Washing Cormo

My friend Sherry brought me some raw fleece; Cormo and Alpaca. I've been so excited about cleaning and spinning it, and today was the day. I decided to go with the Yarn Harlot's method. It took most of the day, and seemed to be pretty close to her pictures. At the end of the day, the fleece was a lot cleaner, but still feels greasy to me, and smells quite strongly.. so I think that I'll do it again with a lingerie bag instead of the pillowcase, and more soap. I'm positive that I didn't use enough soap. The end product is a much whiter fleece, but just full of what looks like grains of sand and vegetable matter. It's all a learning process, right?


Here's the first rinse, in clear, cool water:



Wrapped fleece simmering in soapy water. Lots of dirt in this batch too.



I was test dying some silk and some lace weight while I waited for the fleece to simmer.



Damp Cormo... back to the drawing board I think.



A sneak peak of the Mohair shawl I'm working on.



And.. I also did some spinning tonight. Kathleen has named this Merino 'Green Goddess'. I dyed it for myself, and in my haste I felted it slightly. I actually think that I like it that way, and I'm enjoying spinning it. If only the Lendum wasn't wobbling... I think it has to go back.



And now, I rest. It was a busy day.