Black, white and grey sheep...
have you any wool?
Yes Ma'am, yes Ma'am...
three rugs full!!
Yes, these gals have grown super-thick fleece again this winter.
I can hardly wait to shear them this spring and harvest that wool.
Right now their wool is about 2 inches thick...
with about a half inch of grime on the outside.
Winter is hard on these fleeces.
I will try to clean them up a bit before shearing season (April).
Believe it or not, Faith is not a brown sheep, but rather is a black one.
It's just that the outer layer of her fleece gets sun-bleached.
After shearing she will be inky black once again.
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| Faith, shearing, 2016 |
This past spring I had their wool milled and spun together into a super thick
product know as core-spun.
Their wool was actually spun around a skein of pink wool yarn...
the pink being the "core" of the core-spun.
Babydoll sheep's wool is not soft enough for garments,
but makes a rather luxurious rug.
I crocheted this rug yesterday.
(I don't crochet....not really... I just tried my hand at something basic.)
This rug is 32 inches across and at least 1 inch thick.
It feels luscious underneath your toes!
Yesterday was the perfect day for indoor play...
it was positively soggy outside...
with rain helping to melt last week's snow.
As you can see...
some don't know enough to stay in their shelter
(and they have several to choose from!)
So, with a fire burning and a hot mug of tea,
and Celtic music playing softly in the background...
I knitted and crocheted....
while everyone else slept.
Why is it that I am sitting on the floor,
while everyone else occupies the furniture?
Perfect Sunday!
I finished the grey and maroon sheepy cowl...
and started another in a different green and blue.
This one will have white angora sheep knitted into it.
Comments
I have never been a knitter, but recently it's peaking my interest as I would love to have something easy to do with my hands on cold winter nights in front of the fire, and lately all the reading seems like too much -thinking-. Is it easy to get started? Because I'm deaf, a class or a tutorial without closed caption won't work for me.
I know nothing about the fascinating process of sheep shearing. Do you wash the sheep before they are sheered or is there a process to clean the wool after they get sheered?
Sounds like the perfect way to spend a weekend. I really need to take a knitting class.
Hope you get to see some sun today!
You can find the cowl on Ravery. Or you can email me and I will send it to you.
Your knitting is beautiful....
Actually a bit jealous of that as it never really took with me...I sew instead...quilts mostly. (see my blog)
Nancy
wildoakdesigns.blogspot.com
As for who is the boss in our house? You can guess the answer to that one!
Hope we can view the shearing . . .
Surprise, surprise that the Brownie is really a Blackie!