Wool washing day today! And outdoor weaving at home

Hey, the sun is shining! Lets use this to wash the Zwartbless fleece for future pegloom ventures!

Washing wool is quite satisfying an activity, especially if you love the animals and don't mind the lanolin. Zwartbless are rich in lanolin and their fibre is strong. This lot here drying in the sun is only washed once in warm water and rinsed 4 times, so that there is enough lanolin still in the fibres to make drafting the rolls for pegloom weaving easy. Drafting and rollling needs fibres to stick together when pulled and rolled.

When drying wool it is good to turn it over often, esp when it is laying on solid things like benches or the ground. It dries best when spread over wire baskets or netting stretched out, so that the wind and air can reach it from all sides. Sometimes wool can take ages to dry, but wind always helps to get inbetween the fibres and make it billow softly again.

Whilst it is so nice in the garden, lets pick up the threads of the freshly strung peg loom and start weaving that rustic raw fleece rug out of white Blackface wool and black Hebridean fleece, both unwashed (but from clean organic sheep!)

And then it might be a good idea to start compiling pictures for a pegloom weaving instructions manual?
 For the moment I'll collect the pictures here http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/117445521233701725799/PegloomWeavingKnowhowOnARusticRugSample# and add instruction captions.

Will I be able to finish this rustic rug sample before Saturday, so to be able to have documented all the stages of the making of a pegloom wovenn fabric, including the final felting and shaping?
Hm, touch wood - lots of visitors this week!

Glad that Marjorie brought her cool dual set pegloom back into town so I could take some measurements of the pegs and gaps. I think Galgael folks with all their fleeces in the loft might be inspired to make a few of different kinds of peglooms like this one? Great if we had some folks here to make them, too. Best from Cherrywood!