No campaigning???

I have been SOOOOOO busy lately! I have many photos and updates to bring you! Our weather has been incredibly nice, the sheep have been so much fun, and I'm spinning like crazy! I'll update later.

In the meantime...no campaigning?? Our breed organization does not allow for Board candidates to campaign on the organization's website?? So if they can't "talk" there, where CAN they "talk"??

Just think...if they have to answer questions on the official breed website, their big secret might get out!!

Don't forget to vote! After you do that, it's time to knit! The cool weather is around the corner and the warmth of wool is so wonderful in your hands! Time to get ready with those luxurious Shetland socks, mittens, hats, scarves, sweaters, and halfmitts! Hey wait...the garments you want to wear, and the sheep you raise are connected! If you want soft, durable clothes that don't wear out in a few weeks, select the candidates who aren't changing the breed to short wool.

Wool on my bobbin today

The wool on my bobbin today is from a single coated Shetland sheep...well...supposedly a Shetland sheep, but I have my suspicions. It is too wirey. Unfortunately, I paid a LOT of money for this fleece, as I thought I was buying from someone I could trust. The first red flag should have been that the fleece weighs over five pounds. The second red flag was that the fleece had such heavy grease, I had to rewash it. The third red flag is that the yarn is heavy, causing fatigue to set in sooner when knitting, and causing the resulting garment to weigh more. In the end, the socks I made with this fleece didn't last me a whole winter of wear, when I get a good two winters or more of wear from my other Shetland wool. So yes, sometimes a fleece can be a disappointment. The more you work with fleece, the more you will come to know if it's genuine Shetland or not.
Here is some of the wool left (photo below), which I am finishing up spinning today. I spun half the fleece last spring, and found it tiring to spin, for it does not have that light hand I love so much. I really don't think it's pure Shetland. So I left it to finish later. Well, when something isn't as pleasant, later is easy to put off while you work on more pleasant things! Ultimately, you have to face finishing it, because wool doesn't store forever, and I like to keep my inventory revolving in a timely way.
I tried as best I can to get photos showing the grey fleece with my two recent favorites for spinning: MaryBay (nearly white doublecoat) and Iris (musket double coat). Both of these fleeces have given me very soft, fine wool that is extremely light, a dream to spin, etheral in the yarn that I cannot put down, and sooooooo soft and cozy to wear! I've made many pairs of socks out of Iris's wool and they last a long time with super soft, cozy wiggle comfort! I LOVE Iris!!

You can see how the grey looks like wire. This is a single coat with a staple length of 6 inches, and it was advertised as having "lovely crimp". The skirted fleece weighed "five pounds plus". I paid $60. for it...yes...that's $12. a pound. In my area, fleeces sell from $7. to $14. a pound raw. Like I said, I thought I could trust I was getting a good Shetland fleece, for it was advertised as "Shetland ewe". However, after washing, spinning, knitting, and wearing this wool, I think I paid way to much. It is not like my own fleeces at all. It is too large, too heavy, and to weak. And the wirey-ness makes it feel prickly. In the photo above, Iris's unwashed sample is in the lower right (you can see her tips in the photo below). MaryBay is on the upper left...whitish. The two grey samples are from the expensive fleece. This ewe was advertised as "dark grey katmoget". Katmogets, or catmogets have dark under parts from muzzle to tail and legs, so you can see since both samples are grey that I'm using midside wool to show samples, not britch.)
Iris's wool is very, very fine and strong. It has lovely handle and softness, making it a dream to spin and knit (the largest fleece she ever gave me weighed four pounds, with up to nine inch long staple at hip...it was a DREAM!). When I ply two singles, I can't get over how soft the yarn feels, slipping through my fingers. It has beautiful lustre, and is stunningly beautiful when combined with other colors, especially my favorite, purply-blues, but any color looks good with Iris's musket color. I've paired it with black, and with orangy colors, and with reds, blues, and purples. I wanted to make myself a sweater from last year's fleece, with black (from my ewe, Mona) crocheted over the edge on cuffs, but I realized it was such a nice fleece, I needed to sell it. Today, I have none left. I made something like 12 skeins of two ply at about....upper laceweight to low sport weight yarn. That's my favorite gauge to spin, for Shetland wool makes it easy to do so.

It's really hard for single coats to compete with the softness, fineness, and strength that double coats easily provide! That's the wool on my bobbin today!

Ok, I ate my carrots...

"Eat your carrots!", my mother said when I was a kid. Well...maybe if they had been purple, I would have!

The world has realized the dangers of narrowing the field. For the last two decades, we've been advised to intermix plantings, eat variety, and mingle with a variety of people. We are encouraged to broaden our job skills, meet new people, and try new things. The world changes rapidly these days. You never know what will be valuable or useful in just ten years.

It is now understood that variety is healthy. Through variety, you understand people better. You eat more vitamins and nutrients. You learn more. You can do more. You can give back more.

Variety stimulates families, bringing closer relationships. Variety stimulates the economy in the many places to make/spend money. Variety brings greater education, opening doors to a more advanced culture. Variety opens opportunities...in jobs, healthcare, invention, and travel.

And yet, our own little sheep breed organization has a tight little group that thinks it's healthy for us all to breed and raise and show only ONE kind of Shetland sheep. Diversity is not diversity, they say; it's just a few good sheep and lots of bad sheep. So let's think for a moment about the cost of going against the good advice of so many other fields:
1. We could lose something very special, that has yet to be fully realized and appreciated
2. We could lose health in our sheep in the future
3. We could lose interest in our sheep in the future
4. We could narrow the uses of our fleeces in the future
5. We could lose our closeness with the genuine Shetland sheep-the one that is the grower of genuine Shetland textiles
6. We could lose credibility in our national flock, for one fleece type is NOT responsible for the wide variety of Shetland textile products produced over a span of several hundred years.
7. We could lose our breed mission: to preserve and protect.

If we go against the grain of outstanding advice to maintain diversity, and narrow our parameters within the breed, what is the plan to gain diversity BACK if it's realized down the road a mistake was made???

1927 Genuine vs 2002 Appendix A

Wheely Wooly Farm has picked up on the strong tension among the Shetland sheep breeders in America. We can certainly understand the reason! A very small group of people has decided to change the definition of what a Shetland sheep looks like, and they have LOTS of lambs to sell you, so you can have your own "Shetland" sheep. Yet most of the Shetland sheep shepherds in our country like the genuine Shetland sheep we've had all along. The tension comes from this small group driving the changes, and the misinformation they've doled out to unbelieving longtime flock owners.

In picking up on this battle, we have decided that the sheep we want is the one that created the real textiles that made the breed famous. As a spinner and knitter who works professionally with the fiber every day, I've come to exact certain standards on my sheep, fiber, and the textiles we create from our farm and flock. We have decided we want to re-create those genuine textiles as best we can given our abilities. Therefore, we cannot support Appendix A type sheep.

Appendix A is a document that was created by peoples OUTSIDE the Shetland Islands, and does not reflect the ideals of the Shetland Island crofters who raise the genuine Shetland sheep. It is a document that restricts fleece length to a range that would be unsuitable for a premier handspinning breed of the world. It is a document that was accepted by the organization OUTSIDE the Shetland Islands in the year 2002. We do not feel that people OUTSIDE of the Shetland Islands can adequately be "experts" of the breed.

As producers of fine Shetland wool and knitted items, we here at Wheely Wooly Farm believe in bringing you, our customers, the truth. We are not supporters of short fiber that would be:

a) difficult for a sheep to survive in over 100 inches of rainfall and windy conditions,
b) too short to be adequately handspun without milling or additional processing before spinning and
c) create fiber that is too fuzzy for clarity in graphic symmetrical and asymmetrical designs of fair isle knitwear.

Our farm is committed to bringing you fiber that is like the fiber still produced in the Shetland Islands today. We are fully committed to adhering to the Breed Standard of 1927, because it accurately defines the fiber type you need to make excellent quality fair isle garments.

On final note, we have discussed this topic at length with MANY early owners of Shetlands in America. All of them have described fleeces that are long, with waves, extra fine fibers, with drapey fullness that extends down to the knees at 12 month clip time, and bright eyes/expressions, active gaits, and perky, friendly personalities. Some of these shepherds go back to the very first sheep here in North America. So am I inclined to believe a very small group of people, many of whom don't spin or knit, who have very different information than even the shepherds on the hill in the Shetland Island have, or am I inclined to believe the Shetlanders themselves, and all the early American shepherds I had lengthy conversations with?

Rest assured. We are sticking with history. We will continue to strive for the 1927 Genuine Shetland sheep in all it's bright beauty!

Solving the Problem!

The more I think about it, it's a great idea! We could have two categories at shows! One for the genuine, true Shetland sheep who exhibits fleece just as the 1927 Breed Standard says: extra fine and soft texture, longish, wavy, and well closed...you know...the sheep with the lovely drapey soft and fine, wavy fleeces that appeal to everyone and draw people to our breed...and the originators of the genuine Shetland textiles! This category is perfect for handspinners and knitters, for genuine Shetland sheep are one of the world's premier handspinning breeds! These sheep are so appealing in their twinkling expressions, balanced faces, and refined bone. Their "alert and nimble, with a smart active gait" character positively glows not only in the show ring, but in photos as well. They endear a lot of people, and it really isn't fair for the other category to have to compete with that in the ring!

The other category can be the breeders who are breeding for 2002 Appendix A type commercial, more modern sheep. They would be better in a class of their own, as their sheep have a hard time competing with the brightness of the genuine Shetland and it's soft, wavy, draping fiber. Since Appendix A wool is not the original fiber of the famous Shetland textiles, but rather a creation from people outside the Shetland Islands to the south, they should not be represented as genuine Shetland sheep, for that would be deceiving the public. This category is perfect for those wishing to send their wool out to be milled, for it is short and harder to handspin. Since Appendix A is written by non-Shetlanders, in more modern times, in a country where handspinning is barely breathing, it would be most accurate to call Appendix A sheep modern, for milling. And since they often manifest characterics closely resembling other breeds, they would find fairer competition in challenging each other, rather than the bright genuine Shetland of the famous textiles. After all, this is what this group has been complaining about for a few years now, that their sheep have a tough time competing against the authentic, historic sheep.

I think this might be the very solution! Two categories within our breed! Genuine Shetlands with 1927 Breed Standard expressions, gaits, refined bone, and soft, fine, longish and wavy fleeces who produce fine handspinning fiber, and 2002 Appendix A Modern Shetlands with short fleeces, more muscling, heavier bone, dished backs, and crimp head to tail who produce fiber better suited to milling.

Now the judges would have an easier time judging, the public would no longer be misinformed about which sheep created the famous textiles, and the 2002 Appendix A Modern sheep breeders would have fairer competition!

Shetland textiles

So much to say! Wheely Wooly Farm encourages each and every person interested in Shetland sheep to explore spinning and knitting (crocheting, too, although I've not read of crochet in the famous Shetland textiles). How do you know you are raising genuine Shetland sheep? By the textiles you create. If you are not making these textiles, that's ok! Shetland yarns are lovely in a whole range of uses, and are to be enjoyed to the fullest! But if you are not making these textiles, you are not educated enough to redefine the Shetland breed.

Many people do not realize that each breed of sheep has specific characteristics to it's fiber. While fiber can vary from sheep to sheep, in a broader sense, you can define unique characteristics to each breed of sheep. For example, Border Leicester is curly and open, rambouillet is square and blocky, etc. These characteristics will cause the yarn to also have it's own characteristics. These characteristics will determine how a garment performs on the human body. Many people don't know this. The best way to develop a fascination and understanding of this is to spend a lifetime spinning and knitting wool from a variety of sheep (and other fiber animals/plants). Your hands (seriously old fashioned concept here!!) will be your best teachers.

Now can you tell how good or bad a fleece is by just feeling it for a few seconds? No. While your hands may detect quick assessments, it is really just the tip of the iceberg. To really understand how a fleece will convert to a wearable garment, you must have a lot of experience spinning and knitting. Trust me. You'll learn much greater depth of understanding if you do this.

Now when it comes to Shetland sheep, textile history is extremely important. The sheep became famous and have a stunningly interesting history based on the link between fiber and knitted items/garments. HOW the wool was spun and used tells the story. Because Shetlands have this rare and amazing history, unmatched by nearly any other breed on the planet, it is critical that us Shetland Shepherds embrace this history, and highlight it. It's what separates us from all the other breeds on the planet. That's why, even though Shetland Showcase was stolen and renamed, I am very happy it became reality (as the Handy Shepherd), for the link BACK to textiles was re-established. That is a HUGE success in my mind! Plan your yarns and knits now! I hope many of you out there will enter something in these contests next year! It's not about winning, although winning is fun! It's about getting the fiber back into people's hands and onto their bodies again. Spin it, knit (crochet) it, wear it! You won't be disappointed!!

I know this is hard for some shepherds here in the midwest. They trusted some breeders when they were new, and unknowingly bought sheep that were not genuine Shetlands: sheep with unusually short fleeces at a 12 month clip, and bodies that clearly indicate crossing with another well known breed. That is a hard realization. If those newer breeders like that type of sheep and wool, great! That's ok! If you want to develop that style of sheep, great! I have never heard anyone say you can't! However, it's something else when those breeders change the language of our breed to force genuine Shetland breeders to switch over to crossbred, too. NASSA has a real problem in this regard in how this will be fixed. One suggestion was interesting...to have a crossbred class (stocky sheep with short, crimpy fiber head to tail), and a genuine Shetland class (with beautiful, historically correct drapey fine, soft, wavy fleeces that create the genuine textiles, and twinkly expressions). My experience showing was that being in the ring with so many crossed sheep made it unfair to the owners of the crossed sheep. This is something breeders of those sheep have been complaining about for the last few years and I can understand that. Genuine sheep cannot be present before the judge for crossed sheep to win. Our sheep just are different. If I was in the ring with other genuine Shetlands, I would be a lot less confident I'd win! I guess we'll all have to stay tuned to see where this all goes....

To make a fair isle garment, you can use any yarn. All you need is two different colors of yarn in a row, both of the same gauge. That's it. However, the type of yarn you use will make or break your fair isle garment. If you choose short fibers that "pop out" of the yarn, you will not be successful in fair isle. (Shorter fibers have more ends, more frequently placed in the yarn. Therefore, more ends means greater density of "pop outs". More pop outs means fuzzier yarn. Does this mean your garment will look fuzzy from the get go? No. But will it get fuzzy quickly upon each wear. Yes.) Why don't short fibers create historical fair isle? Because fair isle utilizes symmetrical and asymmetrical graphic designs to create interest with just two colors. If you are mathematically minded, read....FUNNNN! The possibilities are endless...a source of a lifetime of fascination. Fuzz will blur your images more and more as the garment is worn. The fair isle sweaters made from genuine Shetland wool do not get fuzzy, rather, they maintain clarity of the design...and are famous in maintaining that clarity often for years and into decades. Why? Because they are made with long, strong, fine, soft fiber. Long fibers sit in the yarn nicely, with fewer ends to "pop out", thus less fuzz is created, even over time. Long, strong, wavy fibers do not break apart in the yarn as easily when the yarn is stretched and returned over and over, thus less fuzz is created. Long and strong creates less bulk because you can easily spin, with no carding (although you can card if you want to) very fine singles yarns that hold together very well. The shorter the fiber length, the weaker and thus fuzzier the yarn will become. Simple.

Another factor: the technique of fair isle knitting was not original to the Shetland Islands, rather the concept is thought to have been imported from Norway, Sweden, etc. and western Russia (Ural Mountains) by people moving around on the sea...Lerwick was a major port for centuries and a frequent stop for ships from the above mentioned countries. While Shetlanders have designs to call their own, it's important to remember that fair isle techniques were originally knitted using cashmere goat undercoats (straight fibers) and Villseau, Spalseau, and other breeds of sheep in the Northern European Short Tailed Group...animals found in Norway, Sweden, and western Russia. Those sheep are double coated with very fine undercoats of wavy fiber. These fibers gave rise to fair isle techniques because the FIBER could create it. The Shetland people really brought fame to the technique with their skill and location on the North Sea, and the fact they had powerful royalty to advertise it for them. Note: when talking about the island Fair Isle, you capitalize the first letters. When talking about the knitting technique of fair isle, you don't capitalize the first two letters, even though the knitting technique was made famous by the residents of Fair Isle.

The other thing in fiber you need to create successful, genuine fair isle garments is just the right ease in the fabric. Fiber with high crimp can be lovely. However, it is also more elastic. It creates a yarn with more bounce. It makes GREAT yarn for baby clothes! Babies look great in bouncy yarn! You can achieve this type of yarn by using the crimpier neck wool of Shetland sheep. Babies are not hard on their garments, wear wise. They rarely "wear out" their clothes. Therefore, durability is not so much a concern. Crimpy neck wool is the perfect wool for the job. However, to make successful fair isle garments that can stand up to hard outdoor labor by adults, you need LESS bounce. First, most fair isle textiles created on the Shetland Islands were for sweaters, socks, gloves, and hats, primarily for older, more mobile children and adults. The adults ranged from rich to poor, homebound to working at sea to on the golf course. To create fair isle, you are stranding the yarn along the back of the fabric when you are working two colors. This stranding gives a second layer to the garment. The strands must retain their shape without too much elasticity, yet they need to provide some stretch for ease in the garment. Ease means that the garment can stretch and return as you flex your body in different positions...move with you without bagging or pulling taut. Now bouncy yarn creates a pretty thick and bulky stranded fabric. The first rule of fair isle is to not use yarn that creates thick and bulky fabric. Why? Because fair isle creates a DOUBLE fabric...your knitted stitches, plus the stranding on the backside. What fiber creates ease without bulk?? Long and strong, with wave. Waves create just the right amount of ease in a garment, without too much elasticity. Long and strong fibers sit in the yarn with greater strength because there are fewer "overlaps" of fiber strands. There are fewer ends to "pop out", therefore, your graphic designs will stay more in focus. When looking at pictures of Shetland fair isle garments in archived photos, you will notice common characteristics in them all...they fit relatively close to the body, they are always worn over other garments (hats and socks being the exceptions), and they are not bulky. What fiber creates this image? Long, strong, wavy. Can you picture a prince in his golfing pose out on the green with his fair isle socks pooling around his ankles? I can't. Too much ease (greater crimp) is not accurate for fair isle.

So to create fair isle garments that most resemble the real stuff of history, you need fiber that is longish, wavy, soft and fine textured. Hey! That's the language on our Breed Standard! Huh! There must be a connection..................

Where can you obtain fiber like that? From shepherds who raise authentic, genuine Shetland fiber, shepherds who are dutifully following, to the best of their ability, the 1927 Breed Standard. Their sheep will have lovely drapey fleeces come 12 month clip time, fleeces that gracefully fall to the knees of the sheep. The fleeces on these sheep will completely hide the sheep's torso curves, so much so that you will not be able to assess the sheep's conformation very well until it's sheared. These fleeces will have crimpy neck wool that is shorter; longish and wavy midside; and hopefully, not too britchy britch wool (the wool at the back of the sheep's body...watch for that because overly coarse wool in the britch area is a disqualification. It should be unlike the wool on the rest of the body, however, because this is the biggest asset in defense of high winds and driving rain..."bums to the wind" as Lenice Bell likes to say.)

I've spun a lot of fiber now. And I knit a lot too! And I cannot stop designing little things I crochet. I've learned that I cannot make clear fair isle patterns in fuzzy wool. I've learned that neck wool is best for garments that I won't wear often. I've learned that midside wool makes the most luxurious socks you'll ever put on your feet! I've learned that britch wool makes GREAT yarn to hook rugs with, although most of my britch wool goes into yarn because it is not very "britchy". I've hooked christmas ornaments and wall hangings out of yarn off the very back of the legs, basically running down the "tail pipe". It is all still very characteristic Shetland wool with wonderful handle and unique feel.

So what about those people raising crossed Shetlands? Well, if you like the results, that's great! Enjoy them, for that is what it's all about! However, when defining a breed, and in keeping a breed true, you must stick with the facts. If you are new to Shetlands, or have Shetlands and do not spin or knit or crochet, we fully encourage you to give it all a try! If you like it, you'll be hooked for life!! :) And warm!

And for the lone breeder of crossed Shetlands, if you don't like reading about genuine Shetlands, you don't have to read my blog. :) But you are still welcome to. :) We welcome everyone.

More for new shepherds

If you are looking to "see" the difference between a genuine Shetland, and one not genuine, just look to the sheep's body. Dr. Sponenberg (someone the camp would REALLY like for everyone to forget about!!) so nicely sums it up like this: "To me the tail type, horn character, and overall body type are likely to be more accurate indicators of ancestry than are the colors and the fleece type." (bold print my emphasis)

If a sheep is heavy in bone, wide in head and body, and stocky with duller expression, that's a problem. A sheep like that would certainly have trouble surviving on rocky, hilly terrain, such as that found in the Shetland Islands. This is also true in other animals, such as Arabian horses. Arabians are known to have the strongest equine bone on the planet, and they are also the most refined. That's why refined bones on Arabians are what make them THE endurance breed everyone covets. Shetland bone should be refined, like it's always been, not chunky.

However, as is typical, the camp would like those less informed to believe FLEECE TYPE is the main indicator of crossbreeding. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is, if a sheep looks like a merino's body, it probably has merino in it. The archived photos show delicate sheep with small bone. Sorry campers, I just can't responsibly believe heavy bone is right. The ram at the festival with the wide head, queer fleece, and extremely heavy bone and wide body was clearly manifesting crossing. If his papers say he's purebred, then someone wasn't honest along the way. So here's advice to new shepherds: train your eyes first, before you buy. Then strive to train your eyes BEFORE you make breeding choices!

On to double coats...I happen to lay eyes on something in the newsletter that I hadn't caught before...a staple on page 18 of our current newsletter. It is labeled as "rough". Well, if a lock IS rough, it IS a bad fleece. (By the way, what exactly is meant by "rough"??) However, I have never experienced a "rough" lock from a double coated Shetland. They have all been very, very fine...finer than any single coated fleece I've ever worked with, and my sheep don't get to snack on seaweed at the beach all day. If that fleece staple was "rough", then it was a poor representative of that fleece type. So why is it being used as an example?

The double coats are my favorites to spin, knit, and wear for they are exceptionally fine and soft, and do not produce excessive stretch in a fabric...excessive stretch leads to garment sagging (elasticity) and comes from more compact crimp (merino-like). Now the person who judged this fleece is near retirement, and under great duress to do what he's told. The American individual who brought us this information is linked to a large number of people SOUTH of the Shetland Islands. I have never experienced "hairy" from a double coated Shetland, but I have from an Icelandic! The two fleece types are amazingly different. Anyone who tries to tell you double coated Shetlands and Icelandics are the same in fleece are smacking of inexperience. The fleece assessor does not spin for a living. I do. THAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE! It's one thing to touch fleece everyday. Does the newspaper reporter tell the foreman how to run the paper press? It's another to spin and knit it. I have been very concerned with this lack of accurate information in our breed organization newsletter of late. Who are they fooling?? Everyone's complaining about it! If it was accurate, I'd be onboard!!! (To get me onboard you have to first be credible, and then you have to be right. Neither is the case here, so I'm not on board!) But it just isn't! It concerns me a lot. Wheely Wooly Farm is focused on keeping Shetlands a true, varied breed...we EMBRACE that variability and we will have no part in narrowing our sheep down to manufactured cookies with chunky bodies and super short wool! Homemade cookies just taste SOOO much better!! :)