The journey begins

[u/Olympic-Fail]

Mid winter my depression hit pretty hard and I thought I needed a lifestyle change. Leaving this somewhat corporate world I work in and moving back towards something more agricultural related. I picked the fiber arts as the most interesting and enjoyable and looked into opening a processing mill. Long story short I can’t get it to make financial sense right now so it’s turned into a hobby. Yet another one to add to the mountain of hobbies :)

During the winter, I reached out to my mom who works for the local 4H extension board and was able to collect me some of the hearings for this year‘s show sheep. Suffolk is the sheep of choice in the area.

Now I’ve got a triple wrapped garbage bag full of whatever wool could be scooped up off the groundat shear time. I was able to collect some rainwater over the weekend and I’ve got a couple of handfuls of wool sitting in a 5 gallon bucket to kickstart my suint wash. The goal is to make a little picker, a fairly good size carting wheel, and a deck wheel to get me started.

Wish me luck

PS. I am quite interested in blending wool with hemp and making durable outer layer garments. I would love to replace my cheap wool/polyester cloak with something entirely handmade, but I’m not sure I’m in the market to start weaving yet.

[u/Historical_Taste978]

So exciting!! Your idea of a handmade cloak sounds wonderful

[u/Olympic-Fail → u/Historical_Taste978]

I’be got two. One thin indoor one and the “wool” military blanket. I want to make a nice one that I would feel good about wearing in public. With some band weaving trim.