oliver knot

Carla Burke wrote:Hi Oliver! Hope, sounds like you're doing it right, though after the suint and first 2 or 3 rinse buckets, I typically like to rinse until the water runs clean, which is what my 'suint mentor' does. Honestly though, if you've been doing it for a year, fairly consistently, you have more experience than I do.

Hey, i would say i have very much experience, and i don't do it as regularly as i should !
I did start to rinse it after the long soak, and wheni went to wash it it was a lot less dirtier and quicker to wash.
I watch the colour of the water, but i really need to make sure i get out al the lanolin, does anyone know if there's any way other than feeling if there is still lanolin ?.
Any advice on the suint method ?

Samantha Lewis wrote:Sounds fun!   How does your wool come out?

Do you run it through a picker after it is dry?  

Do you spin?  

What do you make with you wool?

Well it depends on the wool i use, we have merino and ouessants on the farm, but we also retrieve wool off local farmers for doing felt objects.
Yes we have a wooden hand picker, we run it through that, then through our carding machine, and then either its spun or felted.
I don't yet, but my mum does, i am hoping to learn to in a couple of days.
We make quite a few different things, from knitted hats and gloves to felted matts and bookmarks.

Hey everyone
I am a young sherperd on my family's farm, and i have a flock of merino sheep. It is my job to wash the wool, i have been doing it for about a year now, and i think i have been getting better and faster. but im wondering if i am doing it right or if there is anything i can do to help.

I start by soaking the raw wool it large bins with well water for about a week depending on the weather and the wool till it gets really stinky ( i since found out its called the suint method)
i then do a succession of washes in hot water i heat up on my outdoor wood burner, water just too hot to handle, i alternate with rinses and wasing up liquide and bicarbonate. i do this till i feel there is no lanolin fat left, i then dry it out.

Each time i remove the wool from a bucket of water i put more wool in it, so i have a line of buckets, i reuse the water each time, usually its only 3 buckets, cause the water gets too mucky and cold.

Is there anything im doing wrong or something i can do to improve my method?

Thanks for listening and hope to get some cool replies


oliver

Hello to all the friendly permies in Ireland

I am writing on my son's login, hope that's ok.

My children and I have had a smallholding in France for years where we are working towards being as self sufficient as we can.  We are thinking seriously about moving and are looking at our different options.  Ireland is very near the top of the list as it was when we first chose to come to France.  The problem is I haven't been there for many many years and it is almost impossible at the moment to take a trip to do some proper research.

We would be very grateful for any words of wisdom and practical advice about areas that would be most suitable and affordable for us to be able to carry on with our projects and develop them.  We have a long list of important requirements, obviously some more important than others such as (ideally) commutable distance  to university, plenty of trees and natural resources, sheltered but not damp and dark, friendly people and active communities etc etc

We do research online too but it is much nicer to hear from real people and hopefully make some nice contacts who are already living the same lifestyle as us.  If it looks like being a real possibility - and we can find a proper competent farmsitter - we will plan a trip to have a proper look around

Thank you so much !

(Also smallholding/small farm for sale in France if anyone looking!)

Well that sounds good because we have walnut trees, i might not be able to pick them for eating ( the squirrels get them first) but that's a good alternative.
i didn't think tea or coffee would be strong enough, is it permatent? if it is sealed or waxed after staining would it stay that colour longer ?

would you know a good place to buy iron oxides ?

Hey ! In not to long there will be cherries and plums on our trees, and this year i am determined to preserve as many i can fit in the jars we have.
Does anyone have any good recipes to suggest, for preserving fruit, we don't eat meat so the curing doesn't interest me much, but i am curious, does that work with some vegetables?

So linseed sounds good, but it would have to be boiled, and thaen cleaned is that it ? to stop it from going sticky ?

I have made some things, but they crack, because it's drying to fast ? and i've been told to oil it to stop it from happening.
And the staining is mostly to make it look different, different colors, and some things would look cooler with different shades.

Well i'm making walking sticks( i made one for my mum, and aslo things a bit more fun like wooden swords and magic wands ans sculptures and stuff.
so basically i'm looking for the best oil(or mixture ) to slean it, maybe stain it, to stop it from cracking.

So terebine dries it then, is it better than drying it slowly ?
Does boiling it help ?

Thanks for the reply !

Hi i'm ollie, beginner to the permies community, i make walking sticks and things out of wood, but i am having difficulty sealing and staining them, i'm am told all over the internet to buy some sort of oils from supermarkets. But as we all know these things can contain anything, and i'd like to do it properly, with oils that i can buy locally, or at the shops but at least they will be just one oil( or i can do a mix)

Anyway, does anyone have any recomendations for oils to use the seal and stain my wood, i have seen that there are oils like linseed and a few others, i'd like to hear form people that have used them before. Has anyone made a mix of oils that works well?

thank you so much, can't wait to hear from someone

O