Baa Baa

This is Moose, the rather large (hence the name) sheep who's fleece I bought to spin last summer. It was her first shearing, and 7 pounds of fleece for $40.00 is what I purchased at the Wooster Wool Festival. Moose is a Bluefaced Leicester (pronounced like the man's name, Lester)sheep,(BFL) which is part of the English Longwool Family. I selected it mainly because I was amused to find a sheep named Moose!

The photo above is of my friend and Wise Woman, Bonnie, helping to spread out the fleece to prepare it for washing. This was, mind you, on one of the hottest days of the summer. In fact, we soaked the fleece in the hottest water possible for one day, then again for a second day, then rinsed for a third day (a drop of Dawn Liquid Dishwashing) and then dried the fleece in Bonnie's attic.

Next came the carding, making rolags of it and then finally spinning it into  yarn. Moose's fleece is becoming a cabled purse from Vogue Knitting Holiday Issue 2008. I'd show it to you, but Kate shredded the cover of the magazine recently. Directions are intact, however, and the knitting is underway.