Shetland Sheep: Rich in History, Rich in Textiles

Shetland Sheep: Rich in History, Rich in Textiles! Our farm mission is to enjoy and promote the wonderful diversity of the Shetland breed by fully utilizing to the best of our ability all they have to offer historically. We believe the best preservation and management of this breed includes it's full spectrum of history. We encourage old and new shepherds alike to join in the fun by engaging in fiber arts, especially spinning and knitting, as this breed is so intimately linked with those aspects of the arts.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Definitely Sockupied!


Can't wait for pink socks on those dreary winter days!

Oh, I'm definitely sock-upied these days!  I LOVE knitting socks, I love knitting in the round, I love making my own warmth and comfort for those dreary, long, dark, freezing winter days.  These socks are not only all of that, but they are something much more!  Stay tuned to learn more about why these socks are so special, and what that means to our farm.  There have been some changes here and boy, am I ever excited in what we will be able to bring you in the future!

In the meantime, we are having a very nice fall here.  While a frost or two has already come and the zinnias are gone, the grass is still growing bright green.  How nice that is for the sheep!  We've been supplementing them with some hay now, but they can continue to be out on pasture without much worry, which is precisely where they prefer to be.  The wind has blown cold the last week or so, but as you know, that doesn't faze a shetland sheep much!  They are perfectly content out in the open, grazing, chewing cud, and just watching the sun move across the sky.  The trees still hold many of their colorful leaves, yet leaves cover the ground in many places.  Some of the maple leaves get fed to the livestock, as they find them absolutely delicious.  Apples left on the trees are also scrumptious treats, especially for Wooly Bear.  He loves treats!

Oddly enough, as I'm typing this, thunder is rumbling off in the distance, and the skies are gray.  Seems we're in for a nice autumny rain.  Oh good...clean sheep!  Also, we have repairs to make in the barn, compliments of Wink.  Not sure what he is thinking these days, but it seems anything vertical has held great appeal for him lately...which makes so much more work for the shepherdess!  Lerwick is super content with his ewes, but Lil' Rainbow has decided she does not want to be in that group.  When we bought Lil' Rainbow, her previous shepherd had all kinds of trouble keeping her in the fence, but that has not been a problem here until now!  Every day, I was finding her outside her breeding group's fence, in the lane (also fenced...they are double fenced).  She'd be contentedly laying down and chewing her cud, or grazing, happily just over the fence from Lerwick.  Huh!  We'd put her back and a few hours later, there she'd be again...in the lane!  She was very easy to get back into her group, until finally, we decided she'd had enough time with the ram and let her return to the ewe group.  Every day is an adventure! lol

Shepherding truly is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get!


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