Psalm23Farm: December 2009

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas

We had a very rainy, but full Christmas. Family and some friends came over and we ate and read a passage from the Bible and visited. The next day though it got cold again and stopped raining. Here are a few wool related projects I made for Christmas presents.

A wool filled quilt for my Dad (covered in cotton fabric.)

I made a scarf for my big sister, Helen, out of some of the yarn in an earlier post.

Here are a few of my ewes and adult rams. I keep my adult ewes with the adult rams in the winter. (The ram lambs are in a pen with my Angora bucks and the ewe lambs have their own pen. The Angora does also have their own pen.)

My crossbred market lambs are growing nicely (the were shorn in Oct.) I just have 10 of them left.

I just thought that this snow drift was really neat looking so here are some pictures of it!

Oh and just 3 months to go till these guys start popping out!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Wool

My load of wool er hay came. (The sheep and goats will turn it into wool by spring !) The unfortunate thing is the hay guy was supposed to come in November and I had even called him in October to try to get a date set, but he kept canceling or changing the dates. So now that it is winter our driveway is too slippery for a semi to get up. The bales had to be unloaded on the road and taken up with the skid steer that I rented. The bad thing is three bales fell into the ditch-a very steep, muddy ditch where cattails grow in the summer. Anyway my Dad and I managed to drag up one of the bales piece by piece on sleds up the driveway. Then my brother, Iain, thought he could get the other two bales after all with the skid steer. Well....the skid steer slipped all the way to the bottom of the ditch and after an hour and a half the skid steer was still stuck in mud that is like pudding. We had even tried putting down some hay (about half a bales worth) to try to drive on, but that did not work! The good thing is the skid steer company said not to worry and they'd just bring a tractor on a semi tailor and tow it out.

The other good thing is now I have hay! I was feeding small squares of marsh hay and about 1/2# of grain to my ewes a day (there is not a whole lot of nutrition in marsh hay and they waste a lot), now they will just get alfalfa hay.

Here's what I've been spinning- picked mohair locks with...

black Corriedale lamb. The yarn is very soft!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Art Yarn

Laurie Boyer is a fiber artist who specielises in making art yarns and finnished products using local wool, mohair and camild fiber. She does and incredible job!

Icicle yarn.

I don't remember what Laurie called this yarn.

Boucle yarn.

I also don't remember what Laurie called this yarn.

Peppermints and dyed red Navaho Churro lock yarn. (Peacock feather yarn on the side.)

Some of Laurie's feather yarn.

Wool lock yarn. Most is Coopworth, but she has some Shetland (the brown on the left hand side on the first picture of the lock yarn) and some Navaho Churro (not pictured.)

Two of Laurie's shawls made from her yarn, The first is llama and the second Merino.

Laurie has also made hardware yarn, q-tip yarn, drinking straw yarn and much more. Sorry I don't have any more pictures!

Welcome to Psalm 23 Farm

I'm breeding my NASSA registered Shetland sheep for fine and med. fine lustrous single coated fleeces in both the crimpy and the locky, wavy fleece styles. I have a wide range of colors and makings as well as the bright pure whites. I'm emphasizing on production, mothering ability and sound conformation. I have both horned and naturally polled Shetland rams and a few horned Shetland ewes.

I also produce fast growing grass-fed market lambs and commercial ewes with excellent fleece. (Shetland x Coopworth and Shetland x Australian Corriedale.) These F1 (first generation cross) ewes are great maternal ewes to put under a terminal sire for the ultimate grass fed market lamb.

Angora goats are my other love. I'm selecting for fine yearling grade mohair in adult animals. All of my goats are CAGBA (colored) or AAGBA (white) registered. I'm also selecting for sound healthy goats.

Posts will be about the Shetlands and Angoras with an occasional post about the other animals on the farm. Posts will also be about wool, spinning and a variety of other topics.

Psalm 23 Farm sells raw "jacketed" wool and mohair fleeces, mohair locks, dyed and natural Shetland and Shetland/mohair roving. Also sheepskins, quilt batts, handspun yarn, mohair lock yarn, and mill spun yarn.

From the Shetland Sheep Society

"Shetland sheep have for generations been noted for their very soft and well crimped fleece. The wool is the finest of all native breeds and shows an amazing variety of colours and patterns. There are 11 main whole colours and 30 recognized markings.

By selecting from coloured fleeces a range of naturally coloured yarn can be produced. This eliminates the need for dyeing and therefore retains the soft feel of the natural fibre and is favoured by those who prefer a totally natural approach.

Shetland wool fibres are of a simple construction witha central cortex covered by a thin scaly cuticle, and have an average diameter of about 23 microns. However there is a range from 10-20 microns for neck and shoulder wool to 25 to 35 microns for britch wool. the average staple length is 3.5 inches. The amount of crimp varies, and is most important in providing the 'bounce' required for knitwear. There is a positive correlation between fineness and crimp, with wool of the finest quality being crimped at between 8 and 12 to the inch. Wool from Shetland sheep is used to produce gossamer lace, the famous 'Fair Isle' knitwear, and fine tweeds. Pure bred Shetland sheep tend to shed their fleece in spring. The growth of new fleece can cause a rise or weak point and where this is present the fleece can sometimes be plucked or 'rooed' by hand. The timing of this can be different in each sheep, however, it is worth taking the care to get it right as rooed fleece can be amongst the softest because the fibers have no harsh cut ends as occurs with a sheared fleece.

Shetland fleece can be handspun straight from the fleece or made into rolags and then woollen spun. It can also be worsted spun by hand, used on a peg loom or handwoven. It also felts well using either dry or wet methods. When processed commercially the wool can be made into the finest lightweight worsted cloth or heavier weight, harder wearing fabrics and tweeds."

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