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Four of our best fleeces were mistakenly left behind when we went to the Garden State
Sheep Breeders Show September 12/13. I am putting them here as a special offer. I will be glad to send a lock from any fleece
that interests you - at the Fair you could see the whole fleece unrolled! I will also re-skirt them before shipping, as they
were not "show-skirted", so the weight might be slightly less. I am always complimented on the cleanliness of my
fleeces. There is a minimum of vegetable matter in them because I use "crate" feeders that keep uneaten hay in the
feeder, and my fields are very clean. These fleeces have not been picked, but will need very little. Prices listed do not
include shipping.
Joan Weber - this ewe came from the Cheviot
flock that produced my foundation flock. She is 5 years old. Her fleece is white, has a good crimp, and a good staple - very
soft. Right now it weighs 4 1/2 lbs - a good-sized fleece for our little Cheviots. She is easily worth $3/lb. Blossom - Blossom is also 5 years old and
was born here on the farm. She is pure Cheviot and her fleece is always very nice These are great fleeces for beginning spinners
because they have a nice loft and staple. This fleece is also 4 1/2 lbs and is white. This fleece is $3/lb. Isaac - My white flock sire gives consistently
wonderful fleeeces. He is 4 years old and had 4 1/2 lbs of wool this year. A lady from NY State came for my shearing
last year and bought his fleece right off his back! Since she had the choice of the flock. . . . . .'nuff said. Isaac is $3/lb.
And come to my shearing in Spring! It will be in May - watch my website for the details.
Omega - this lovely fleece was sold at the Rhinebeck show - it was the first time American
Miniature Cheviot fleeces were available there, and we look forward to Maryland in the Spring.
Roving
We have a wonderful selection of roving that just came back from
the mill. The mill that we use does an excellent job, and the roving is smooth and easy to spin - and clean. The roving listed
below came from the fleeces that we showed in competition in 2006. For our roving we choose only those fleeces with a good
staple (3" or better) and a very good crimp. One or two were offered and sold at the show, but we reserved these fleeces
for our roving. All roving is $20/pound, and you may buy as little or as much as you need. We will be happy to send a sample
of any fleece that sounds interesting - that is a sure way to talk you into it! An ounce is enough to try out, and $2 will
cover that and the ever-popular shipping and handling. That is deductible if you buy poundage.
Miracle
Miracle is a true miracle. He is a purebred Shetland wether, and is moorit.
If you are not familiar with Shetland colors, moorit is a lovely soft lighter brown. Over the years he has won consistently
in the natural-color fleece division. I am amazed that this 10-year-old sheep gave me such a winderful fleece last year. He
just gets better with age! His roving weighs 2 1/4 pounds.
Rascal
I am listing Rascal's roving here, even though there is only 11
oz. of it left. It will be the last of her fleeces, and her 2009 fleece was not be up to her previous wonderful standard.
She is a daughter of 3Z, who was one of my finest ewes and a wonderful mother. She has taken on the role of "nanny"
to the lamb flock and enjoys snacking on their nutricious lamb pellets and resting in the shade. Her arthritis has slowed
her down.
50/50 White Mohair/White Cheviot
Last year we sold out of this super roving very early on. It has a sheen you will love, and can be spun so fine - it
will delight your fingers! We choose one of our best Cheviot fleeces to blend with silky white mohair to create this desirable
roving. We are happy to report that we have 5 1/2 pounds of it for sale.
50/50
Grey Mohair/White Cheviot
What beautiful roving this is! The silvery-grey blends with white to create
a light heather grey roving. It spins up beautifully and can be made into many different yarns - a lacy fine yarn is especially
beautiful. Again, we use only our better Cheviot fleeces for this roving, and the mill has done a wonderful job of blending.
Lucky Ewe
Yes,
that is her name! She was the only triplet to survive! Frankly, her fleece is not the greatest. It is soft but short.
I have spun some for a Fair Isle sweater, and it was a pain in the neck. But there is onr thing you can say for Lucky - she
is black! No sun-bleaching for this girl! I find that needle-felters love her wool and so I sell it by the ounce, at
$1/ounce. One customer last winter said "I had to use dark purple noses on my animals until
I found Lucky! Sadly, we lost Lucky over the winter and we have only 1/2 ounce packets of her last fleece, packaged especially
for needle-felting at $7/oz.
Raw Fleeces
I have a number of raw fleeces available from this year's shearing and will post them next week (6/23).
They are rough skirted - no tags or coarse wool. At $6/lb they are perfect for the hand spinner.
Faery
Kiss - I had high hopes for Kiss's hoggit fleece
- she was on her way to being Best in Show with a wonderful two-tone fleece of grey to white (She is a crossbred). But she
didn't hold up under the "stress test" and her fleece can be made to part at the color change (grey to white). This
would be a challenge to process, but the result would be fabulous.
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