Monday, December 21, 2009

Wet wool

Yesterday morning I took pity on a miserable-looking Braveheart. He was trying to seek shelter from the cold, driving rain under a scrubby clump of hazelnut saplings, so I decided put him back in his old corner pen in the fold. When I approached him with a halter, I heard him grind his teeth, never a good thing in sheep. His spirits revived miraculously when in close proximity to other sheep, though. So much so that THIS is what "welcomed" me at choretime last night!All is reinforced now, though, so Braveheart can be dry AND chaste.

In other "wet wool" news, yesterday I plied the last bit of alpaca and wound off it off into a skein. Then it and the white longwool from my spindle got baths, and are hanging in the guest bathroom to dry.Since the temperature dropped last night and we started up a wood fire again, they should dry quickly. I would like to deliver the alpaca by Christmas, and knit a hat with the long wool by January 14.

With that temperature drop I mentioned, some of the rain turned to slushy snow. I'm afraid what greeted me this morning is as close as we will get to a white Christmas:I'm not complaining, though. I like our Willamette Valley winters!

That's it for now from . . .

8 comments:

Joyce across the Pond said...

How lovely to come across your blog quite by accident....how refreshing too....and where, may I ask, is your husband from if he is Scots Irish or as now called Ulster Scots? I live in Cookstown in the middle of Northern Ireland at the foot of the Sperrin Mountains where there are a lot of sheep....and you mention Long Wool...presently I am knitting a tank top/slipover out of long wool I bought in Leyburn (North of England) about 15 years ago! And it is so fine!

Best regards to you and yours - we too love the Great Shepherd.
Joyce Stewart

Spring Lake Farm said...

Shhhhh...I have a dirty little secret....I don't know much (anything) about sheep.... :(

....so I need you to explain the whole "grinding of the teeth" comment???

Thanks from your "know little to nothing about sheep" blog follower.

Sandy

Michelle said...

Welcome Joyce! How fun to have a reader visit from Ireland! My husband is American, but his McMillen (or likely, MacMillan) ancestor came to the US through Ireland from Scotland, probably as a result of the Border Wars.

The long wool I have is not soft; I hope the owner of the ram it is from can wear a hat made from the stuff!

Sandy, sheep (and goats and horses, among others) grind their molars together when in discomfort or pain. With stoic sheep, it is often one of the few symptoms you get that something is wrong. But don't worry, Braveheart is acting hale and hearty now!

Sharon said...

Longwool on the left and alpaca on the right?? Nice job Michelle!

Michelle said...

No, Sharon, the alpaca on the left is spun finer, and the long wool on the right is spun thicker.

Spring Lake Farm said...

Thanks for the info, Melissa. It's probably a good thing that we haven't heard that from any of our goats then. ;)

I'm glad Braveheart is snug and warm now, though.

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Theresa said...

Great minds think alike, I like to hang my hand spun
on the shower head too.
Glad to hear Braveheart is now the ram that came in from the cold and all is secure.