Psalm23Farm: WI Sheep and Wool

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

WI Sheep and Wool

I had a great weekend at the WI Sheep and Wool Festival. I had a vendor booth to keep me busy on Fri. and Sat. (I don't sell on Sun. so a friend sold some of her product in the booth space on Sun.) I sold roving, yarn, handspun mohair lock yarn, mohair locks, raw fleeces, sheepskins and combed top.

I bought a skirting table. This will be nice as I have used a ping pong table for the past couple years.

I showed several fleeces in the fleece show and Everest my teaser ram's fleece got a second.
The judge did not like my Corriedale fleece (she said it was not consistent and was OK for commercial), but liked the Coopworth fleece. Here is Everest's fleece.

Also had a great time visiting all my sheep and Angora goat breeder and fiber friends. Thanks Tori Gygi for explaining some sheep conformation (shoulders and backs) to me!

It rained when I was gone here at home quite a bit (I left on Thur. and got back Sun.) and when I got back the grass had grown about 1/2 in.! Aug. was dry so the rain is greatly appreciated.

I got a couple new pages up -Shetland Ewes , Shetland Ewe Lambs and Commercial Ewes .

3 comments:

RaynaSeptember 15, 2010 at 11:15 PM
Nice to see ya again! :)
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KellySeptember 16, 2010 at 7:24 AM
Great meeting you.....Loved your input regarding the fleeces on Sunday. Thanks.
Kelly
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LauraSeptember 30, 2010 at 7:18 PM
Thanks! Nice seeing you both.
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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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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

WI Sheep and Wool

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