I finished washing both parts of that fantastic CVM fleece, but haven't done anything since. I think the first two fleeces (small CVM and big Jacob - or whatever the two-color one is) are finally dry, and I plan to bag them in big Ziplocs and add them to my fiber closet. The big CVM fleece still needs probably another day. I have two more raw fleeces that need to be washed - one is dark brown and quite small, and the other is a gray one I purchased from Georgia Wolterbeek in Rindge, NH in 2001! That one is big, and heavy. It may need a very hot soak before I wash it at all, and I'm pretty sure it's going to have to be washed in two parts.
DH has offered to buy me a motorized drum carder for Christmas. I've decided, after comparing what I think are all of the motorized drum carders on the market, to get a Fancy Kitty "Big Tom." I'm looking forward to making wool/alpaca/angora blends! I've also been watching some videos on getting a batt off the drum carder in a roving form (using a diz).
Other than that I've been knitting. I seem to have landed full force in the middle of Christmas knitting. I started and finished the (hopefully) size 3 top-down toddler sweater. It still needs buttons, but all seams are sewn, and ends run in.
As it turns out, I had decided to make the other grand-niece a sweater in something closer to a size 6 or so. I think she's 3 now, and I want to make sure I make something that will fit for a while. The green Jelly Beenz yarn I got at the yarn crawl, though, won't be enough to make a size 6, so that is being re-routed. I found a pattern on Ravelry called "Lavenda" that I really like, and got some dark purple Patons wool from the basement that will be sufficient for that sweater. Can't seem to find a picture or pattern reference outside of Ravelry, so that will have to wait until I have my own picture to post.
In the meantime, the green Jelly Beenz may become two sweaters. I've started with a 6-12 month size baby sweater called "Baby Sophisticate" (another freebie on Ravelry) and I'm about half done, just in one day. There is a second pattern I'm interested in, a toddler "hoodie" cardigan, if this first baby sweater doesn't use more than two skeins of this green. We'll see how it goes. I'll get a few Christmas gifts done while the knitting fire is burning, anyway!
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