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unicorndukeI took the entirety of Saturday to do relaxing things. I did workout but that was it. I made a test batch of chocolate custard for Thanksgiving, since I've been tasked with dessert and breads and since I'm travelling Sunday, I want something I can make Saturday and freeze. I wanted to see if the custard would freeze okay. Something went very weird and it ended up extremely thick but delicious, more like a thick mousse. The test batch is now out of the freezer and I need to taste test it but will be making if nothing goes very wrong. Custard does okay freezing.
Otherwise, I laid around, playing video games all morning. Then I spun the alpaca and started combing the mohair fleece. It's jumped to the top of the queue since it has a deadline and I like a self imposed challenge. It's a bit hard to comb in that you can only put a small amount on the combs at a time since it puffs up so much in combing. I'm just laying the combed blobs out in the basket, I'm not actually sure how I'll fit a fleece's worth of combed fiber in the basket. I did spin a tiny sample and it's very pretty even if I put too much ply twist in. Definitely outwear. But I'm also saving the combing waste because I think I can card and blend that with some of the mystery fleece for sock yarn someday. Mystery fleece is one I sheared off a sheep that was a pet but it's very pretty and possibly Romney or a medium wool.
Sunday I did things. I didn't want to at first but once I got moving, I felt better. I got the other half of the merino fleece soaking, then went and worked on the shed. Main project was building a wood rack for the wood I have in there, which is mostly rough cut 2x4s although at this point, they are so dry I could probably start planing them for woodworking projects. I need to buy hand planes somewhere. They were originally used to stabilize the shed when we skidded it and they were very wet at that point, but a year in the shed has done them good. There was one mouse nest in the wood when I moved the pile, but that's because I used stickers in that level that were an inch thick. I moved the pile to the middle of the shed, swept, then went back to the fleece.
Set the fleece scour line up and then every 20 mins, stopped by wood project and went and did the next scour step. It worked surprisingly well to do that. I took a 2x4 and mounted it flat against the wall joists horizontally to give support to my shelf, then cut the shelf slats and mounted them set in the joists for maximum strength, on top of the horizontal 2x4 but perpendicular. The only level I did was the shelf slat 2x4s because there's no way to get level across the whole shelf when the shed itself isn't level. It's fine, doesn't really matter. I piled all the wood onto the shelf (with stickers) after that and it didn't collapse, so I'm calling it a win. I didn't put anything important next to it in case it did fall at some point, but I'm pretty pleased with it. It probably can't have any more wood on it, so I'll need to build another one for the dried planks I'm planning to pick up in the next week or so.
The next project is to install a workbench over the wood pile. One of the only good items salvaged out of the shed when it was originally emptied was a 2 inch thick 20 inch by 7.5 foot large plank of wood. I let it sit out in the elements for a bit to get the mouse pee smell out, and once it dries a bit, I'll put it up. The workbench I bought at the estate sale last week probably doesn't fit through the door, although I still need to check that, so that will wait until F's friend comes by and puts a new wide door on the back of the shed. That's the uphill side and I want the door wide enough to get the snowblower in to store it.
Eventually, I want to have a proper workshop in the shed and have all the tools and things in there. The only thing will be electricity and I will go buy a 100 ft extension cord. I'll just have to lay it out when I use it, but that's not bad. The basement really is a terrible work space right now.
I also put a board over the place where they didn't put the last board on, so there was a one inch gap to let snow and animals into the shed. Next step is to put hardware cloth on the eaves to keep the birds out. I also want to build some more misc shelving, probably up above the new workbench although I'm wary about putting boards up there because it will be hard to access. I'm not very tall.
The half of the merino fleece is drying behind me and once it's done, I can bag it and put it away to be worked on in the future. I'm hoping to get another fleece done later this week, I really want to get them done so I can really squish them in storage. Or work on them.
Otherwise, I laid around, playing video games all morning. Then I spun the alpaca and started combing the mohair fleece. It's jumped to the top of the queue since it has a deadline and I like a self imposed challenge. It's a bit hard to comb in that you can only put a small amount on the combs at a time since it puffs up so much in combing. I'm just laying the combed blobs out in the basket, I'm not actually sure how I'll fit a fleece's worth of combed fiber in the basket. I did spin a tiny sample and it's very pretty even if I put too much ply twist in. Definitely outwear. But I'm also saving the combing waste because I think I can card and blend that with some of the mystery fleece for sock yarn someday. Mystery fleece is one I sheared off a sheep that was a pet but it's very pretty and possibly Romney or a medium wool.
Sunday I did things. I didn't want to at first but once I got moving, I felt better. I got the other half of the merino fleece soaking, then went and worked on the shed. Main project was building a wood rack for the wood I have in there, which is mostly rough cut 2x4s although at this point, they are so dry I could probably start planing them for woodworking projects. I need to buy hand planes somewhere. They were originally used to stabilize the shed when we skidded it and they were very wet at that point, but a year in the shed has done them good. There was one mouse nest in the wood when I moved the pile, but that's because I used stickers in that level that were an inch thick. I moved the pile to the middle of the shed, swept, then went back to the fleece.
Set the fleece scour line up and then every 20 mins, stopped by wood project and went and did the next scour step. It worked surprisingly well to do that. I took a 2x4 and mounted it flat against the wall joists horizontally to give support to my shelf, then cut the shelf slats and mounted them set in the joists for maximum strength, on top of the horizontal 2x4 but perpendicular. The only level I did was the shelf slat 2x4s because there's no way to get level across the whole shelf when the shed itself isn't level. It's fine, doesn't really matter. I piled all the wood onto the shelf (with stickers) after that and it didn't collapse, so I'm calling it a win. I didn't put anything important next to it in case it did fall at some point, but I'm pretty pleased with it. It probably can't have any more wood on it, so I'll need to build another one for the dried planks I'm planning to pick up in the next week or so.
The next project is to install a workbench over the wood pile. One of the only good items salvaged out of the shed when it was originally emptied was a 2 inch thick 20 inch by 7.5 foot large plank of wood. I let it sit out in the elements for a bit to get the mouse pee smell out, and once it dries a bit, I'll put it up. The workbench I bought at the estate sale last week probably doesn't fit through the door, although I still need to check that, so that will wait until F's friend comes by and puts a new wide door on the back of the shed. That's the uphill side and I want the door wide enough to get the snowblower in to store it.
Eventually, I want to have a proper workshop in the shed and have all the tools and things in there. The only thing will be electricity and I will go buy a 100 ft extension cord. I'll just have to lay it out when I use it, but that's not bad. The basement really is a terrible work space right now.
I also put a board over the place where they didn't put the last board on, so there was a one inch gap to let snow and animals into the shed. Next step is to put hardware cloth on the eaves to keep the birds out. I also want to build some more misc shelving, probably up above the new workbench although I'm wary about putting boards up there because it will be hard to access. I'm not very tall.
The half of the merino fleece is drying behind me and once it's done, I can bag it and put it away to be worked on in the future. I'm hoping to get another fleece done later this week, I really want to get them done so I can really squish them in storage. Or work on them.
no subject
Date: 2023-11-13 03:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-11-14 01:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-11-14 01:17 am (UTC)I so wish I could use wool!! Your working with it is really nice to read about.
no subject
Date: 2023-11-14 01:46 pm (UTC)I really want to start spinning cotton since it seems really cool. I also need to pick up linen for weaving so hopefully I'll have more interesting stories about that too!