This week we had one lovely day and several windy, wet days. I spent most of one windy day carding wool. My hands are now super soft!
We have two Hebridean sheep, Penny and Wotsit. They are very elderly and perpetually grumpy, but their fleece is lovely and is really good for making felt.
The first stage of the felting process is to delegate shearing to someone bigger than me. Penny submits to this fairly calmly, Wotsit fights like her life depends on it.
The second stage involves washing the fleece. I have no idea how an expert would do this, I cut the fleece up into smaller pieces and soak it in warm water with ecover washing up liquid.
After about four hours I drain the water and soak again in warm water without soap. I do this one more time then hang the fleece pieces up to dry. Yes, it takes ages to dry.
Once dry the wool is carded and formed into small fluffy creatures which can be used to make felt. This process involves bubble wrap, an old net curtain, a door mat, warm water, soap, a piece of pipe insulation and patience!
Penny and Wotsit’s fleeces have a lovely range of colours in them. Their wool felts pretty easily and I use some bought, dyed wool to create a pattern.
These photos are a reminder that the sun does sometimes shine on us and very occasionally shorts are in order!