Starting with a raw fleece means I get to touch every inch of that wool to make a yarn. It is a satisfying (and once in a while arduous) process. It must satisfy some sort of innate primal, primordial basic human function/need to create to survive. Ok, ok, that’s getting a little too deep… I love to process wool from raw fleece to make yarn. That’s what I do. Doesn’t matter why. I do it. It’s a good thing.
It’s a process that should start with a mental grip on the fact that it will take time. It takes the time it takes. It will be an antsy cumbersome drudge if you expect it to go quickly. Sometime it provides a quiet break from everyday interactions. Sometimes it’s a great time to listen to those 30+ hour audio books that you first purchased as real books years ago but never got to actually reading.
I split the tasks up into days and weeks. After it’s all washed and dry, I can do “drive-by” flicking and combing/carding if needed. Organized piles are always there ready for the next step. In fact, begging to be handled and transformed into it’s new existence.
The Key: must keep washed wool within site. It’s like the ring from Lord of the Rings except no bad guys, no evil, no elves, no hobbits, no ring…ok, it’s not like that at all. But the wool has some kind of spellbinding power and the magic will always draw you near.