Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 316 The Misunderstanding of the Crew

He only said to buy some wool when he saw it, but didn't specify how much to buy, leaving it to the crew to decide for themselves, so we can't blame the crew for misunderstanding.

After all, the ships returning from other places were basically full when they left and returned.

A large amount of dried shrimp, kelp and seafood were exchanged from Liaodong Prefecture. Now the village has specially set up a seasoning group to grind and fry the dried shrimp and kelp every day.

The ships returning from Yongjia Prefecture and Chengyun Prefecture also brought back large quantities of various fabrics for making down jackets and sleeping bags, which were supplied to the down sets at Huaying Manor.

The crew thought Hua Lei might use the wool to make something new, so they bought so much without hesitation.

Since I bought so much wool at a low price, I might as well do it. I'd better finish the wool first. I can't let it rot in my hands. What if I can open up a new way to make money?

So, Hualei assigned a group of people to clean the wool. Because the wool was raw, it was very dirty, some of it was covered with grass and dirt, and some was stained with black and smelly sheep dung.

The first step in cleaning the wool is to pick out the sheep droppings, dirt and grass debris. The wool at the tangled feet is also gently pulled apart, and the rough wool selection is basically completed.

Then roughly wash the wool. Soak the wool in plenty of warm water to wash it. It is best to let it drift freely in the warm water to release the sand and dirt stuck to the wool into the warm water. After roughly washing away the dirt, the rough washing of the wool is done.

The next step is to sterilize the wool. Since there is no disinfectant or cleaning agent like in the previous life, Hualei has no other choice but to use the most primitive disinfection method. Soak chalk in water, mix it into a certain concentration, and put the wool that has been roughly cleaned into the lime water.

After soaking for seven or eight hours, take it out, wash it with clean water and dry it.

Then soak the dried wool in salt water for another two days, squeeze it gently, and rinse it with clean water several times. When the water is no longer brown, take it out and spread it out to dry.

The whole process was very time-consuming and water-consuming. Fortunately, the moats beside Yuanying Village were all rivers of running water, so when rinsing the flower buds, Wu Sansi had to use a fishing net to catch the wool.

It is more convenient to just throw the wool into the fishing net to rinse it, and then pull up the fishing net when the time comes. Otherwise, it would probably take more than a dozen strong men to fetch water.

During this period, Hua Lei asked Uncle Zhao to make a lot of brushes with pig bristles. After all the wool was dried, he began to comb the wool with the brushes. After carefully combing the wool several times, the wool became soft and fluffy, and could be spun into yarn.

Wool spinning is somewhat similar to cotton spinning, so in order to spin the yarn, Hua Lei specifically went to find Liang Xiangyi. Her family makes fabrics, so she is very familiar with this area.

Hua Lei asked Liang Xiangyi to borrow a few pedal spinning wheels first, and asked her to help buy some for the rest from Jiangnan Prefecture.

In her previous life, when Hua Lei led a group to travel, she also saw herdsmen in border areas use a tool called "touch needle" to spin yarn directly from the combed and fluffy wool.

However, Hualei thinks that this "touch needle" is suitable for takeout, and can be used whenever you go out to graze.

But if you use this at home, the efficiency is low. If you keep your hands like this all day long, by the evening, your hands will probably be useless. It's too tiring.

Using a foot-operated spinning wheel is much faster and more efficient, produces line quickly, and uses both hands and feet. Relatively speaking, it is much more convenient to use than the "needle-touching" tool.

With the spinning wheel and Liang Xiangyi's guidance, the wool that had been washed and fluffed was quickly spun into thread.

Although Aunt Fu was also flustered at the beginning and didn't know how to start, she gradually became skilled. With her hands and feet, the fluffy and soft wool turned into wool yarn.

At the beginning, the wool thread was of uneven thickness and broke easily. However, after half an hour, the wool thread gradually became of uniform thickness and no longer broke easily.

The women watching on the side also sat down and began to learn how to spin wool from Aunt Fu.

After the wool yarn is spun, you can start knitting wool sweaters. So Hualei asked Uncle Zhao to make a batch of bamboo needles for knitting sweaters. He began to teach the women in the village how to knit sweaters.

Four bamboo needles are grouped together, and the thread is hooked and wound in circles, round and round, and soon, the edge of a sweater is ready. Continue to hook the thread and wound in circles, and soon, the edge of the sweater is getting longer and longer.

Hualei knitted a sweater for Xiaoyuan and Master Pei and Madam Pei in the first batch. There were no fancy patterns, just the most common plain knitting method, and the collar was also a low round neck.

Soon, the three sweaters were ready. Hualei tried them on Xiaoyuan. They were neither too big nor too small, just the right length, soft and close fitting, very warm, Xiaoyuan was so happy that he smiled.

Then, Hua Lei went to the Marquis' Mansion with two woolen sweaters for Lord Pei and Madam Pei.

It just so happened that Marquis Pei was also at the Marquis' Mansion. He tried on the wool sweater that Hua Lei sent him. He was even happier than Xiao Yuan. He grinned and touched the soft and warm sweater, refusing to take it off.

When Hua Lei said that this was made of wool, she opened her mouth in surprise. In the Great Sheng Dynasty, wool was generally used in two ways. The most common way was to directly use the woolen leather to make woolen coats to wear.

It is very cold in Mobei, and this woolen fur coat is very warm in the ice and snow. Lord Pei himself has two sheepskin coats.

But the biggest drawback of this fur coat is that it is very heavy. You won’t feel it when you are sitting on the couch at home, but when you wear it and go on border patrol, sometimes when it rains or snows and the fur coat becomes wet, this drawback and advantage are revealed together. It is warm but extremely heavy.

Therefore, many soldiers in the army usually only wear waistcoats, or use a piece of furry leather to make knee pads to wrap around the knee joints. Another way is to use the cut wool directly like cotton to make wool quilts, which are more commonly used.

This woolen sweater made of wool spun into thread and then knitted with bamboo needles is not worn. Old Marquis Pei touched the woolen sweater, blinked his eyes, hesitated for a moment, leaned over, and whispered to Hualei.

"Lei'er, I think this is a big business. The method of spinning wool into wool sweaters is not available in the Great Sheng Dynasty. You should keep this method well.

The price of this wool is low in Mobei. You can go there and buy it in large quantities at a bargain price, and then after shipping it back and processing it, the price can be increased by more than ten times.