Hi-ho! Hi-ho! To the Woolen Mill I Go!

"Too many fleeces!"  Too many fleeces!"  I muttered to myself as I re-organized one of the fleece storage areas in my house.  I was putting away the last of this year's purchases, and I realized that if I carded or combed all of the fleeces I currently have all by myself, I would be likely to need surgery on my hands before I was halfway finished.  Surely some of these fleeces could go to the fiber mill for processing, and I could hand process the special fleeces, those which are too long, double-coated, or have too much crud in them to successfully send to a fiber mill.  

Having made the decision, I contacted Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, and hauled out two Targhee fleeces for them to process.  I first visited Blackberry Ridge during my first month here in Wisconsin, way back in the fall of 2004.  They have a longstanding reputation of producing nice woolen yarns and roving and creative patterns for knitters.  Their price for carding my washed roving was incredibly reasonable - only $4.75 a pound for anything over five pounds.  The two fleeces I had weighed 12.5 pounds, and anybody who knows about hand carding knows that this would take many, many hours to process by hand.  Paying a little over $60.00 to get this done would save me hours of work to prepare the wool for spinning.

Down the road I went on a sunny day.  The drive through the countryside was lovely, with the fields beginning to turn from green to gold as the corn ripens and the autumn feed crops mature.

There is just a touch of fall in the foliage now, but it will be coming on in full force any day now.

The woolen mill itself is tucked up on the top of a ridge, surrounded by forest.

My fleeces arrive at Blackberry Ridge.

The two fleeces I chose were the First and Second place winners from A - Z Farm in the 2013 Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival.  Targhee wool is sturdy but has a lot of bounce and elasticity, and it makes warm and comfy socks, mittens, and hats.

The fleeces will be carded into roving by the 100-year old carding machine shown on the left side of the photo.  To the right side is the spinning machine that turns the carded wool into finished yarn.  It will take 3 - 5 months before the finished roving is ready to be picked up (they have a lot of wool to process), but I have plenty to spin in the meantime.

Of course, I couldn't leave empty-handed, so I picked up about a pound of purple and magenta Corriedale roving to take home with me.  

Coming back home, I had a delightful visit with a member of a small flock of dairy goats who live down the road from the woolen mill.

I've been spinning the new roving, and it should be ready in time for Madison Pagan Pride in October.