The Great Fleece Race
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: O'Jays "Love Train"
Topic: Fiber
I have a few people that I love to buy fleeces from. One of them is Whitefish Bay Farm out in Wisconsin. Each year, they put their fleeces up for sale, and they sell out in 24 hours or less. If you buy a fleece one year, you have first right of refusal on purchasing that same fleece the next year, provided the sheep is still on their farm.

Each year, I've purchased more fleeces from them than the previous year. Last year it was something like 9 fleeces. This year I think I have ordered 12. Only 3 of my fleeces from last year made the cut this year; Dick e-mailed me and said that he was almost afraid to e-mail me with my reserves from last year because I lost 3/4 of my reserved fleeces! ;-) Well, I more than made up for it, and ordered approximately 10 colored fleeces and 2 white fleeces within 4 minutes of the fleeces going up for sale this morning (yeah, I sat at the computer, refreshing the page for almost an hour so that I didn't miss the sale, and yes, I'm still sane). Some of them I'll have sent directly to Matt and Jamie at Wooly Knob Fiber Mill and others sent directly here for me to process on my own. Dick and Gretchen really know how to skirt fleeces, which too many shepherds don't know how to do. I also own the list FleeceforSale on Yahoogroups, and have seen a few too fleeces filled with burrs, grass and the like, when promised that the breeder knew how to skirt. Skirting takes practice and an eye for knowing what spinners want. I'm fussy; I don't have the time to pick crap out of fleeces. Dick and Gretchen, along with Martha Maxwell of Coneflower Farm and Mary Pratt from NY know how to skirt fleece and all have very nice fleeces for sale.

Anyway, most of these fleeces will be resold later as roving at the various fiber fairs I'm attending this year. Look for lots of natural colors, pewter greys, varying shades of browns, dark greys, blacks and bright whites.