Re: Wool sheep, was small furry farm animals

[Guest guest]

> Aside from

> the fact of what to do with all that fleece after it's sheared. The

> wool

> market doesn't even pay enough for the wool to pay the shearer, and

> most

> sheep breeders don't take care of the fleece while it's growing to

> interest

> the handspinner. A fleece full of sticks, leaves, hay and manure is

> not fun

> to clean and spin, lol.

No, definitely not. But a little care goes a long way for handspinners!

You don't have to keep the sheep coated to come out with halfway decent

fleece. (Yes, some handspinning flocks wear little coats. Seriously.)

My current favorite shepherd's fleeces (Iron Water Ranch, which runs

Romneys) are so clean you can spin them " in the grease " (unwashed for

you nonfiber people--still with the lanolin in it), which is a really

fun way to spin. You spin it thin and when you wash it, POOF! it gets

fat and fluffy. Love that, it's like a magic trick. Dang I wish I

didn't have all this other spinning to do, I really want to dig into my

raw Romney!

Lynn S.

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Lynn Siprelle * web developer, writer, mama, fiber junky

http://www.siprelle.com * http://www.thenewhomemaker.com

http://www.democracyfororegon.com * http://www.wisforwomen.com

http://www.knitting911.net * http://www.tomformayor.org

[Guest guest]

> so clean you can spin them " in the grease " (unwashed for

> you nonfiber people--still with the lanolin in it

> Lynn Siprelle * web developer, writer, mama, fiber junky

OK, now I get your signature I think Lynn,

I had thought fiber junky had more to do with a high fiber diet... <G>, lol.

peace, Bruce

[Guest guest]

>She called me to ask if I would help shear her sheep. I went out there and

>was just horrified by what I saw... two of the ewes were so bulky with wool

>they could barely move, their dreadlocked fleece dragging on the ground.

>The third one had died, exhausted from hauling its wool around;

This is one reason I have goats, not sheep. They are Angora goats, so

they have spinnable wool. But they shed it every spring, if I don't

get to them first. I think it's the best of both worlds: they stay

warm in the winter, they eat shrubs and thornbushes or grass,

and you are not required to shear them.

And yeah, I'm learning to spin. I bought some shearers too,

and I do my own shearing. There are folks around here to

do it, but I didn't know it was only $4!

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

> OK, now I get your signature I think Lynn,

> I had thought fiber junky had more to do with a high fiber diet...

> <G>, lol.

Nope! On one of my tech lists someone thought it meant fiber optics!

Lynn S.

------

Lynn Siprelle * web developer, writer, mama, fiber junky

http://www.siprelle.com * http://www.thenewhomemaker.com

http://www.democracyfororegon.com * http://www.wisforwomen.com

http://www.knitting911.net * http://www.tomformayor.org