?
Glad Hannah’s feeling better (& is back to school). Love the colors in the socks for Jessica!
Guess you’ll just have to get that fleece spun, plied & knitted, so that it really will be “out of the way”! 🙂
But isn’t there such a sense of accomplishment when you go from start to finish? I love washing fleece and the smell of fresh fleece, which is why I started the Fleeceforsale group on Yahoogroups 6 years ago. 🙂
Good job washing the fleece! That is still way beyond me.
Glad Hannah’s better – even school has to be better than a stomach virus, right?? Glad I’m not the only one doing that transition sock thing.
Hmm, Rabbitch had a bit of the 3rd person thing going today, too. 😉
I’m glad to hear Hannah is feeling better.
Your fiber looks great. What kind of fiber is it? What fun it will be when you eventually knit something from it knowing you started from the fleece!
Yesterday was a perfect day for washing and drying the fleece out in the sun – did they smell like sunshine and fresh air afterwards?
Mmmm… tootsie rolls!
The batts look lovely, the fact that they still have some lanolin is even more enticing to me. Think of how soft your hands will feel while spinning 🙂
Well maybe you had better get to spinning more so it takes up less room.
festival season — i have to go this year.
Well, that’s the price you pay for having clean fleece! But judging by pretty much all the roving I’ve ever bought, squooshing is still possible (grin).
Glad Hannah’s feeling better!
Aw, poor Hannah. I’m glad she’s better now. Hopefully nicer weather will shoo away the nasty sick germs that are everywhere these days.
I’m so jealous of your spinning and fleece adventures! I really should get out my wheel and spin a bit.
I agree, I have so much fiber I have no room for more, and right now as I type this, a huge fleece that I reserved last fall is on it’s way to me that I completely forgot about. Where the heck am I going to put it? Oh boy.
Don’t you just love the smell of the fleece when you’re washing it? I think it’s wonderful. Is that a bad thing?
That is going to be some gorgeous yarn, though, and will take up a lot less room (again) when spun and wound into skeins or balls!
Must focus on the finish line, my dear!
Glad to hear Hannah is back to her (teenage) self ;o)
Beautiful roving! Where is your living history going to be?
the fleece looks like a Shetland.. is it? wonderful color !
I like it when it still has some lanolin in it – it looks like a jacob fleece to me. One word of advise that you might not need, if you have a septic system, you might want to wash it in buckets and then dump them in the yard – all that lanolin will back things up! ewwww.
Just visiting others who completed the Auntie Meme. Pretty things!
Now I’m going to have to try starting with a fleece… At least Hannah’s feeling better. Where are you doing living history? Y’all are involved in such cool stuff.
Hello from Austria! You sure had a very productive day – I love the socks you knit, such a cheerful color! Great job with the fleece as well, it’ll become a truly gorgeous yarn!
Best wishes to Hannah!
You’ve discovered the universal truth: Fiber takes up MUCH more room than yarn and sticks around in its voluminous state longer. Ergo the festival season quandry for serious shopper like yourself.
😉
Isn’t it fun to wash fibre? I enjoy it more htan I should, LOL. It is just nice to take dirty stuff and turn it into fluffy clean stuff.
Looks like Spring is well on the way there 🙂
Nice job with the fleece! I think you simply need more storage cabinets. Works for me 🙂
I’m sorry Hannah was under the weather. Being sick sucks. Having a sick teen must be a new Dante’s hell.
Love your rolls, girl!
I hope poor Hannah feels better! That is ICK on a stick.
I know. I’m sorry.
xo