The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: wellies on January 05, 2014, 08:13:24 pm
-
hello everyone :wave:. I'm full of cold and feeling a bit sorry for myself so thought I'd get more cheery by planning some sheepy things :excited: We run flocks of Ryelands & Coloured Ryelands having approximately 28 sheep sheared. Normally I give the wool away but I'm thinking this year I'd like to have something done with it. Had thoughts on having a wool throw made to keep me warm on the sofa in the winter. Does anyone know how much wool this would take & anyone who would do such things? Any ideas/suggestions welcome. Hope you're all staying safe in this horrid weather
-
The Natural Fibre Co will do the spinning then forward the yarn to a weaver such as Gwillan Teifi (can't spell it). Have a look at the services they offer and prices they charge on their website.
Please please don't give fleece away - it devalues it and undercuts other fleece producers. Someone who is given a fleece will think you give it no value, so they in turn will not value it. A Ryeland fleece should bring in £10-£15, and more for a coloured Ryeland, if they are picked over, well shorn and rolled nicely - and of good quality obviously. Any which are not good quality are best used on the garden as mulch or used to fill potholes rather than being offered for sale or given away. Fleece is one of the many products from your sheep, so is part of your crop and should be valued as such. great that you have decided to do something with it this year :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: (the initial layout to get it spun and woven is quite a lot, but then it's a lot of work)
Sorry if that sounds a bit ranty. I don't mean to but I'm getting a migraine and need to get to bed :tired:
-
Having the fleece professionally spun and then turned into something is an expensive business. I spin my own fleece from Ryelands and Coloured Ryelands. OH got a jumper for Christmas from a 2012 fleece. He was out on Sat evening and people were commenting on the jumper. He boasted that if they came to our house they could meet the originator, the sheep the fleece had come from, not me :roflanim:
If you don't fancy spinning you could always try your hand at a peg loom. It's very easy to do and takes much less work.
-
Could you use it as loft insulation or does it need to be processed in some way?
-
Hi Fleecewife, I sympathise with the migraine and hope you feel better today. In the past I have given it to my shearer and they spin it and put it to good use. I'm sure they are aware of the value but I take on board your comments. When we first started we only had 5 and I really was at a loss to know what to do with 5 fleeces and I think it became a habit not to utilise it as part of our sheepy out put (even though our flocks have grown over the years). I also have to admit that I really know very little about wool products etc but am very interested to learn. Thank you for your recommendations I will have a look at the companies you have recommended and get organised for shearing time.
-
Oh Bionic you sound incredibly talented I'm not sure if this is something I could do but I will certainly have a look on the internet to see how it works (have to admit though I can't even knit :roflanim:) I would love to have something done with it. How many Ryelands have you got and how much wool do they produce. I'm trying to imagine how much my 28 will produce? I think this is going to be a fun learning curve :excited:
-
wellies, if you do start spinning - more on that in a mo - I would expect that you find that you will use some of your 28 fleeces and swap or sell some to /with other handspinners. Ryeland is nice fibre, you should have plenty of takers (unless there are a lot of flocks in your area.)
Those of us who spin find it incredibly relaxing, and a lovely hobby. Because we can make jumpers, socks, hats, gloves, rugs, blankets, etc, etc, for ourselves and our loved ones, it never feels self-indulgent to be spinning!
There are plenty of videos on YouTube - if you fancy having a go with a spindle, have a look at Abby Franquemont's videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drXid5cT0y8#), she's very clear. If you have access to a spinning wheel, there are plenty of vids to choose from but a lot of us like the frankly bonkers but very easy to follow if you don't mind her 'quirkiness' Rexie R (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGQXo5ZQYMo#).
You can make a perfectly serviceable spindle using 2 CDs, some 15mm dowelling, a grommet and a small screw-in hook. Or the standard Ashford spindles are not expensive and quite suitable for learning.
Best way, however, is to find your local spinning group or Guild. There will be people very happy to give you a hand, some groups have wheels you can use at meetings, even take away and use at home.
There's a list of the non-Guild groups on Ravelry here (http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/uk-fibre-and-yarn-events/2321941/1-25#1), and you can look up your nearest Guild here (http://www.wsd.org.uk/guilds.htm). Most Guilds and groups are happy for you to attend as a guest, paying a small contribution each meeting, so you don't have to join for the year until you are sure you want to (although you may need to join in order to borrow a club or Guild wheel, of course.)
Some people 'get it' within a few hours, others take a lot longer. But when it comes, it's very sudden and you often can't work out what you've changed! It's one of those pat-your-head-while-rubbing-your-tummy things, just takes a while to get your muscles working together in this new way, but once they get it, it seems easy.
I 'blame' jaykay and fleecewife for 'enabling' me and getting me started - and I will never ever stop being grateful. ;D :love: :spin: :knit:
-
Wellies, I only have 8 sheep, 3 of which are white. I love them and enjoy the fact that I can make use of their fleece.
I'm not a great spinner but get by with the help of my local group. When you get some fibre you might find crochet easier than knitting. Have a little dabble and see how you get on.
-
I am loving working out how many different ways i can use the fleece from my sheep. Spinning and knitting or crocheting is one use but there are so many more. As a complete beginer to the art of wool all I would say is rather than spend the money on getting someone to process the fleece, if necessary pay someone to help you learn to use the fleece yourself infinately more satisfying. My first attempt at needle felting!
christmas heart decorations 100% Ouessant wool
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd278/SperedBreizh/needlefeltedchristmasdecorationssm_zps63f26b3c.jpg)
-
Oooo, I love these Kanisha :thumbsup:
-
Thanks wellies - migraine has just about gone.
Although I'm the first to suggest learning to spin, as Sallyintnorth has pointed out :-* , I think that trying to deal with TWENTY EIGHT fleeces in your first season, or any season, would put you off forever. Do try spinning, felting, peglooming and all those things with a couple of fleeces, but I think having a rug or two made up from your own animals is a wonderful thing to do. They might even be able to weave a pattern using your different colours. We had our first rug woven about 15 years ago from our Hebridean fleeces (not a promising fibre on first appearances). We still have that rug on our bed now - it's still in perfect condition (yes, it's been cleaned a few times :D ) and keeps us cosy through the worst winters. Being from our own animals makes it very special.
If you have money to invest, you could get yarn spun up, make your own ball bands and offer it for sale online. Similarly you could have the fleece carded into tops, batts or roving for sale - or to help you with your prep when learning to spin.
Keep doing your research into all the possibilities, and we'll all help where we can. :knit: :spin: :sheep:
-
You could always pay someone in fleece :)
-
It's always worth registering with BWMB and dropping off your wool with them, if you have spare fleeces and if the travel is worth your while and you have >4 sheep. Prices are due to be better at auction this year than 2013 (ie selling 2013's wool in 2014) - you should be getting >£1/kg for most fleeces. With 10 sheep yielding 3kg each, that could give you £30-£36. If you live within 90 minutes of a depot, I'd travel for that - may pay for your shearer.
Not a vast return, but better than sticking it in the shed and letting it deteriorate.
I've heard no projection of likely 2015 prices yet, from the 2014 shearing season.
-
Eek! I threw our Zwartbles fleeces away last year! Am now feeling extremely bad about that :raining:
It was only four fleeces but I contacted our local spinning guild but no-one was willing to come and get it (despite it being offered for free as it was in the grease) and I certainly wasn't going to travel to someone to give it away for nothing. I wanted to clean it all up and store it but I just didn't have the time or space last year.
Wellies, what I'm hoping to make is a 'woovet' (as opposed to a duvet). Wool is supposed to be excellent for duvets and it 'only' needs cleaning, carding and then laying out between two layers of fabric to sew together. I'll need to save up lots of my fleeces to do this though - hopefully I'll find the time this year! You've probably got enough to make one from all those fleeces!
ps - did you keep all of last year's lambs? I seem to recall that you had fewer sheep than that last year!
-
smee2012, a woovet sounds like a good plan for your Zwartbles fleeces.
And Zwartbles fleeces are huge, so you will probably need less number of than you think ;)
I don't know if quiltycats is around, but she had some Zwartbles off me for quilting and may be able to offer some advice... (No, I don't have Zwartbles sheep, but I get given 4 fleeces from the 'Chariots of Fire' display team's Zwartbles sheep each year. They're actually rather nice - huge, filthy, but clean up easily and card well. :))
-
I know I'm slightly on a parallel thread here...
... if you have a low number of fleeces and want to sell, but the distance is too far to make it worthwhile, you can normally get away with storing and collecting fleeces for a year or two if you take really good care of them - then sell to BWMB as a job lot.
-
Morning Smee2012, we do have a few more than last year :thinking: , (had 10 breeding ewes & 2 rams last year) we decided to increase our flock sizes as I'm at home now having given up lecturing & it's run as a business (although everyone of them is still a pet to me :innocent: ).
Very grateful for all the wool suggestions. I'm thinking this year I will probably have something made & sell the extra wool. Then I can spend lots of time learning how to do something myself for future years. I really like the idea of having something from the sheep :excited:
-
You could always pay someone in fleece :)
£15 fleece = 2-3 hours of spinning time, and that's me being generous. You wouldn't get a lot of yardage out of 3 hours of time (about 150 yds of 2-ply) and that won't include washing and fleece prep, or finishing time. To get yarn spun by hand from fleece is time consuming work and if you're getting it done by a skilled spinner you really should be paying over minimum wage rate. People are always gobstruck when I explain how many hours of work would be required to make even a simple jumper all the way from raw fleece, even before I then multiply it up by minimum wage rate.
Handspinning is a great hobby though and like knitting you can do it while watching the telly or sitting around chatting. There is a short but rather intense learning curve and after that it's really only a matter of practice. A spindle is cheap to buy, a wheel less so but if you ask around you may just come across one in a friend's attic. Or join a local Guild, they often have wheels to hire and they'll definitely have a lot of friendly people who are very willing to help you learn.
I should add that spinning groups can and do get offered a lot of free fleece. Which is great but it means they can also be quite picky about what they accept, especially if storage space is limited or non existent. Not all spinners work from raw fleece and these that do will probably have very definite ideas about what they want for specific projects and limited time to do so. Also unless a sheep has been sheared with hand spinning in mind it can often be very time consuming to process it into a usable form, which is a waste of a spinner's time if they can buy a good quality, well skirted fleece that has been sheared for hand spinning for just a few pounds. It's not just a question of being ungrateful! My group once arrived for the start of a new term to find a heap of 28 Jacob fleeces on the doorstep. Fortunately they were all clean, well skirted and nicely sheared, also individually bagged, but they still took up a lot of space. We solved the problem by giving one free to everyone that signed up that term. I've still got most of mine though, several years later. I don't use a lot of Jacob.
There are leaflets available for smallholders giving details about how to go about producing fleeces for handspinning. http://www.yarnmaker.co.uk/fleece.html (http://www.yarnmaker.co.uk/fleece.html).
These are available free to use and distribute, I give lots of them out at demos to folk who own small numbers of sheep and who would like to get some return on their fleeces.
-
Hi Fleecewife, I sympathise with the migraine and hope you feel better today. In the past I have given it to my shearer and they spin it and put it to good use. I'm sure they are aware of the value but I take on board your comments. When we first started we only had 5 and I really was at a loss to know what to do with 5 fleeces and I think it became a habit not to utilise it as part of our sheepy out put (even though our flocks have grown over the years). I also have to admit that I really know very little about wool products etc but am very interested to learn. Thank you for your recommendations I will have a look at the companies you have recommended and get organised for shearing time.
Seems to me that if your shearer has been making use of your fleeces in previous years they should be open to some barter/exchange for finished goods? Just an idea if you don't decide to go down the spinning route
-
My thoughts exactly Clive
-
You could always pay someone in fleece :)
£15 fleece = 2-3 hours of spinning time, and that's me being generous. You wouldn't get a lot of yardage out of 3 hours of time (about 150 yds of 2-ply) and that won't include washing and fleece prep, or finishing time. To get yarn spun by hand from fleece is time consuming work and if you're getting it done by a skilled spinner you really should be paying over minimum wage rate. People are always gobstruck when I explain how many hours of work would be required to make even a simple jumper all the way from raw fleece, even before I then multiply it up by minimum wage rate.
Handspinning is a great hobby though and like knitting you can do it while watching the telly or sitting around chatting. There is a short but rather intense learning curve and after that it's really only a matter of practice. A spindle is cheap to buy, a wheel less so but if you ask around you may just come across one in a friend's attic. Or join a local Guild, they often have wheels to hire and they'll definitely have a lot of friendly people who are very willing to help you learn.
I should add that spinning groups can and do get offered a lot of free fleece. Which is great but it means they can also be quite picky about what they accept, especially if storage space is limited or non existent. Not all spinners work from raw fleece and these that do will probably have very definite ideas about what they want for specific projects and limited time to do so. Also unless a sheep has been sheared with hand spinning in mind it can often be very time consuming to process it into a usable form, which is a waste of a spinner's time if they can buy a good quality, well skirted fleece that has been sheared for hand spinning for just a few pounds. It's not just a question of being ungrateful! My group once arrived for the start of a new term to find a heap of 28 Jacob fleeces on the doorstep. Fortunately they were all clean, well skirted and nicely sheared, also individually bagged, but they still took up a lot of space. We solved the problem by giving one free to everyone that signed up that term. I've still got most of mine though, several years later. I don't use a lot of Jacob.
There are leaflets available for smallholders giving details about how to go about producing fleeces for handspinning. http://www.yarnmaker.co.uk/fleece.html (http://www.yarnmaker.co.uk/fleece.html).
These are available free to use and distribute, I give lots of them out at demos to folk who own small numbers of sheep and who would like to get some return on their fleeces.
That's quite an eye-opener SFW! Thank goodness for my Wiltshire Downs. I have no fleeces to worry about and don't have to take up spinning!
-
Hi from Shropshire
I am in agreement with SFW.
I was asked at a Craft Fair for a price for spinning fleece to yarn.
Before quoting a price I timed how long it took to take 1/2 Kg fleece from raw fleece to spun yarn.
Cleaning, washing, carding, spinning by hand, plying took 12 hours to give 350g of yarn of about DK (Double knit) grade.
So a 2.5 kg fleece would take about 55 hours to spin giving a yield of about 2kg of spun yarn and at a cost of about £250 (£5 per hour).
I didn't get the commission, the lady was stunned by the price. (So was I )
SV.
-
Anyone who spins is probably not at all surprised by your figures.
We (our local spinning group) were recently asked to take a table at a local craft fair. None of us spin or knit to sell, but wanted to be at the craft fair to raise awareness of our group, and of spinning in general, so thought we'd better have a few items to sell.
One of our members did a load of research about how to price up handcrafted items to sell. One model that seemed well-supported was to charge all applicable costs (including detergents, electricity for heating, washing, etc) plus £1 per hour's labour. Yes, that's right, £1/hour. :o Not sure what the EU would make of that! Nor of the hours one would have to put in in order to produce a lot of crafted items on top of ones normal daily work!
To put another spin (sic) on Stellan Vert's figures, you're looking at £125/kg, or £6.25/50g for DK yarn produced from your own fleece, where you provide the fleece for nothing. If you try to buy nice 100% wool yarn, you will need to spend something of that order for nice yarn of a single known breed of known provenance. So I'd say it's not out of the way - but I suspect most non-spinners would be, as SV says, stunned.
-
Just had a lovely email back from the Natural Fibre Company (aren't they lovely :thumbsup:) Anyway they have laid out the costs for me and I think it sounds reasonable (but I admit it's an investment and not to be taken lightly). I must say I'm rather excited and think I will have my fleeces processed if I can make the figures add up . I've done some research looking at other flocks/businesses which sell processed wool from their pedigree sheep and their wool seems to be various prices for a 50g ball some around the £5 others a lot more. Does anyone have an idea of how much Ryeland wool normally sells for, I'm struggling to find prices. I think If I could sell it for £4.95 or £5 I can justify having the fleeces done or set hubby the task of becoming a proficient knitter in a short space of time :roflanim: I wonder how many of my family members would appreciate a hand knitted scarf for Christmas 2014 :knit:
-
Wellies, are you a member of the Ryeland Flock Book Society? If so take a look at the web site. I was there earlier this week and note they have an ad at the top selling spun Ryeland wool. I can't remember how much it is though.
-
Bionic I am. I seem to remember mumblings they were doing it at cost though to get people interested in using it, more of a promotional thing. Have just found some on the Blacker yarns website though & that looks nice :thinking: I love my sheep but it would be better still if they could add a few pennies from their produce to help with their bills