It all starts here! One of my beautiful alpacas ready to be shorn!
And after she is shorn, I send the entire blanket fleece to processing.
I use a great mill in Mona, Utah
The batt that is produced at the mill looks like this.
I need to make sure it is large enough for my hat, so I lay out the pattern
before I take the batt to the FeltLoom.
After several passes through the FeltLoom, I am ready to full it in the laundry tub.
To assure that it does not felt back onto itself, I wrap the felted sheet in a laundry
bag (or in tulle if it is too large for the bag).
Then after gentle manipulation in hot water with gentle laundry soap,
I wring it out, place it in my washing machine on a spin cycle
to remove as much water as possible. Hang it to dry after this
and I am ready to cut the pieces out according to the pattern and sew.
Gotta go get to work on the next hat. Check back for the next phase!!