It's Not Raining Again Today

Yippeee! After a near record-setting stretch of rainy days, we have another Non-Raining Day! What a lovely morning, with sun casting its golden rays across the lake. Thought I'd better take a picture, because this is, after all, Western Washington, and we all know it's not gonna last.

I'm spending this lovely day inside, after a brief morning pooch constitutional, picking mohair locks, dyeing mohair locks, and washing fleece. The fleece is the tail end of a honey-colored CVM (literally, the tail end). We're in the dingleberry department here, and I've pitched the truly nasty bits, and cut the icky tips off of the areas that appear to be salvageable. It is now in its final rinse. The fiber is wonderfully crimpy. The locks started off at about 5" in length, but after washing they're more like 3", quite soft & cushy. The color, earlier honey, is now more creamy. I love CVM. More than merino, I think. Not nearly as greasy.

The mohair is from Martha, a charming angora goat that I met at the Monroe Fair. This is the *third* washing for this fleece. This was her yearling fleece, and this has been my first experience washing mo. So I guess when I heard that I'd need to use *really hot* water, I thought it'd be comparable to washing a really greasy sheep fleece. Not. Even. Close. I have the water heater cranked up to its highest setting. This does not make my hubby happy, because each time he turns on the faucet in our bathroom, the pipes vibrate & sound like a jackhammer. Yes, he always knows when I've been washing fiber. I've used Dawn and/or Palmolive, with/without Simple Green/denatured alcohol. I'm using OxiClean now, and it actually seems to be doing the trick! I should add, too, that I'm now opening up each & every little lock of this fleece. This treasure will be going into my "Fiber IRA" & should last quite awhile.