To The Victor Goes The Spoils!
It was such a relief to have the whole llama catching-and-shearing job behind me! I think what made me the happiest was the quality of the fleece. I was very concerned it wouldn't be worth saving since it was 2 year's growth. I was delighted to find that since it was dry, the rather excessive amount of fine veg matter in it could actually be mostly shaken out. So I went from apprehensive to very happy quite quickly! About 1/3 of it was not fit to save, not just because of the normal "skirting" but because it was just too dirty, too matted and too full of hay and grass seeds to be worth the time it would take to pick it all out. Of the 2/3 I kept, about 1/3 was white fleece, the other 2/3 black fleece.
I spent Sunday afternoon outside on the patio, with the mosquito repellent smoking, under a shady umbrella, picking, shaking and pulling out as much long dirty hair as I could. By supper time I had finished all the white:
I spent Sunday afternoon outside on the patio, with the mosquito repellent smoking, under a shady umbrella, picking, shaking and pulling out as much long dirty hair as I could. By supper time I had finished all the white:
I have a whole pillow case full (not compacted). I don't know how much it weighs. I'll sort that all out once I'm done the black, which will take twice as long to prep because (d'uh) there's twice as much of it.
And the black is SO downy soft! I couldn't be happier with it! Now to find the time to get it ready! I keep reminding myself how nice it will be to spin once it's been properly processed and I feel better. Everything worth doing is worth taking the time to do! Cheers all! 
Looks like you have a pleasant summer project now. Can hardly wait to see all the processing steps and the final product.
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