It was 3 years ago today that I first put my wool on Amazon, and it took me a good year before that to really got to know my product!
I read lots of books on the fiber, but my best resource was a local group of spinners that meet locally every Monday. They were so helpful and informative! I got to watch hand carding, drum carding, and how to hand process wool for spinning. I was able to watch wool artists work drop spindles, spinning wheels, and even twist wool by hand for their many projects. And I got to see finished masterpieces of lovely sweaters, hats made out of dog hair, woven belts, and needle felted pictures. And I would sit there for one or two hours, picking through a bag of wool, listening to stories of their favorite bottle lambs, prize rabbits, and wool stashes.
They also taught me how to spin, and I have spun wool for crafts, hats, and gloves! The gloves were my favorite, they keep your hands warm- even when they are crusted in snow! Father loves them for tractor work too, his wool gloves and hat keep his hands warm the entire time he snow plows in 20 degree weather!
I have also done some felted soaps, and a felted door stop. The later was very handy to keep slamming doors from waking up the babies! It was easy too! All I did was find a nice big (clean) rock, wrap it in carded wool, wrap that in a cheese cloth (or you could use a nylon- to keep the wool together while felting), then felted it under hot water with a little soap. You may need to add another layer of wool as it felts and shrinks to the rock. Felting is a unique process: wool naturally has scales on each fiber, and when you felt you use agitation and hot water to lock the fibers together. Soap helps take the protective layer of lanolin off to promote felting. This process has been around for centuries, and has been used to make yurts, warm clothes, hats, and even shoes!
Wool is really an amazing material; soft, yet stronger micron for micron than steel! It is warm and wicks moisture away from your body, that is why sailors usually try to get wool clothing for their voyages. It is also a fire retardant!
All these wonderful attributes of wool run through my mind as I bag another beautiful 
freshly shorn fleece, and I am thankful for God’s wonderful creation! But now I must go and take dominion over the stack of fleeces on the back porch…
I hope this has given you a better appreciation for your sheep’s coats! And I hope it has encouraged you to try and make use of it!
~Ann
Proverbs 27:26 The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.
Proverbs 31:31 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
Proverbs 31:19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
Rosehaven Homestead 
Leave a comment