Thursday, December 11, 2014

Wool washing experiments. And more felted sheep.


This is the white Shetland fleece I bought. I tried a little experiment a few days ago. I had heard on a fiber forum how some people use Orvus Paste, which is a horse shampoo. So I found some at Tractor Supply. I got a little bit of the wool and used Orvus. Then another hand full and used Dawn.

This is before washing. It's more a cream color. Not a lot of VM, but dirty.



Here are the 2 drying on racks. I cannot really tell much difference.





This is washed in the Orvus. Nice and soft. Clean. But still a bit yellow, which could just be the sheep it came from. I don't really know a lot about all this. Someone did mention that not all sheep will wash up pretty and shiny white. That some sheep are a creamy color.



This is the wool washed in Dawn.  I think the Orvus is a little whiter looking at this picture. Someone also said they use Dawn and Orvus together. So I might try some washed that way today and see what happens.
But this is really soft and clean too. I also didn't let it soak as long as I usually do as I had to leave in a few hours to meet my mom. So I'll let more soak longer today.




And some more cute little sheep I'll take to the Bazaar Christmas Bazaar at Brainerd market this Saturday. The gray one on the left is from some Icelandic roving I got from  Jessica in NY. I also made dryer balls with some. The one on the right is from the Romney fleece I bought at the fiber show. I love this wool!
The 2 white sheep are made with the white Romney wool.

 
And have to have some cute little different sheep, right? I made a lamb to go with the big blue ewe. And added more wool to the red ones.



Off to the studio to make more things for market. I'm also making some Christmas gifts for family. I made a pretty cowel last night and will use a few of the wooden buttons I got from Wooly Moss Roots. I LOVE these buttons. But now I want some bigger ones for the cowels.

Are y'all all busy making things? Would love to hear what you're all up to.

3 comments:

Denny144 said...

Thanks to your blog, I've started keeping my eyes open for felted wool items and now I'm seeing them in boutiques. I just got a darling felted bowl for my daughter-in-law. It's a deep turquoise on the top two thirds and a deep orange on the bottom third, about 6 inches tall overall. I can't figure out how it was done, there's no visible seam or line between the two colors. I'm so excited to have found it in her favorite colors and I would have never even noticed it before. I've seen some cute felted mice and owls.

Kris said...

That bowl sounds so pretty. Wish I could see it. I have seen some really nice felted bowls. I am glad you're noticing felted items. I love making my little animals. I never know what they'll look like when finished.

An At Home Daughter said...

After seeing all that Shetland wool I really can't wait for our Shetlands to be sheared in the Spring.
You are getting so good at making those felted critters. They just keep getting cuter, and cuter. They would make cute Christmas tree decorations.

Kimberly