This is the pet emu at Sumptuous Yarns just outside of Versailles, Missouri. I can't remember his name, but he's quite friendly. A pet emu. How cool is that???
These guys & gals were hanging out in the shade, since it was 99 degrees the day we went and visited the farm. The little goat looking critters are the jacob sheep. They and the alpacas had recently been shorn, so I'm sure they were much happier dealing with the heat this way. It sounds like they behave a lot like goats too, eating everything in sight and work their way through the fences whenever they're able.
Since I just happened to arrive after shearing time, I left there with a jacob fleece of my very own. :) YAY! After getting back to the lakehouse, I realized I had a bigger job than I'd realized. I also wished I'd paid more attention way back at my first yarn school, when I first saw Nikol pulling out a fleece, showing how to skirt it & wash it & all that. I remember walking away at that point of my first yarn school, thinking to myself, "What kind of FREAK would EVER buy a RAW fleece with the Crappy parts of it all still attached?!?" Apparently THIS kind of freak. ha! I also hated sparkle my first yarn school, and worked the entire time to come home sparkle free. Now I've EMBRACED THE SPARKLE...just WAIT till you see the batts I've been cranking out!
Here's a few photos pre-washing & pre-skirting. I have to say I'm sure I threw out more than the bare minimum due to not having a freaking clue what I was doing combined with it being 99 degrees with 66% humidity. OK calm down to all you true fiber people out there. I didn't actually throw it away, as in the trash. I distributed it up a hill that's full of birdhouses. I'm sure it'll line the nests for winter. (actually I just walked up the hill and heaved it out there but I was feeling all nature-ish)
After my own version of skirting, I filled the washing machine with warm water, swished some dawn dish detergent around in it, put in the locks and let it soak. Spun it out, hauled it out of there, then repeated the process 3 more times, then with just plain water once. It's dried and fluffy as heck. I can't WAIT to spin it up, but think it'll have to wait until I'm back home in the air conditioning.
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