Monday, April 30, 2007

Two Sheeps-worth

I have two sheeps-worth of wool in the back of my car. Not material, not yarn -- but the honest to goodness real fluff that comes off of honest to goodness real live sheep.

It all started with a townwide email claiming to have duck eggs for sale. "Not your average white egg. Some are green, and yellowish." Sounded interesting. I figured I could blow out the eggs and use them for Christmas ornaments. So I replied, "I'll take a dozen," and in two days a lady was on my backsteps with a dozen of her flock's eggs in hand.

We chatted about living off the land. Of course, I had to mention we make our own Maple Syrup.
"YOU DO! My son just went out and bought the fake stuff."

The hairs on the back of my neck bristled. I had tried some fake stuff in Disney and it was horrible. I handed over a jar of our own and told her to enjoy it.

As our conversation closed, she commented on the half knit sock lying on the kitchen table. "You knit?"

"Yes, mostly socks and mittens. They're smaller projects that I can carry anywhere."

She mentioned she had a friend who was trying to get rid of 6 sheep worth of wool. "Do you want some?"

"Sure, I've never spun, but why not try."

Ten minutes later, from her car, she called me back. "My friend says you can have two, for free. Is that enough?"

Since I have never done this type of work before, two seemed plenty,

So, now I have two sheep-worth of wool in my car. It's silvery, and champagne, clean, and bug-free, and waiting for me to figure out how to spin it into yarn. And then there will be socks.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Go to your local library for a how to book or check the Danforth Museum school to see if they have someone who could do it.