Rooing

Primitive sheep shed their fleece every year.  If you time it right, its possible to collect the shedding fleece and then get  it processed into a high quality yarn.

And here is some Rooing 

Orkney Wool

 It has been a while coming  but the

 Orkney Wool website

 is up and running .

Details are on the Orkney Wool website about the processes that went into making the yarn.

It starts with the sheep

Before

 that need to be shorn

After

And then it needs to be collected up to be sent away to the Natural Fibre Company
to be processed  ( as outlined on the Orkney Wool website )

And then it comes back  in boxes .
The inspiration for the colours is described on the Orkney Wool  website

























And now its for sale , to be made into suitable knitted goods













There is more information about this on the Orkney Wool website Wovember website

 Oh, And i have I mentioned

the Orkney Wool  website

Blade shearing the Gotlands

Sheared Sheep

We've got 4 Gotland sheep and a ram, Fraser. We went to get him in November  and then when the ewes were here Fraser got his chance.
The ewes came to us from Sanday but they were originally in the north of  Scotland  cared for by the  Transalpine Redemptorist monks on Papa Stronsay.  



The monks have a blog and I think I've found a picture of the Gotlands  when they had them  and when they were lambing.  The tle that came to us is that the monk who was responsible for the sheep moved on and so they stopped keeping them
 

We havent got the sheep just for lambing ( but hopefully Fraser has done the business) but also for their fleece. Gotlands can be sheared twice a year and  we decided that  now was the moment.  They are hopefully pregnant and  there were some concerns expressed about turning a pregnant ewe . Cant see  why it should be a problem is done expertly ( well, there is one problem) but nevertheless it was decided that we wouldnt.



 So catch a sheep . this was easier because theh had been penned inside overnight in case of rain, and then set to with some shears .










the sheep were done standing which makes it a bit harder because the   fleece doesn't fall  away but after a couple of hours we were becoming more adept , and speeding up a bit ( but  only a bit)












 And the end result. A few boxes of this , which will be washed and processed  and then turned into yarn.

 And the sheep - probably feeling sorry for themselves but its surprising what some sheep nuts will achieve. if the weather is bad they can  be inside for a few days if they wish

BEFORE

 

AFTER