Tag Archives: Shetland Wool

Resentment and Winning Smiles

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Today I went to town to do everything as quickly as possibly so I could get home again and not have to go back for a while.  Well, that’s how I feel about going to town.  I also had a hospital appointment.

I popped into Jamieson’s Knitwear to re-stock my field. When I had phoned them earlier, they had requsted just white sheep so that’s what I took in.  Apparently white sheep are the most popular.

I also stopped to admire their nautical themed window display.  Very clever, I thought.

At home, I was met by resentment.  I would’ve taken her (she was asked about at the Bank when I went in) but I didn’t like the idea of her sitting in the car for all that time while I went to hospital, etc.  So resentment it was.

But also waiting for me were some lovely Winning Smiles from the sheep.  Mostly Gussie. He is such a dude.

A little one from Lambie. It feels a bit grudging by his usual standards.

And Tiddles was happy to see me.

Daisy and I spent some time with the sheep because it is always a good way to lose the I-have-been-to-town feeling.  It is a different world out there.

  

And back to my shed to make only white sheep for a while.

A New Piece of Kit

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I will admit that I do find stabbing away every afternoon making my hand-felted sheep quite difficult at times.  I have a terrible habit of tensing my jaw while gritting my teeth and this is not good.

And then, a few days’ back, it suddenly dawned on me (and I have no idea why I didn’t know about these things), that I could possibly buy some contraption that could do the stabbing for me.  Surely something had been invented.

I did my research, watched endless YouTube videos, and looked at various options and decided on this nifty piece of kit – A professional hand held needle felting machine.  The seller was very helpful and I liked the fact it came from Ukraine too.

Oh yes, this bad boy is going to change my felting life.

And it does!  Obviously it took a while to get used to a new method and I soon realised that my days of bingeing on Netflix series were well and truly over as it is also has the potential to be a very dangerous piece of kit if I’m not concentrating 100% on it – think tattoo gun only 1″ deep, ouch, ouch, ouch!

The “felting gun” operates from slow to fast with a “volume knob” and my afternoons are much easier now. I don’t soley use it and alternate between using the gun and then stabbing by hand with my original needles to make my sheep.  Each method does a different job.

Does it cut down the time (each sheep takes about 2 hours to make)? – not really, but it does make things much easier. I 100% recommend this piece of kit.  It is well worth every penny.

I also listen to the radio in comparative safety with no lapses of concentration.

What Colour is Gussie?

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Just a quickie, because I am going out tonight (I know, get me. I have a social life!)

My question is what colour, in Shetland terminology for Shetland wool, is Gussie?

His mother, Dahlia, is “sholmet” – “In Shetland sheep, sholmet means a sheep of any colour other than white that has a distinct white face” (The Shetland Sheep Society).  That sums up Dahlia fairly well then.

Last year, Gussie was 100% black, even when he was sheared under all that wool but this year some greyish sides have appeared (ignore katmoget ‘Ster in the background looking hopeless).

Anyway, I have no idea. I know Lambie is flecket, and ‘Bert is moorit, Barrel and Maggie are Shetland black, Madge is natural white, ‘Ster is katmoget, etc  but it would be nice to have a name for Gussie’s colour. He is very handsome, after all.

? Bersugget  – Having irregular patches of differing colours.
? Blaeget – Having a lighter shade on the outer part of the wool fibre, especially in moorit and dark brown sheep.
? Iset – Black or shaela with many white fibres, giving a bluish hue from a distance.

Or Shaela – a dark steely-grey sheep colour, often described as looking like “black frost”.

All suggestions welcome. Thank you x

Sorting Wool

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After a morning packing vegetables at Turriefield, I went over to my friend, Monika, at Collaster Croft to “skirt” my sheep fleeces.

(sadly without the help of Pepperpot who would only get in the way).

Monika took me to her shed, where she works, and has a lovely long table just perfect for this very job.  I had stored each newly sheared fleece in a hessian bag so it could breathe.  We got them out and laid out each fleece, one at a time removing all the nasty bits and debris.

It was interesting seeing what the wool was like and Monika took three fleeces for herself (Lambie, Dahlia and Maggie). She makes and sells handmade felted fleece pads, ideal for chairs etc.

Photograph – Monika Rudin-Burgess – Collaster Croft

Monika very kindly gave me this fleece pad made from Dahlia’s wool last year.  I adore it.  I already have one made from Lambie’s wool which is on my work chair in my shed (now something in my eye, sniff – so proud he has value or worth with his “carpet quality” wool) and also Edna (again, something in my eye, sniff, as this is the last piece I have of her).

Photograph – Monika Rudin-Burgess – Collaster Croft

You can find Monika’s work on her Instagram account.  She is very clever.

Anyway, out of my fleeces, I have the following available:
‘Ster – katmoget
‘Bert – moorit
Gussie – Shetland black
Maggie – Shetland black
Madge – white

This is ‘Ster’s katmoget fleece.  It is gorgeous.

Probably Gussie’s, though it could be Barrel’s.

If anyone wants a fleece, let me know.  I am happy to post anywhere if you’re happy to pay postage and a donation.  Just think, you too could have one of my sheep (well, the wool). It would be just like they were here with you!

 

Shearing Today

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I received a message from my shearer saying he could shear the sheep Wednesday a.m.  The forecast was rain and then more rain the night before so, rattling a packet of Rich Tea biccies, I got the sheep inside yesterday evening so they wouldn’t be soaking wet.

This decision did not make me popular but there it was.

Morgan, my shearer, arrived nice and early and got to work. First up ‘Bert.

And then all the rest.

Maggie was particularly vile to Lambie when he came out all newly sheared and pretended she didn’t know who he was anymore.

They are always like that and Lambie got very upset at being hassled.

I had to go to town to collect  my car, amongst other things and, as the sheep all said they wanted to go into the field (still raining), I let them in.  Next thing they wanted back out again and went back to bed.  Fair enough.

When I got home from town, I found the sheep milling around. I think they are much so better for having their fleeces off.  There was lots of scratching and needing reassurance that I still love them even if they think they look different.

I did learn that no one is too fat (with the exception of Barrel and possibly Gussie) and  I was pleased to see how well the old ones look – Lambie, Bert and Ster. I had been worrying they came out of winter thin.

I think Dahlia looks glorious.

And Lambie, of course.  He’s still very handsome in an only-a-mother-could-love-him sort of way.

Best of news of all was that the world’s fattest sheep, aka Madge, is now deemed as “not as fat as she was and has been much worse”.  So that was encouraging.

So that’s that. Everyone sheared for the year and looking good.