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Thursday, September 28, 2006

Tsunami of Wool

Just when I thought I had a good start on "bailing the boat", I've been swamped by another wave! This one is a tsunami.

The last week or so I have been valiantly trying to make some headway with my overly long project list. I have numerous WIPS (works in progress), must dos, and things not yet started but with deadlines looming. These unfinished projects are not all knitting.

I've been trying to work my way through my spinnable stash. You may recall that last year, when I first learned to spin, a fair bit of wool found it's way to me. I've been working ever since at spinning my way through it all. Here and there more wool has been added and I never seem to get to the bottom of it all. Last week I set a goal to have it all spun up by Fibrefest next April. I was not going to buy another roving or lock of wool until I reached the end of what I had.

This morning I innocently went to the guild room to ask a few questions and check out a book. I ended up going home with a large bag of grey, New Zealand fleece. It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

The fleece was sent from NZ to Nanaimo, BC in the 1970's! Still unwashed and in it's shipping wrapper after 30 years it was rather "ripe" so I took Betty's advice and washed it immediately. It is gorgeous! Soft, super long fibers, nice crimp, and virtually NO VM (vegetable matter).

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After it's bath it weighs around 5 pounds. To give you an idea of the volume, it's lying on a flat, queen sized bedsheet, and that's a green pillowcase lying on the ground in the top right hand corner of the picture.


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The fleece was free, requiring only a $5 donation to the guild. Would you have walked away?

I'm "bailing the boat" again.

7 comments:

dragon knitter said...

heck no, i wouldn't have walked away. jeez, $5!

and i know about bailing, i've been bailing for years, lol

Rabbitch said...

I'm proud of you, grasshopper.

aija said...

Wow!! Very cool vintage fleece! :)

kristo said...

holy crapolli that's a lot of "fluff" :-)

Nicole said...

If I was a spinner, I'm guessing it would have been irressistable. Maybe your daughter would like to help bail since she's new to spinning.

Angela said...

That's a gorgeous fleece for $5. Have fun bailing

Maggie Ann said...

No one would have walked away...just think...after 30 years it is usable and so beautiful. I am amazed. You mentioned that you have only been spinning about a year? Thats amazing too. I remember coming over to your blog..and everything about the spinning seemed like another language to me. Now...grin, things are rapidly changing for me. I'm loving it too. Thanks Marlene for sharing so much 'know how' with us all. I really like how you put the links in your post...there is so much for me to learn and 'listen up' to.