Wednesday, April 11, 2018

It's a start

Today's start – the first sunrise documented with the new phone

Sheep responsibilities have had to be shoved to the back burner for the past year, but the pressure has been building to move them to the front burner. Everyone needs pedicures; fleece samples must be collected, documented, and mailed off for micron testing; and then 15 fleeces must be harvested, skirted, and marketed. So this morning I made an impulsive start, grabbing a halter and the first ewe who presented herself – Bree. After I trimmed, sampled, and photographed her, I decided to do one more . . . and then another, and another. By the time I needed to take a bathroom break, five girls were done – coincidentally, all of them Blake's daughters. (Well, not done done; I still had to photograph, measure, bag and label the samples, then post them here. After all, someone might want to reserve a fleece or two!)

So here, in alphabetical order, are Blake's crimpy, fine-fleeced beauties and their fleece samples SOOC (note that fleece tips are mashed down from wearing coats):

Babette (out of Vienna, 2016)



Bacall (out of Vienna, 2017)



Bardot (out of Sarai, 2017)

Isn't that just "Wow!"?


Bree (out of Vienna, 2015)



Bridget (out of Sarai, 2017)


I inadvertently left about 1/2" on Bridget when I snipped this

I started with a colorful photo so I'll end with one, too. Rick brought these lilies home for me today, a gift from his mom:

That's it for today from . . .

9 comments:

Susan said...

Wow, is right! Those are some beautiful fleeces! I love the color of the lilies and that sunrise. Oh, that sunrise.

Theresa said...

That's some sunrise you got there! What a lovely crop of fleeces you've got this year.
They'll go fast once you get them off the hoof. ;-)

Mokihana said...

Oh my gosh... Bardot!!!!! What an incredible fleece!!

Good for you for getting so much done.

Jen and Rich Johnson said...

Fantastic!

Anonymous said...

What a productive day for you! Lovely fleece, and gorgeous sunrise.

Yarrow said...

Wow, those are gorgeous samples <3
I have a really soft shetland fleece that was a gift but since spinning it, it's not as soft as it started out and I'm wondering if I've done something wrong. I don't think it's overspun!

Michelle said...

Susan, I'm quite happy with the new phone's camera!

Theresa, I'd love to get advance reservations and "cut to order." It seems to make a big job more "bite-sized. "

I know, Mokihana, right??? That one is SO tempting to keep...like I need more to spin....

Rich and Jen, your comments warms my shepherd's heart!

Thanks, Wanda!

Yarrow, a lot of U.S. Shetlands are double-coated, and have a lot of variability between their finest and coarsest fibers. Some of those can feel soft to the touch, but when you spin them the coarser fibers always make the resulting yarn more prickly than that from single-coated Shetlands. That's why I micron-test my fleeces; the numbers don't lie while my fingers sometimes do! All of mine have a "spin fineness" (how they feel) that is finer than their "average fiber diameter" (their actual micron measurement).

Leigh said...

Michelle, firstly I want to tell you I am so sorry about your dad. Such a hard thing. I hope working with your girls was a comfort. The photos are great and i just love the crimp in the fleeces. Beautiful!

Yarrow said...

Thank you so much for your reply, that makes a lot of sense now :D

I'd also like to add my condolences for your loss. I don't know how I would feel in a similar situation, but I'm thinking of you and sending hugs.xx