I Know, My Husband Already Told Me

So I've spun every piece of fiber I own. I stumble across a new spinning, weaving, yarn kinda store. I enter the store, and immediately am greeted by a woman working on a loom (one of two) in one of the large storefront windows. The owner is sitting in the opposite side of the room. So I tell her I am a new spinner, and need something to work on (did that translate into something else in her mind?). So anyway....

First she shows me the lovely undyed something with random bits of VM. I receive instructions on Kool Aid dying. Nah...not really what I had in mind. "No? Let me think.... Oh! OH! I know! Follow me!" Her enthusiasm is contagious. What is it? I feel like a kid on an adventure.

We go to the back of the store. The part you can always see, but cannot enter. "Come on, " she frantically gestures. She grabs large, overstuffed garbage bags, dragging them to the front. "Where is it? This one? no....this one? no....Here, oh just wait!"

The bag opens and suddenly I have entered the barn...my husband says the zoo, but what the heck...it's animal pooh no matter what your point of references. Lovely, energetic shop lady tells me how this fleece is one of four from a poor group of neglected sheep. This fleece is the result of TWO years of growth (thus the extra piquant aroma). Nice lady advises me that I should spin this in the grease, as is - no combing, carding anything! Can she be right? I keep thinking, if I run this through my wheel, my orifice will be permanently lubed and FILTHY! She promised me she personally skirted the nasty thing and removed all tags, and whatever you call the urine stained (eeeesh) areas.


Some staple length, huh?

As keen observers of the obvious, I am sure you have all deduced I walked out the door with this fleece (and some felting needles...at least I KNOW those will get used).

So, if anyone out there is accustomed to working with raw, greased, whatever the heck you call fresh off the sheep fleece, could you please tell what to do. I think I should wash it first. I do not have combs, but I really think I can, if careful, just spin directly off the gently, freshly washed pieces.

Although I love the lanolin, I do not like the barnyard in the house.