Sold Out

Today, I successfully sold our last bit of sheep fleece for the 2014 fall shearing. Between Etsy and Craigslist, all of this fleecy goodness went into the hand of crafters all over the world and within a month's time of being advertised! It felt so decadent when we hired a professional shearer this year but when I saw how much cleaner and nicely shaped these Icelandic coats were, I knew they deserved to be processed in a way that met the quality of the shearing.

It was a gamble for sure. Spending what a year's supply of hay would be on some nice roving, that might sell, was a gamble that I couldn't hold off on any longer. So often, my fleeces get stored in large plastic bags in the barn and about half of them get processed. Another quarter of the processed fleeces get stored in a rubbermaid bin in my bedroom closet. Part of the problem is that I go to the yarn store for some stitch markers or some cotton yarn and somehow find my way to the roving and, well, who could pass down a silk/merino blend on sale? Surely not me…The roving builds up and then, sure enough, it's time to shear again!

So this was the year to test out a little wool business and we, surprisingly, made a tidy little profit. Enough for the first round of winter hay, at least. We break even and we're all happy- the sheep, me, my husband (for getting off the hook from shearing this year!) and the buyers ( I hope!). 

I plan on contacting the various buyers- from Washington State to Norway- to see if they would like to send pictures for a post of their creations. From sheep to…oh, I'm curious!

Luckily, these little ladies have put on a few inches of wool since this picture was taken, just in time for the first snows!