Bucks Sweep

I found out today that BLF bucks swept the buck divisions in Virginia. It's a big show and it is considered International because they also have Canadian entries.

BLF bucks took first and second in every buck class, and in one class they took third and fourth as well.

The best part was two of the first place fleeces were combed nearly exclusively by my daughter Willow. Homer and Chris. Willow kept going on about how great Homer's fiber was and I didn't agree, but she also combed him diligently nearly every day we combed, so she got a tremendous amount off of him.

Plus I kept on her about her technique, and I was worried about how her combings came out, so those two first place finishes shows me that she did a great job! Of course the fiber is judged on length, style, and fineness (measured in microns), but also they look for things like matting and contaminants in the fleece.

So, if while combing you let the fleece build up on the rake or slicker, it can damage it by over packing it. Sometimes with the rake we pull the fiber off the rake and hold it in our free hand until we get a handful and then put it in the bag, so if you clench the fiber in a sweaty hand, that will mat it.

I couldn't wait to tell her, I thought that was really great!!