Homespun yarn

My homespun wool I've bought on ebay arrived today!

It's quite itchy. I've tryed to soften (and felt) it by washing it in different ways. So what I've got:

I've knitted some swatches of 14 stitches and 8 rows each.
It makes 11 cm/5,5 cm unwashed.

First I washed it in tepid water with mild soap and hair conditioner. It has become more fluffy and solid, and also softer. The size is 10,5 cm/5 cm now. My favourite one.

Then I washed another swatch in cold water using wool conditioner. It hardly changed its size (10,5 cm/5,5 cm). Wool stayed itchy, it only became a little bit fluffier. Not impressed at all.

At last I tryed warm water and hair conditioner. I rubbed the swatch untill it became fully felted. The size is only 7 cm to 4,5 cm now. It looks very nice! This yarn ist perfect for felting. And it seems that hair conditioner is also very good for felting wool.

Sandy lost in reflection...

Прибыла моя покупка с ибея - домашняя пряжа, целый килограмм. 

Она довольно колючая и жесткая, поэтому я связала несколько образцов, и постирала их с разными средствами, чтобы смягчить полотно.

Больше всего мне понравилось стирать в  мягком мыле и бальзаме для волос (нижний образец на первом фото). 

Также хорошо получилось полностью свалять образец, используя лишь бальзам для волос (последнее фото). Судя по всему, он очень хорошо подходит для валяния.