From the Pastures: Olympic inspiration

A day in February when the temperature in northern Illinois is close to 60 degrees is a day to celebrate. I only needed a sweatshirt when walking out to the barn. I sure do wish this little heat wave would stay, but the weatherman is talking about it being much colder next weekend. The sheep were also enjoying the warm weather and sun. They stayed outside much longer than they have been.

January ended with some very cold weather. The negative wind chills cause problems for us in the mill. Even though the washroom is insulated and heated, I am hesitant to do any washing. The pipes and water outlet have frozen before. Frozen pipes cause a lot of issues, so it is better to just wait a few days. Luckily, there were several fleeces already washed we could work on.

The other challenge during cold weather is static. The dry air causes fiber to stick to a lot of the machines. To drive some moisture into the air, big pots of water are boiled on the stove. By the end of the day, it is like a sauna in the mill. The high humidity really helps the fiber card and pin draft better.

In January, I participated in an online fiber sale. Last fall, I had a chance to dye a lot of Shetland wool and mohair, from goats, mixed fiber. The colors turned out very bright and the fiber spins easily onto a nice yarn. Several people who bought the fiber commented on how nice it was. This good news makes all the work worthwhile.

I am glad they liked the fiber and the colors I chose. One person placed a custom order for the natural cream-colored Shetland and gray mohair. I carded the fiber, so it had a gray stripe on the white wool. She loved it. The gray stripe will give a line of color in the yarn when she spins it.

The wool sweaters, pants and jackets the USA Olympic team wore are stunning. Wool is such a great fiber. Hopefully, the Olympic wool clothing inspire other companies to work with wool.

Have a great end to February.