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, January 27, 2017

Shetland Wool Socks

Greetings all!  Hope you are getting through this rather mild January and all your knitting projects!  It seems this month that our sock blogs are very popular.  Search back in our archives for blogs about socks.  Shetland sheep produce wonderful wool for socks!  If you haven't made any socks out of Shetland wool, try it!  The wool off our sheep has been a real pleasure to spin, knit, and wear.

One blog you can quickly find is from August 2012.  In it, I blogged about our ewe Lacey and her wool.  I still have those socks!  They went on to win us blue ribbons as somehow, I knit that one pair without one mistake, which is definitely not typical for me.  Socks are wonderful things in that you can make mistakes because they rarely interfere with the integrity of the socks, and if they are for yourself, you can decide if it's worth the time to rip them back...or not! lol

Anyhoo, when knitting for judging, perfect is best.  I had no idea if the judges would like my socks or not, but that's why you enter in the first place!  It's a great way to see how you are doing and get some feedback.

We hope you will take some time to either knit some socks for yourself and those you know, or learn how!  It is a great and handy skill, but I must warn you....that is if you have yet to learn how....that once you can do it, people will be pestering you for socks forever on!

Happy sock knitting everyone!

P.S.  Our other sheep also produce wool that is wonderful in socks.  We seek a certain quality of wool and if a sheep doesn't have that, we wouldn't own it!  It's hard to find good sock wool, but you can find it here on Wheely Wooly Farm.  You can either email us, or seek us out at the farm market come summer.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Happy New Year!

 How 'bout some nice color to start off the new year?

Happy New Year everyone!  We hope you had a nice holiday break...knitting or crocheting we hope! lol  This year, we are skipping our typical annual new year's post as we sort of did that already a few posts back.  This has been the biggest year Wheely Wooly Farm has seen yet and we were quite delighted to collapse at the end and take a break!  

 Can I do that?
lol

Ok, we can't quite go that far in taking a break, as the sheep still need tending, chores still need doing, and we've got our work lined up and waiting.   In fact, we are behind on some things so we've decided, after hard thought, to delay returning to market until June.  Our inventory is very low and things need doing around the farm so it was decided that to be our best, we better take the time it takes to get things supplied well again.  

So this year, we've tried some new things, one of which is shearing more lambs in early fall.  Some of that fiber has already hit the sales table and is gone already, such as some of Peerielyn and Lil' Dipper, but Motif's yarn is finished, Tassel's yarn is nearly done, and Bobble is on the wheel right now.  Lincoln was sheared and will be soon spun, and others, so watch for these lovely fleeces come spring!  Speaking of Bobble, he's the little guy that nearly froze to death, and had to ride along in the truck to town one day...see a few posts back for his story.  Well Bobble's fiber is simple sensational!  It's being spun up quite finely and will be outstandingly suitable for very special lace.  His fiber is incredibly soft and fine, being lamb's wool and Shetland, and the most outstanding natural black you might ever find!  This hard to find and incredible yarn will be for sale separately, and there is very little to sell...and I won't have more!  Bobble, by the way, is spending his winter hanging out with BuzzBuzz...and what a pair they are!  Pure mischief.


 Very popular headbands designed and created by Wheely Wooly Farm...and sold out by September.

Other news to report from the year is that we had the opportunity to connect with some of our farm's "ancestors" this year, through a chance meeting.  Through this fortuitous meeting, we received some exciting documents on the beginnings of this farm and we are truly amazed at what we have learned!  After that day, we have taken time to learn more and what an amazing journey that has been! 

In October, we welcomed a new barn cat to the farm, except she's not in the barn yet! lol  She was obtained by calling a local program called the TNR Program, which stands for trap, neuter and release.  We'll write more about her in the months to come!  She's beautiful and unique so we can't wait to show you pictures of her!  Cats are required around here, and are very useful farm employees.  One morning last fall, I opened the curtains to find Paws (another barn kitty we have) high up in the willow tree, swatting at his tail hanging down behind and under him!  It became a morning of instant giggling...how often does one get to start the day like that?!? 

And this year, our products travelled farther and wider into the world that we could have ever imagined...going as far away as Israel, Qatar, Japan, and Africa, and more! 

There is so much more to 2016, but it's time to get going.  Thank you to all our wonderful customers and friends who make Wheely Wooly Farm such a fulfilling success!  Without you, we couldn't do it all!  We are working hard to bring you so much more great yarn and ideas for your projects, gifts and garments in 2017!  Happy New Year everyone and happy knitting!