Wheely Wooly Farm: Blue Sheep?

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, March 2, 2010

Blue Sheep?

If you are from my state (Wisconsin), and if you have ever traveled up to Peninsula State Park, you have heard of that super fabulous little theater in the woods...and you have heard of the hilarious little production entitled "Lumberjacks in Love". This exceptionally professional production cracked up audiences for a number of years, including us. It's the story of a bunch of goofball lumberjacks in a rough logging camp of Northern Wisconsin, one of whom gets caught in a commitment to a mailorder bride. The actors were incredibly good with their lines, timing, singing, and cracking up the audience without missing a cue! Of course, the lines and songs themselves were almost more than my laugh lines could handle! In this little play, there is a line about "blue soap".....oh boy, am I deviating! Sadly, one of the key actors of that production, and I believe one of the co-writers died a sudden death while out jogging one beautiful summer afternoon in the park, hours before he was to perform again. He was a young guy...in his thirties and FIT! I cannot think of anything blue anymore without thinking about him, this production, and the crack ups he and his fellow actors brought to thousands of people. I still feel sadness about it to this day...

So what does that have to do with blue sheep?? Wait...blue sheep? Yes! Shetland sheep come in a variety of colors ranging from lovely blacks up two color "paths" to white. One color "path" takes a dark brown fleece up through a range of creams, honeys and fawns. The other "path" takes fleece color from black up the grey side from steely grey to soft greys, silver greys and eventually up to whitish. One sheep can manifest any range of colors in it's "path". Well, I feel very fortunate to have found this little fleece I'm working on right now...

...it's blue!!! I laid it out on the floor and the color coming back was exceptional!! I have seen A LOT of Shetland sheep, but around my area, this color is just not seen much! It actually takes on the color blue. I absolutely cannot wait to spin it! I took this picture before I washed the fleece. It comes from a little ram lamb I met last fall. I really liked him, and found it hard to leave him behind. He was well built and had this lovely fleece on him, but I could see he was going to have that nasty horn issue. One horn looked good, but the other was going to dive inward. So I told his owner I would buy his fleece after shearing. Turns out, the good horn dove inward as well...another Shetland tragedy. Boy, would I ever love to see research done on this to get this problem resolved!!!

The tips in some areas have that lovely cinnamon color. If this fleece was run through a mill, the colors would be lost to one tone. That is why I love handspinning with Shetland wool. You can preserve these amazing color dynamics. It's impossible to get bored!!! The yarn you design ends up being one-of-a-kind; unique to that sheep, unique to that spinner. Just as a memorable production, each fleece becomes a memorable product, designed with skill and commitment, and fond memories of the sheep it came from. Sadly, this fleece comes with the sad memory of those horns and the untimely loss of another beautiful ram.

Oh Sophie! That's clean laundry!! Must you?!?

Sigh....

2 comments:

AnonymousMarch 4, 2010 at 6:40 PM
What a beautiful fleece and I hope you have fun spinning it. That story reminds me that nature is both beautiful and at times (seems) cruel. Margie
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AmyMarch 7, 2010 at 12:23 AM
Thank you! I've decided to card this little fleece, so it won't be all spun up right away. I'm getting that 'ol freeze-up issue again on this one! It's so pretty, and unusual around my area, I don't want to make any mistakes. Amy
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What is Shetland Fiber?

Wheely Wooly Farm strives to breed for wool as described on the historic 1927 Breed Standard, which was created and written in the Shetland Islands. Our breeding stock exhibits fleece just as the Standard demands of us: extra fine, soft texture, longish, wavy, and well closed. Our fleeces will have short, crimpy neck wool, longish and wavy midside wool, with little or no crimp in the even longer britch wool. This historic fleece type gives you a wide range of textile capabilities, of which is well documented, photographed, and archived in the Shetland Island Museum (see link below).

Shetland fiber does not carry much "grease", making it easy to wash. Because of it's soft texture and fineness, it does not felt easily, making it great for socks! Stockings (socks, sometimes covering up over the knee) in fact, were one of the primary famed textiles produced. Stockings were just one of many types of textiles that were subjected to inspections, receiving a stamp of approval before they could be sold. Shetland fleeces are desired by hand spinners for long, easy to spin, tiny fibers. The longish, wavy midside wool easily drafts out of your hand in a way you won't forget!

We do not breed for the modern milling goals which claim wavy means crimpy, or that longish means short, as written by an organization outside of the Shetland Islands in modern times. Read why in our June 30, 2011 blog entry.

We also do not micron test our fleeces. Micron testing has been a useful tool in most other sheep breeds, but most other breeds produce wool for carpet, industrial flame-proof clean up cloths, lining for firefighter gear, or insulation for highly flammable vehicles such as trains and airplanes. We feel mircon testing takes the emphasis off the handle of the fleece, which goes against making good selections for breeding in one of the world's premier hand spinning/hand knitting/garment breeds.

We are confident our careful breeding program, adherance to the historic 1927 Breed Standard guidelines, and our textile skills will provide you with the utmost quality of fine fleeces and yarns, so you can enjoy a truly Shetland experience!

"...your wool has made a great diaper cover for our 3 month old son. It's nice to know he is wearing a truly natural product! Big smile and Thank you!" Michelle

"I made mittens with Wheely Wooly Yarn, then put them in a silent auction. They sold for $250! Thanks for making such beautiful yarn!" Lisa

Angela wrote us:

"I could not stop myself enjoying your yarn and already finished my first project which will go to my friend...thank you"!

Bill stopped at our booth and said:

"My wife made the hat I wanted from your natural colors and I love it! Makes winter seem not so bad!

Our Farm

Our family farm is located on a hill in the lush prairie lands of east, central Wisconsin, where we enjoy four distinct seasons and a seemingly endless supply of summer grasses, except in drought! We are surrounded by old oak forests, bountiful spring woodland flowers, quiet roads, and clean quiet lakes with a popular river nearby for fishing. We started a flock of sheep several years ago, deciding to breed up our own lambs for flock growth. Heritage hens grace our chicken coop, providing us with fresh eggs and garden companionship. A raspberry patch planted near the coop gives us plentiful berries for the winter. The hens are superb weeders under the canes, which we much appreciate. Two horses graze down the extra grass ahead of the sheep, one being a very cute black and white pony. We also keep two dairy does for fresh milk and yogurt. Behind our historic 1800's white farmhouse we've planted a vegetable garden. Each year, we can't imagine winter without our tomatoes, peas, peppers, potatoes, onions, soup beans, pumpkins, zucchini, sunflowers, and cucumbers. Two geese have now been employed as weeders there, Pomander the Gander and Hyssop the Goose. A separate garden does it's best to contain exuberant mounds of herbs. Lavender also grows there. To the west are two standard apple trees, to the north a treasured pear tree and an even more treasured peach tree to the south! The barns are patrolled by two feline guards, who sleuth around corners and stake out holes. We treasure them! Each morning, we rise to the crows of our robust roosters. We'll never tire of that! Our work days are long here, with challenges popping up all the time, but it can all be solved in a hurry with a tall cold glass of water in the shade of our old-fashioned front porch!

How we manage our flock

Our flock of purebred Shetland sheep, one dairy ewe, and one wether who thinks he's a pet dog do not leave our farm except for educational purposes with youth groups in non-agricultural settings. Most of the flock has been carefully selected from small, private, non-traveling flocks over a period of years. We no longer take sheep to shows due to disease pressure, nor do we allow in transit sheep, loan out our animal transport vehicles, haul livestock, or allow animals to hold over at our farm. As a result, our flock has become soundly biosecure, with dramatically less exposure and risk for disease. All incoming additions are extensively quarantined and checked for disease. This assures our future lamb buyers of sound, healthy stock. I shear nearly all of our flock myself (another component to biosecurity) with hand blades when the rise is right (usually late May to early June), unless I'm excited for a particular fleece (which means re-shearing mid-summer). Neck wool is typically rooed, continuing throughout the fleece as the sheep is ready. Each sheep is named, halter trained, and tamed. Our rams are very personable, friendly, verbally interactive, respectful, and not afraid. We do not believe a terrified ram is healthy on any farm!! We never touch them on the top of their horns/heads, nor do we EVER use their horns as handlebars unless it's an absolute dire emergency. We keep extensive wool and health records. Fleeces on hoof are checked frequently so that we may keep a watchful eye on the health of our sheep, and what we're producing. The sheep are rotationally grazed April through October, then penned for winter. Each night, they are run into our large pole building for predator security. They also stay penned in the shed during wicked winter storms, or if the pastures are too wet in spring, never in mud. It's all a lot of work, but it's done so that we can assure our customers with the utmost biosecurity and quality in your purchases!

International Show Your Shawl Day
Show the world how beautiful your shawls
are by wearing them for the day! Have you knit

a beautiful shawl, but it's in storage somewhere

'cause you're afraid to wear it?

Has someone gifted a special shawl to you

for a special reason, but you're afraid to wear

it? Well girls! It's time to take them out, show

them off, talk about them, share them,

and put them to use!

Mark your calendars for the next date!

Coming October 14, 2017!!

We changed the date from September to October to coincide with our sale on beautiful Wheely Wooly Farm Wraps! We'll need them, for it'll be cold!