Just Curly. No Moe. No Larry.

On my recent trip to Minnesota I got to drive through Michigan’s upper peninsula. I took advantage of that route to stop and visit with Sue Kapla at Fiddle Knoll Farm near Skandia.

She showed me some of this year’s lambs. All too cute for words. And she sold me some Romney roving; one pound of creamy white and one pound of light grey. I’ve already spun 2 skeins from this lovely stuff.

The sheep have not been sheared yet….way too cold. But she did tell me that I’ll be getting a fleece from a one-year-old CVM ewe named “Eve”. A very lovely light light brown. I can hardly wait!

I was expecting all this lovely woolness. What I was not expecting was her horse. I saw the horse in an area behind the sheep. She told me she’d gotten him last fall. She’d always loved horses but she’s allergic. Then she heard of a type of horse that is hypoallergenic. They’re called Curly Horses. They have curly hair. All over. Sue’s horse, “Boris”, is a lovely chestnut color. His mane and forelock were quite short, but curly.

This is the time of year for shedding, and Sue indicated she’d saved a bit of his hair. “Do you want some?” she asked. Of course I said “Yes!” So, she gave me a bag of about 5 ounces of Boris’s hair.

Today is a lovely late May day, perfect for washing fiber. Here is a picture of the hair in a mesh bag before washing:

I did one soak in the hottest tap water with some Orvus paste. And two soaks of only hot water. The hair is right now in the second soak. I’ll spin out the excess water in the washing machine and then I’ll put the hair on a drying rack. I expect it’ll be ready tomorrow.

I’m thinking I’ll blend it with some sturdy wool and maybe make some work mittens. Or, maybe I’ll weave something.

Now...Where Was I?

How could I have gone so long without posting a new blog entry? Well, I got busy. After the mad rush to finish some writing, I took a breather. That turned into procrastination. What’s another day going to hurt? Then, my mother died at the end of April. Then, I got busy again. Then, I was on the road for 8 days, buying fiber and fleeces, and teaching workshops at Shepherd’s Harvest. (Very fun, by the way.)

My mother’s memorial service is tomorrow in Midland. Although we were never close, I do have to thank her for teaching me the knit stitch and the purl stitch long ago.

I will get back to regular fiber-related posting next week.