More scouring and some of my favourite books

A sunny Sunday morning ––perfect wool-washing weather. I cleaned a few more ounces of wool in the sink this morning. The last batch turned out well, but it wasn't quite as clean as I'd hoped for. So this time, I let the wool soak longer and with a bit more soap and Borax. Quantities? Um. Approximately two-three squirts of ordinary dish-soap and a dash of Borax for a sink full of hot-to-the-touch water. Let the wool soak, swishing it gently to and fro, for as long as you can stand it. You should be patient for at least 10-15 minutes. I use two rinses for my wool, but if you fiber is super dirty, you might need longer soaks and more rinses. The rinses are just clear hot water in a little tub (see photos) and a little bit of gentle swishing. Right now, the wool is drying on a sheet on the floor. 

A small scouring set-up in the kitchen.
A few tubs and a sink will do.

The first soak ––now you see the dirt...

...and now you don't! The second soak (rinse). 

Clean wool drying on a sheet. 

I'd totally forgotten about "willowing wool" until I picked up Alden Amos' Big Book of Handspinning again this morning. Basically, you spread the wool out on a screen on the floor (or better yet, outside), and flogging away at it with a couple of flexible twigs (hence the willow). This way, you can beat out a lot of the little bits of dirt and junk that won't wash out of the fleece. As Alden points out, you can also use it as a way to vent pent-up frustrations. I found this very bizarre parliamentary report from England, published in 1918, when I was looking for information about willowing wool. Not very helpful, but interesting nonetheless. Odd stuff, this.

FROM COMMISSIONERS INSPECTORS AND OTHERS, 1918 

G. Ackroyd (E): Witness willows some of the materials sent to him for combing. A dusty atmosphere is generally an indication that the material has not been properly cleansed. Willowing may be necessary for cleansing certain materials but it is not wise to willow alt materials and witness would prefer a steeping process to willowing. Wool can be cleansed of much dust by steeping and efficient washing and if so cleansed willowing is a disadvantage because it tends to damage all materials. Willowed wool can be washed more cheaply than unwillowed. In some cases the advantages may outweigh the disadvantages but witness considers willowing a mistake from the manufacturing point of view and also to be a dangerous process from the health point of view. 

I might willow this batch of wool today when it dries, just to see what it does for it. It reminds me of threshing grain, which we had great fun with this summer.... 

Here are some of my favourite wooly-crafty books. 

Oh, and one more thing. If you like Moleskin notebooks (I do), check this out: you can make pages to print and paste specifically into your notebooks. Kinda neat. Or else, you can do it the old fashioned way, with a piece of paper, some scissors, pens or paints, glue, bits of collage material...

Gone skiing. 

Happy Sunday!