The washing of the wool

A.K.A. You need to have something to spin for Tour de Fleece.

I spent, and am still spending, my days this week washing wool.

Skirting a merino/targhee fleece.

Lots and lots of sausages.

I came up with this great idea to put them in a milk crate instead of bags or let them float amok in the water. This way I can wash more at one time, they get cleaner, and I don't burn my hands pulling them all out of the water. I could have put twice as many sausages in the milk crate, but there are only so many bundles you can make before you start wondering why you bought a fleece in the first place.

As soon as I let the hose down from the wash tub, Kenshin runs over and watches the water go down the drain.
Ugh, my basement doesn't really look like this. Where it looks muddy (or bloody), it's really just water. The kids have had a lot of fun in this corner doing picture shoots in their get-ups from Silent Hill and I've been sworn not to scrub this corner until they are done.

With this two tub system, I can wash one and a half pounds of wool while the other tub is having it's final rinse. This is so much easier than heating water on the stove and only getting one ounce of wool washed in the kitchen sink a day. This is 'Ava' on the left in her first scoure, and merino/targhee sausages on their final rinse.

Drying. This is where Kenshin sits while I skirt and make sausages.

Wool washing days are so hard on cats. Running from the skirting table to the wash tub and drain and back again, trying to keep up with me. Kenshin can only take so much before he finds a laundry baskets and takes a cat nap.

In a mad dash to have my spindles free for tdf, I'm trying to finish up the 4oz of Blue Morpho (merino-tencel) from Bitsy Knits. What's on the spindle and in my hand is only one ounce.

Wool skirted and washed this week (post wash weight):
15.6 ounces merino/targhee
2 pounds 11 ounces of Ava.
I am so glad I moved my wool washing to the basement. I might actually be able to wash all the fleece I own now.