You might remember the sheep my friends Mary & Joseph adopted a last fall? Please excuse the recap, I still think it is cool and what a journey! Before- full of burrs and tons of heavy wool. Sheep can get bogged down in snow and rain with that much wool. It gets wet and they can't move.
During- we sheared them right away. They were healthy under all that wool, no bugs and they were, let's say, 'well fed.' Took us around 6 hours to shear all 3 sheep. Once they figured out what we were up to, and how great it felt to feel air on their skin again, they even had a snack while being sheared! One fleece! Happy, clean sheep! Pretty wool that was next to their skin. I truly adhere to the 'no locks left behind' rule.
This is what a fleece looked like on the inside (next to the sheep's skin) but the outside was felted around TONS of burrs. When I went to visit my friend Heidi, we spent 2 hours trimming away the felted matts and burrs. This is how much wool we ended up with. It is soft and gorgeous! I am guessing it had been 3-4 years since the sheep had been sheared last. (The wool is whiter than the picture- don't forget my photographic abilities stink!) I haven't decided what to do next with the wool.
There are breaks in the locks but even broken, the locks still measure 3-4 inches long. Hmmm. Right now it is washed and awaiting my decision. Thoughts anyone? Of course I want to spin it but what do you think the yarn would be like? I'm sure it would be a beautiful yarn, but would the breaks make it pill in a project?