Fin.

The socks for school?

Finished.

Washing Fleece

A continuation of

“Why I love being homeschooled: Reason 1386″

or the Wool Series #2

When you shear a sheep, the fleece is usually full of bits of grass, twigs, manure, dust, and lanolin (greasy sheep sweat). Although some people like to spin the wool before washing (called “spinning in the grease”) because the wool is softer to work with, I decided to wash my wool before spinning.

Wool is touchy. It matts (felts) really easily, so you must wash it carefully. For wool to felt it requires: heat, liquid, and friction. If you wash it in very hot water with soap, but don’t swish it or squeeze it or run water through it, it won’t felt. So I filled the bathtub with the hottest water my hands could stand (that’s pretty hot), and added about a 1/2 cup of laundry detergent (liquid, with no bleach or scent or anything) to the water.

I then placed the bit of wool I was washing (I’m doing it in small batches) into a delicates laundry bag. (Yes, that’s my bedroom floor. Looong story…)

Next I placed the fleece in the water, submerging it carefully. The bathtub is clean…just old.

I soaked it like this for half an hour. This is what it looked like then:

Diiirty! I took it out, refilled the tub (no soap this time), and placed it back in for a 15 min soak to rinse it out.

The water was clearer this time, but I wound up washing it again and rinsing it again. All in all, it took an hour and a half to clean the fleece.

First rinse:

Second wash:

Second rinse:

The water was clear this time, so it didn’t need a third wash and rinse.

I took it out of the bag, and laid it on some old clean cloth diapers to dry. In good weather I should dry it outside, but it was rainy and I don’t trust my siblings not to touch it…so I dried it on top of my dresser. The picture’s a bit blurry–sorry!–but here’s the wool drying:

After drying, I start to card the wool…but that’s the next fiber post!

Skirting | Washing | Carding | Spinning | Knitting

Fleece

Or “Why I Love Being Homeschooled: Reason #1,386″

For my end-of the year 40-hour project for my humanities class, I am taking a sheep’s fleece, washing, carding, spinning, and knitting it into a clothing item using pre-Civil War methods and patterns…or as close to that as I can get it.

I’ll be posting about this project here for a while, with pictures illustrating each step. For those of you who could care less, I’ll be translating everything into simple, small words and will also post on other things to keep (my very small) readership happy.

On Friday, I picked up my fleece from the sweet lady in our church who gave it to me. It’s a Border Leicester/Cheviot fleece. Translation: It’s not the finest quality Merino, but it’s pretty and soft and easy to work with.

The same day (with a little help from a brother and a crowd of gawking siblings) I skirted the fleece. Translation: I trimmed off the matted/filthy parts–the ones that couldn’t be used for anything. The process was tricky for me, because I’m still not sure how to tell what can/can’t be salvaged. However, I think I got a good feel of what I can use, and the rest will be for experimentation.

We spread out the fleece on our trampoline to skirt it. It’s huge; it would cover a twin-sized bed easily. Oh, and I was pleasantly surprised at how chocolately brown Boomer’s fleece was! My friend had said that Boomer was her brown sheep, but it didn’t register how brown it would be…and isn’t it gorgeous!

I then took some scissors and trimmed off the waste wool. Here’s the pile we threw away (the color’s off–sorry! It’s a much warmer color than that.) I only pitched about two pounds worth :

and here’s the bag full I kept–nearly 12 lbs! (Again, the color’s too pale.) :

Here’s a better picture of an individual lock–you can see how it changes from gold, to black, to brown. It’s gorgeous!

This will be fun…I love being homeschooled!

Skirting | Washing | Carding | Spinning | Knitting

The girls are winning…

Some of you know that I knit…a lot. Mom’s going to give me a high school credit in textiles for it. It’s rather enjoyable, and I love to knit and read (yes, at the same time) and you can often find me on my bed with a huge government or history textbook muttering something like “…original intent…Madison detailed notes…yarn over….amendment #3…knit two together…” It does help me study–believe it or not. Since September, I’ve been working on one thing (among others) and that is this shawl, for my Mom’s Christmas gift.

Well….it wasn’t done in time, but last night I finished it.

Here it is unblocked:

and here it is after blocking (on me):

Mom wore it to her tea party baby shower today (and it was so sweet…the ladies prayed for her and gifted her–new diaper bag–and she was so blessed), and it was lovely. You have no idea how wonderful it felt to see that shawl finished and on her shoulders!

Oh, yeah. Did I mention that I’ll have a ninth sibling by the 31st? Mom’s due on the 23rd, but she’s got a tentative induction on the 31st…she’s renowned for going overdue.

There’s an 80% chance it’s a girl.

We currently have four girls (17, 14, 10, and 8 ) and four boys (12, 4, 4, and 2).

That means the girls…

…are winning.

Pea Pod Baby Set

My dear Mom is due with sibling #9 in January…so I knit this:

I love the leafy lace, the delicate edging…everything. ‘Twas a delight to knit–and so soft! You can find the pattern here.  Rather easy if you can do a yo, ssk, k2tog, etc.

Ramblings On Homemaking

Life moves quickly, and there are priorities that rank higher than this blog (gasp!) so I’m not going to apologize for infrequent posts.
One of the things that’s ranked higher has been working here at home, helping Mom and being content (far harder than one would think…I can’t wait to get to heaven so this sanctification process can be done!). I’ve taken up ironing all Dad’s work clothes for the week on Sunday nights, and am actually enjoying it! Funny how that happens when you decide to “do hard things.”
I’ve also been working on my knitting more…finished another sweater for a friend. From a skein of yarn and needles…to an almost-finished hoodie.

Then there’s making dinner once a week. I’m running out of recipes that aren’t bland that all my siblings (the number of which, by the way, will be nine in January–HOORAY!!) will eat. Got any sure-fire hits?
So, girls, when was the last time you read Prov. 31? What are you doing today to be equipped to (Lord willing!) run a household as a helpmeet or keep house as a single? Mother’s helper? Babysitting? Doing all the wash for your mom? How are you serving–or how should you be serving?

Prov. 31:10-31
10^[d] An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. 11The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. 12She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. 13She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. 14She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. 15She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. 16She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. 17She dresses herself^[e] with strength and makes her arms strong. 18She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. 19She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. 20She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. 21She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.^[f] 22She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. 23Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. 24She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant. 25Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. 26She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. 27She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29“Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” 30Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 31Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.