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Post by elizabeth on Dec 28, 2017 21:59:47 GMT
I have a friend in Michigan who has an organic sheep farm. It's time to shear the ewes before lambing. Since she has 300+ ewes, that's a lot of wool. I think she calls the sheep 'American Whiteface' which seems to mean a mix of many breeds. It's a mix of colors, but mostly white-ish. And a mix of crimps and lengths. It felts stongly and well, so it would be good for slippers, bags and the like. I used it for a hanging. I also used it for felted soap and it's nicely exfoliating. A mill in the area sometimes uses her white wool for special jobs because it takes up dyes more consistently.
I know this is very vague. Any ideas?
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Post by MTRuth on Dec 28, 2017 23:01:33 GMT
Will it be processed or sold as fleeces? It would be easier to sell already processed I think. Lots of people don't want the hassle of cleaning, carding etc. But that is a big investment to get it processed.
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Post by Pandagirl on Dec 29, 2017 1:43:14 GMT
I agree with Ruth! My sister gave me a fleece and I had it processed since I can’t do heavy lifting. I should have had it put into roving. Next time.
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Post by Shepherdess on Dec 30, 2017 23:21:09 GMT
Possessed will sell better in some places but fleeces sell well on some of the facebook groups. There are a few dedicated to fleeces. She will need to take a picture of each fleece to show the colours and the staple length and crimp. You can put a ruler in the picture. They need to be well skirted. and she needs to be honest about the amount of veggie matter in them. Some of both seems like a good ideas. Possibly making some into sock weight wool might be good especially if she can advertise it as taking dye well. A little of each so her eggs are not all in one basket.
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Post by tracey on Dec 31, 2017 7:26:31 GMT
Possessed will sell better in some places but fleeces sell well on some of the facebook groups. There are a few dedicated to fleeces. She will need to take a picture of each fleece to show the colours and the staple length and crimp. You can put a ruler in the picture. They need to be well skirted. and she needs to be honest about the amount of veggie matter in them. Some of both seems like a good ideas. Possibly making some into sock weight wool might be good especially if she can advertise it as taking dye well. A little of each so her eggs are not all in one basket. Ann I was just about to ask out of interest what 'well skirted' means and I decided to look it up. Up popped even more interesting terms - no cotting, no tenderness, no canary stain and no breaks.
Are you able to explain any of them briefly for us please?
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Post by elizabeth on Dec 31, 2017 22:50:05 GMT
Thanks, all. Since the wool is a by-product of her lamb farm she does not want to invest too much into it. She has a mill nearby that can turn it into roving. She quoted me a price, but I can't find the email. My memory wants to say it was $8 a pound, but that's memory.... In the meantime, I visit her and she sends me hope with a suitcase full.
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Post by Shepherdess on Jan 1, 2018 0:00:18 GMT
I can tell you what I know. skirting is taking all the poopy bits, the short belly and any second cuts out. Coting is matting I believe. the neck is often coted because it gets a lot of movement and rubbing. It happens when there is a lot of rain. Tenderness is weak spots. sometimes the tips get weathered so the break easily, or if they are ill sometimes they get a week spot in the growth. this can be caused by poor nutrition too or if they have a bad case of worms. Sometimes when they have a fever they will get a wool break wher the wool will break off and then new growth comes up. of course it usually doesn't fall off as it stuck to the rest of the fleece. Canary stains I believe are just pea stains but I am not absolutely certain. ther are other faults too like having kemp in the fleece. kemp are short very course hairs, they do not felt in they will shed out. They are very pokey too. Not something you want in your spinning fiber either. Then there is always how much veggie matter is in the fleece, large hay or straw pieces are ok . It's the shorter finer stuff thats harder to get out. Burs are awful. I hope that helps.
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Post by Pandagirl on Jan 1, 2018 5:14:17 GMT
Thanks, all. Since the wool is a by-product of her lamb farm she does not want to invest too much into it. She has a mill nearby that can turn it into roving. She quoted me a price, but I can't find the email. My memory wants to say it was $8 a pound, but that's memory.... In the meantime, I visit her and she sends me hope with a suitcase full. Elizabeth, that’s about what they charge at the Mill here for roving. I paid $5 a pound to have it washed. Well worth it!
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Post by tracey on Jan 1, 2018 7:52:09 GMT
I can tell you what I know. skirting is taking all the poopy bits, the short belly and any second cuts out. Coting is matting I believe. the neck is often coted because it gets a lot of movement and rubbing. It happens when there is a lot of rain. Tenderness is weak spots. sometimes the tips get weathered so the break easily, or if they are ill sometimes they get a week spot in the growth. this can be caused by poor nutrition too or if they have a bad case of worms. Sometimes when they have a fever they will get a wool break wher the wool will break off and then new growth comes up. of course it usually doesn't fall off as it stuck to the rest of the fleece. Canary stains I believe are just pea stains but I am not absolutely certain. ther are other faults too like having kemp in the fleece. kemp are short very course hairs, they do not felt in they will shed out. They are very pokey too. Not something you want in your spinning fiber either. Then there is always how much veggie matter is in the fleece, large hay or straw pieces are ok . It's the shorter finer stuff thats harder to get out. Burs are awful. I hope that helps. A very interesting read, thanks Ann.
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