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Happy Friday

Writer's picture: Sherry OermannSherry Oermann

Morning My Farm Friends!


It's a bright and balmy morning here on the farm - with 45 degrees teasing me with warmth. My thoughts about this blog are to show you a little glimpse of what life "looks" like, while living on our farm. It's nothing fancy, because if you know me, I'm more down to earth, not complicated.


Today, I'm dyeing Mohair fleece, which comes from our Angora goats. Sounds easy, right? Well, you'd be correct. It is easy, but it does take time. First, I have to wash the fleece. Four soapy washes and rinses, then air dried. Next, it takes SEVERAL days to pick through the fleece to get the twigs, straw and burrs out. Tedious, but meditative. I listen to books while I do this. Then comes the fun part - the dyeing!


  • To dye the fiber, I soak it in water and a little dash of soap overnight.

  • The next morning, it gets rinsed three or four times of the soap and then placed in the dye and simmered for about 30 minutes. After the buzzer goes off, the heat is turned off, the lids are removed, and I let it sit in the dye until the next day.

  • The third day, I rinse and wash the dyed fiber about three times or until the water rinses clear. I spin my fiber in a salad spinner and then it's placed in a drying rack and either dries outside when the weather is decent or inside.


When it's completely dried, I package it and it's ready for sale.

Viola'


The fiber can now be used for crafting, spinning, weaving, used in tapestries and felting to name a few.


This is one of my most favorite things to do on the farm. I can take something that is produced on our farm and create new things from it. The magic of seeing the different dyes interact with the fiber - how some of the fiber takes up more dye than another piece of fiber - all within the same pan. I never know really, what it will turn out like. So totally fun.


Today, I dyed two pastel colors - because I've never done that before, so here we are! I dyed 2 ounces of pastel gold, and 2 ounces of pastel yellow. The fleece has been simmered already this morning, so they will sit until tomorrow. But here is what they look like in the pans.


Subtle differences. Note to self: Dye two different colors that are not so closely related. GAH!


The photo on the left is the Pastel Gold. The right photo is the Pastel Yellow. Hopefully, when they dry, we'll be able to tell the difference!



So, this is my life on the farm today. A series of experiments!

Enjoy your day, my Farm Friends!


~ sherry






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1 Comment


Hi Sherry, do you have a website for selling items? Or ?

Cheers, Kathleen

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