Shearing The Flock

There are some opportunities that you just can't pass up.  One of my new spinners knew of this farmer in Garner, NC who was going to shear and dispose of the fleeces.  Of course, she leaped on the opportunity to pick up a few good fleeces, called me and asked if I could teach her how to skirt and bag as they sheared.  After several cancellations by the shearer the time was finally set for last evening. 

We were so glad that it was a moderately warm day (mid 80's) and not one of the scorchers that June can bring in the south.  After finding the farm and driving the last 1/2 mile on a potholed winding single lane dirt road up to the barn I was delighted to see the flock of sheep waiting in the holding area in the barn.  We had 3 of us to skirt and bag and a few children were there to help label and record the fleeces. 

Some of the sheep had been named by the owners daughter so we carefully recorded those for that "personal touch" to add to the fleece.

The shearers were from a couple hours away north of Winston Salem.  Dad and daughter team did a great job.  The daughter just graduated from High School.  When I asked her what she planned to do now that she had graduated she looked at me like I had 3 eyes and said, "Work the farm!!"   Well, duh, of course!  Silly me! 

 She was amazing in handling the sheep and we had very few second cuts in her fleeces.  Kudos to her! 

The Dad has been shearing 6 or 7 years.  Let me tell you how hard this work is!  The barn was very hot and over the 2 1/4 hours we were there the smells of suint, grease (raw lanolin) and other bodily fluids mingled heavy in the air increasing tenfold by the time we were packed up and ready to go. 

This little lamb lost it's Mom to mastitis shortly after it was born.  They tried to bottle feed but it would not take to the bottle.  It has done well on it's mash and now, at a month and half of age it is still thriving although she is small.  She kept us company in the skirting area of the barn and she was surprisingly pretty friendly.

We used dollar tree shower curtains to do the skirting on. It made a great space to lay out the fleece so we could determine how much needed to be skirted.   I have some video of that which I hope I can figure out how to add soon.  Each fleece was bagged, labeled and named if we knew the name of the sheep.  It's always nice having that personal touch of a name!  Deborah was the new spinner and she had brought her 3 grandchildren along.  They were such a big help recording the bags/names and being the runners to take the bags to the cars. 

This is my favorite.  Black Betty came in from another farm with 2 other sheep to join the shearing.  She is a Dorset yearling.  I bagged this fleece for myself.  I'm looking forward to making a nice sweater if I have enough fiber after processing it. 

Because the weather was not cooperative the night before and dumped tons of rain on the flock their fleeces were damp.  That meant having to take all the fleeces out of the bags when returning home and laying them out in the sunshine to dry before re-bagging and labeling them until they can be washed.  What a job!  I only brought home 3 of the Suffolk fleeces to dry.  Deborah is at camp this week so her friend took home the remaining fleeces to dry them.  Lucky her!

Once we can determine a time to meet I will be teaching Deborah how to process the fiber including washing, dyeing and carding. 

Back up the dusty road to take the drive home.  When returning home the first order of business was to get the fleeces out of their bags.  Then a good hot shower for me.  I think my hands will be soft for a month from all of the lanolin today!  

Needless to say, I didn't have to count sheep to fall asleep last night!

Three Dorset fleeces drying before final bagging

Black Betty drying

 Today I have some time to start washing Black Betty.  I have several projects ahead of spinning her but will probably try a little sample just to know how it will look.  It seems like a pretty soft fleece but if I find it a little coarse once spun she may be blended with some chestnut llama or brown alpaca that I have.  I will post how this goes.  

So, off to the wash bins I go!  Wish me luck!  

And a final BIG word...THANKS, Don, for the opportunity and for the fleeces!  You have a great flock and it was our pleasure to meet you.  We will enjoy many hours of spinning and knitting thanks to you!

The Joy and Stink of Skirting!

In the end we see the reality of the finished product; the beginning is merely a dream.

This has been my belief in my love of life for many years now.  Being able to share that through my love of fiber arts brings me a joy and peace in this world of chaos and stress.  I hope that I can inspire others to grow through experience, to not be afraid to try new things and to reach out to learn from one another.

I look forward to sharing my continuing path through my intention of creations or through those incidental or accidental wonders that sometimes happen. 

So, with that being said...  

I was so lucky to receive 2 wonderful boxes of unskirted Shetland fleece a couple weeks ago.  My niece lives in upstate NY and had her 2 Shetlands sheared, her first experience with this.  So, of course I volunteered to skirt, wash, pick, card, spin and knit!  Well, when the boxes arrived I was beginning to wonder if I was out of my mind offering to skirt! 

My house quickly smelled like, well, let's not go there.  I moved the fleeces to the garage and spread them onto a screen balanced on the back of my car.  Since we are deep into pollen season, gracing everything in sight with bright yellow pollen, I had to do this inside.  

Spreading it out to be able to identify the britch from the neck from the belly was a challenge since it was so mushed together from shipping.  But, after a bit of work the birds were getting a large bag of pickings for their spring nests!

The remaining fleece went into the house for it's wash.  Using Dawn and good hot water I soaked the fleece for 30 minutes.  I didn't want to remove all of the lanolin so only used a small amount of Dawn (10 squirts for my sink sized bucket).  

After 2 hot water rinses (no agitation. mind you!) I placed the fleece on old beach towels, rolled them up and pressed them to get the extra water out.  Then off to the screen to dry!  

And here were a couple of the locks!   It is so easy to see the double coat of the Shetland.  The white undercoat is SO soft. 

This will be wonderful to spin despite the hours of prep that it took.   I have asked my niece to please, please, please COAT the sheep to help keep it cleaner.  Hoping next years fleece won't be as much work!

Off to the wheel!