Heat water to 160F to melt lanolin - too much lanolin will create black clumps of the stuff in your wool. Removing the lanolin is called `Scouring`.
Use as acidic a soap as possible. Other than expensive special soaps, apparently blue Dawn has the most balanced pH. About a 1/4 cup in a sink, 1/2 cup in a tub?
TO IMMERSE - NO AGITATION
Have a mesh surface stretched over a frame that fits the size of whatever bath you're using. Attache strings of devise handles to safely pull it out of the boiling hot water.
If it hasn't been done already, pick the fleece clean of any chaff or poop etc.
Place on the screen in an even layer.
Pour the hot water and soap into the bath.
Slowly lower the screen in the water and DO NOT AGITATE. This means do not poke to make it sink or swish the water around, no matter how gently you think you're doing it. The fleece will felt. It's not a matter of 'may felt', it WILL felt.
Let it soak for 15-20 minutes.
Gently pull out the screen and let the fleece drip. DO NOT press or squeeze, just leave it looking like an awful mess on the screen.
Repeat this process until the water remains clean after the fleece has been pulled out.
http://www.icelandicsheep.com/Icelandic%20Fleece.htm
http://www.kindhornfarm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74:icelandic-sheep-for-premium-fleece&catid=38:general-info&Itemid=119
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Friday, January 30, 2015
The mystery of the mind
I've started running twice per week with a group of colleagues at work. It's such an encouragement to have that kind of accountability - someone is watching to see if I actually do something I really want to do but don't have the drive to do by myself.
As an upshot of this, earlier this week I did a single circuit of a weightlifting routine, my first in almost a year, I'm ashamed to say. I'm a pretty slim guy, but I have a round butt, which made me assume that I must use my gluteus a lot when walking or running etc. Out of my entire body, after that weightlifting routine, my gluteus and hamstrings are the only muscle group that hurt, and they hurt a lot, where I was almost walking funny.
Anyway, the odd thing is that, because of the DOMs I'm suffering, I want to workout more. I explain this phenomenon thusly: because I feel the effects of a workout, I have evidence that my body is reacting to the exercise, which makes me feel like there is progression, and that feeling of improvement or of movement towards my fitness goals encourages me to do more.
Which is why I have to pace myself. From past experience, I know that I get overly enthusiastic and push myself harder and, having passed the 40 y.o. mark, I injure myself and have to stop. And stopping is the opposite of what I want.
Yesterday, I did not go running, but I did some yoga, the Salute to the Sun which, for some reason, is imprinted on my brain. Even if I haven't done it in years, I still remember the poses and the sequence. For someone who grew up never really playing sports or working out, I find this amazing, perplexing, and comforting.
As an upshot of this, earlier this week I did a single circuit of a weightlifting routine, my first in almost a year, I'm ashamed to say. I'm a pretty slim guy, but I have a round butt, which made me assume that I must use my gluteus a lot when walking or running etc. Out of my entire body, after that weightlifting routine, my gluteus and hamstrings are the only muscle group that hurt, and they hurt a lot, where I was almost walking funny.
Anyway, the odd thing is that, because of the DOMs I'm suffering, I want to workout more. I explain this phenomenon thusly: because I feel the effects of a workout, I have evidence that my body is reacting to the exercise, which makes me feel like there is progression, and that feeling of improvement or of movement towards my fitness goals encourages me to do more.
Which is why I have to pace myself. From past experience, I know that I get overly enthusiastic and push myself harder and, having passed the 40 y.o. mark, I injure myself and have to stop. And stopping is the opposite of what I want.
Yesterday, I did not go running, but I did some yoga, the Salute to the Sun which, for some reason, is imprinted on my brain. Even if I haven't done it in years, I still remember the poses and the sequence. For someone who grew up never really playing sports or working out, I find this amazing, perplexing, and comforting.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Starting over
I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going. There is so much information out there and the vast majority of it seems to be angled at people I am not.
I am a middle aged man, 44 years old
I am considered to be underweight at 135 lbs (I don't know my weight at the moment)
My shape is changing from slim to having hips and a belly
I am not physically active nor have been in my youth
I would love to be more muscular and fit. My aspiration is to add about 30 lbs of lean muscle, and to loose what is starting to be a bit of a belly. If I could hit the single digit body fat composition, that would be great.
My challenge right now is that I also have a cooking blog, and I like to bake. I also like to cook French, which often has lots of dairy and fat. I've always eaten pretty clean - I rarely eat junk food, I rarely eat prepared food. I make almost all my meals. So I guess that's in my favor.
Since I prepare my own meals, and I like to cook and cook fresh, which takes time. I commute to work, taking about 2 hours out of my day. The rest of my evenings are for family time, and for building my business. Now I have to figure out when to workout.
Things may also drastically change in my life very soon (hopefully, and hopefully for the better). My office is closing down, and my family is planning on moving to one of the Gulf Islands close to Vancouver Island, Canada.
I am a middle aged man, 44 years old
I am considered to be underweight at 135 lbs (I don't know my weight at the moment)
My shape is changing from slim to having hips and a belly
I am not physically active nor have been in my youth
I would love to be more muscular and fit. My aspiration is to add about 30 lbs of lean muscle, and to loose what is starting to be a bit of a belly. If I could hit the single digit body fat composition, that would be great.
My challenge right now is that I also have a cooking blog, and I like to bake. I also like to cook French, which often has lots of dairy and fat. I've always eaten pretty clean - I rarely eat junk food, I rarely eat prepared food. I make almost all my meals. So I guess that's in my favor.
Since I prepare my own meals, and I like to cook and cook fresh, which takes time. I commute to work, taking about 2 hours out of my day. The rest of my evenings are for family time, and for building my business. Now I have to figure out when to workout.
Things may also drastically change in my life very soon (hopefully, and hopefully for the better). My office is closing down, and my family is planning on moving to one of the Gulf Islands close to Vancouver Island, Canada.
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