Have you any wool?

Sheep...they have wool.

AND,

O! yeah...I do too!!  I have lots of raw fleeces

waiting to be turned into yarn...and then, well...

maybe a scarf or a hat or...?

 

What's a "raw" fleece you might be asking?

It is the coat...

right off the sheeps back...literally.

The sheep doesn't have to give it's life to share it's coat.

It can share it's coat many times over, and....

When their coat is cut/shorn off, it doesn't hurt.

 

There are professional sheep shearers...

A good "sheep barber" is becoming harder to find.

Depending on location, the shearing cost can be
around $2.75 per sheep, and a minimum of $35 per farm.
But, at four minutes a sheep that amounts to
$41.25 an hour.
World shearing records :  One sheep @ 38 seconds;
720 sheep @ 9 hours,
~~~~~~

But, some sheep have another coat that goes over

their wool coats.  Really? and, WHY is that?

 These are Corriedale sheep that are raised mainly for

their wonderful wool coats...

Many spinners prefer to buy fleeces that have

been covered by jackets because this keeps the

sheep's wool much cleaner. 

 

After fleece is off of the sheep, the fleece

needs to be skirted.  Skirting a fleece is to trim

off sections where the wool isn't of good quality or

where it is really dirty.

 

The picture below was found on Spinderella's Fiber Mill

website.  http://www.spinderellas.com/skirting.html

Click on the link to read more great info on

skirting fleeces.