Today I get to talk about fiber. Whoopee! But first a bit of background. We backed into the whole fiber thing. First we got sheep, so within a year, I had wool. But I didn't know how to spin or knit, so time passed. And I ended up with a second harvest. Then friends heard that I was keeping my wool, so they gave me some of theirs. Soon I was drowning in fiber!
The US wool market is pitiful. Almost all of our wool products come from sheep from New Zealand or Australia. Here, if a farmer sells their wool to the local wool pool, they usually don't get enough money per pound of wool to cover the cost of having the sheep sheared.
My sheep are a little different. They are Soay sheep, which are a breed closer to primitive, wild sheep than domestic sheep. They are chocolate brown on the top and have a creamy underbelly. They are small and very hardy. They don't get many of the health problems modern breeds are prone to, they are naturally short-tailed and don't need tail docking, and they don't need my assistance with lambing. And best of all, they shed their wool and don't have to be sheared. We also had llamas and a couple of Cormo sheep wethers.
So anyway, here I was, every time I opened any closet or drawer, wool popped out. I knew I had to do something. I had seen reference to needle felting on the internet but didn't think it could possibly work. But eventually I got so desperate, I tried it and it does work! I am able to make both cute 3-dimensional figurines like lambs, bears, and bunnies and also do flat, picture-type work of primitive scenes.
Then God let the other shoe drop. I had always liked the theory of spinning, but couldn't justify the money for a wheel or the space to keep one. However, through the rumor mill I heard that a friend the next county over was moving and had some wheels and looms to sell. I mentioned this to another friend who wanted a loom and we went to look. Suffice it to say that she made me such a good deal on an Ashford Traveler wheel that I couldn't say no. Then as we were loading it into the truck, she brought out another antique wheel, 2 table-top looms, and a huge trash bag full of fleece and said to take the whole rest of it for free. Within a week of that, another acquaintance made me a deal on a Great Wheel (one of those really big ones, sometimes called a walking wheel) that was historic for our area, made in 1856. My mother bought it for me and is keeping it for me at her house. And within another week, yet another acquaintance called me and said that she was moving from her apartment and had to find a good home for her big floor loom. I'm not really interested in weaving, but she was going to set it out for the trash if I didn't get it. So being the nice friend I am, I went and got it and talked another friend into borrowing it for her children to try! So I went in about one month's time from having nothing but fiber and a few felting needles to having 3 spinning wheels and 3 looms.
I have since learned to spin--it is really fun. And although I have intentions toward one of the table looms, I haven't had time to do much with it yet. I do occasionally make things from needle felt or from wet felt, I sell felting kits to people getting started, and teach some needle felting classes here and there. I sometimes take my felting and the Ashford wheel to festivals and do demos.
I started this year with great intentions regarding fiber. The trend these days is to do these challenge things, where everyone on a certain internet forum or in a certain group will work on projects with a similar theme for a month or whatever. So far, I have missed both the January and February challenges. One January challenge was to create something dealing with someone you admire. I was going to felt a character doll of my grandmother. I have part of her head done so far! I also wanted to do some cute dangling heart lapel pins for Valentine's Day. But that urge remains unfulfilled also. But I still plan to do those things! I will soon learn how to post photos to liven things up here a bit and then will have to generate pictorial evidence of my works in progress.
Now, however, I am trying to sell the last of my Soay sheep. Our fencing is just too bad to hold them anymore. But I STILL have bags and bags full of wool to process and use. I joked with a friend that I think I will just invest in a bunch of those 18 gal plastic storage bins, fill them full of fleeces, and build shelves for them out in the unused areas of the barn. I will become a fleece farmer instead of a sheep farmer!
Although C. has frequently mentioned that he would like to get a couple more llamas eventually. I don't think I will ever run out of fleece!
Thinking fuzzy thoughts,
Lori
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