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.

Monday, October 23, 2017

Our Lovely Iris

Lovely Iris, on a warm summer day
Her fleece is growing back nicely after I sheared her.

Iris is a star around here!  THAT is an understatement!  This sheep has changed our lives, and our farm in amazing ways, and we are very thankful to have her!  She's a purebred Shetland sheep, out of the long gone Sheepy Hollow flock.  I (Amy) fell in love with Iris head over heels after purchasing her fleece from a friend, who owned her at the time.  That spinning experience changed everything!  It was the moment that turned everything in my life upside down!!  This is indeed a very special sheep!

After that life changing fleece, I talked to Iris's owners.  They were willing to sell her to me, and I was very thankful!  In doing research on her paperwork, a shocking thing was discovered.  ALL of the Sheepy Hollow ewes were given botanical names, as the flock owner loved flowers and gardens.  Yet, this one ewe, whom everyone knew as Iris was actually registered with a different name.  Can you guess which it is?  If you guessed Amy...you are right!  Yep.  That's right.  This sheep was NOT registered as Iris.  Her name is Sheepy Hollow Amy.  How incredible is that?!?  She was the only sheep in that flock I could find with a "human" name.  And it's my name.  It was destiny.

Iris came home with me on a special day.  Our friends who owned her found her aloof and a bit challenging.  Upon having time on our farm to learn how her new home is, I worked with her a lot.  She was a very predator-wary and strong ewe.  It took time to gain her trust.  Every shepherd likes to have sheep that are easy to work with, yet strong in protecting herself and her lambs out on grazing.  Even though she came from a very nice farm with very nice people, she just didn't trust anything!  In time, this melted.

Today, Iris is twelve and a half years old!  During our last flock run-through, we discovered that after grazing all summer, she has finally lost her front teeth.  Her fleece is still as lovely as ever, and I'm spinning some right now in fact.  It's still my most favorite fleece ever!  That's saying something because our farm now has many sheep with many lovely fleeces.  Iris is special!

So if you find Iris's popular yarn on the table at the market, now you know a bit about her history, and how she's provided joy for so many!  You can feel confident that your yarn is coming from a well-loved flock where each animal is treasured and appreciated.  What a wonderful thing!  How lucky we all are, for it hasn't always been this way historically speaking.

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