New Zealand and Wool

I got to go to the New Zealand embassy last night!  Mmmmm, they had lamb chops, skewered beef, and beet root mousse canapes, it was just so tasty.  It's a really beautiful building near to the Vice President's residence up Massachusetts Avenue on Observatory Circle.  Thank goodness the rain had let up and the temperature was mild because we ended up doing a lot of walking to get there and get home.

I met a gentleman from the Lamb and Beef Board, and, of course, I had to ask him about what happens to the wool of the lambs before they become dinner!  (You know, I have to say at this point that I try hard to eat as little meat as possible, I really don't like thinking about how an animal had to die to feed me, but suffice to say, no one was thinking about that last night!).  Turns out such lamb have courser wool, so it tends to go into carpet manufacturing.  In fact, the new rug in the Oval Office that was made in Michigan with a special design has a lot of New Zealand wool in it!

Ok, speaking of course wool, I'm running into a problem with one of the yarns that I am making a sample with.  I decided to make the rippled beret with Classic Elite Portland Tweed because it's the right yarn weight, and I thought that the tweeding would look good with the ripple technique, and it does look good (it's a great yarn to work with), but it's stiff!  Now, I'm debating whether to just unravel the whole thing and come up with a new project for that yarn (maybe a purse?) or wash it and see what happens (will it soften?) -- anybody got any suggestions for me?!