Wheely Wooly Farm: Backing up a bit...

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.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Backing up a bit...

It's a cold winter's night here on Wheely Wooly Farm! The chickens are tucked in the coop with their heat lamp while the stars are shining brightly in the deep, cold sky. Snow is headed our way sometime in the night. Wooly Bear is still with his group outside, not ready to end his three weeks of purpose. It has not been the nicest weather for romancing this year. We've had a lot of rain, sleet, snow, wind, and just general unpleasantness in the air much of Wooly Bear's girl time. Each day, we carry lots of frozen water buckets to hard ground, let them fall with a smash to break out the huge "cube", then make the mulitple treks to the hydrant for more fresh water. Truly a labor of love! They are always thankful, though, and often take a nice drink when you step back to observe how everybody is doing. Sophie (below) knows where the best place to be is!

Who's wool this time, Sophie?

So while we snuggle in the warm house, getting warm, warming up, thawing, before the next cold round of bucket smashing, I thought I'd back up a bit for our newer customers. Below is a quick picture of some of our 2010 lambs and ewes. We have achieved a wonderful range of colors within our flock, ranging from black through several lighter shades to white. You will notice the absence of spots in our flock. We love spotted lambs for they are really cute! However, for yarn making, I really like working with fading genetics, which used to be more common. Now, both spots and fading are pretty common. It's nice to have the range of fun.

2010 lambs and ewes

Below is some Shetland wool I spun this spring, which is all sold out. Several ewes have now sold out, in fact. I love this sample because it shows the lovely color changes you can get in a younger, fading fleece. The tips were honey brown, the middle was a lovely dove grey, and the cut ends are a creamy white. This color range makes for lovely yarn!

Shetland wool- notice the color ranges during fading

Next comes some knitted garments some of you have already seen. Below is a pair of half-mitts I designed, using Miss Mona's wool. She has a lovely black fiber that is beautiful paired with purply- blue shades (which is a synthetic accent yarn I happened to have a whole cone of). I wear them a lot! They are three years old now. I should take a picture of what they look like now! I've noticed that with Shetland wool garments, wear enhances the appeal, making the wool bloom and look more appealing, and feel even softer. Sure isn't that way for non-wool garments!!

Miss Mona's Half Mitts knitted three years ago

Next comes the hooded scarf. This is older than the half mitts, and is a staple in my cold weather wardrobe I could no longer live happily without! It gets worn a lot!! It was a challenge for me to knit at the time because you start it by casting on 371 stitches on a 28" circular needle. Getting that magic number right....371....took me a lot of work, because I had lots of distractions at the time! I'll never forget it. The fiber was provided by a Sheepy Hollow ewe, and is soft and cozy today, showing virtually no wear; just added bloom and appeal! I LOVE Shetland wool!

Hooded Scarf knitted years ago with fiber from a Sheepy Hollow ewe

Shetland wool and the knitted garments we've made with them have turned out to be a good deal! They are pretty, comfortable, fun to knit/crochet, cozy warm, and they don't wear out! The projects I have laid out for this winter are very exciting! I'll keep you updated as I get them going!

In the meantime, I was fascinated by the two page spread in Spin-Off Magazine regarding Beatrix Potter's interest in sheep. Who knew?!? So that lead to good snippets of reading and research into the breed of sheep she loved. Fun!! Great way to pass the time in between daily responsibilities and frozen water buckets! Also, Swifty goes in for his big snip surgery next Tuesday. He weighs 42 pounds! Perfect! I am so happy with this little dog! He's my barn buddy/farm buddy. He goes out with me many times a day for walks (now that hunting season is over), work with the sheep, and for bucket smashing. His favorite part? Doggie ice cubes! It doesn't take much to entertain a Border Collie puppy!

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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!

Shetland Sheep: Rich in History, Rich in Textiles

Friday, December 3, 2010

Backing up a bit...

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