[Rosemary]

I now have three lovely coloured Ryeland fleeces, in boxes in the garage. Since this will be the best clip we'll get from the girls, I would really like something done with them, that we can keep - jumper, rug etc etc.

I will never do it myself. I can get a hand knitter relatively straightforwardly but I can't find anywhere to get the wool spun.

Can anyone help?

Also, is there anything I should do with the fleeces to keep them in good condition meantime?

Thanks

[kanisha]

Diane Fisher and her mum  Jane spin fleece by hand; they did this from one of my ouessant fleeces not that long ago.
If you need details just let me know they are UK based;

[woollyval]

Get together with some more coloured ryland breeders, make up a batch of 25 kg and get in touch.....I can sort it for you to have it commercially spun!

If you just want your own spun you will need to go down the hand spun route

[Rosemary]

Thanks for this - I'm on it today!

[The Chicken Lady]

I have my first ryeland fleeces ready in boxes. I am having a spinning lesson tomorrow. Will let you know how I get on 

[Rosemary]

I spoke to a hand spinner today - she charges £4 per oz to spin. It takes 35-40oz to knit a jumper.

We have about 10kg; that's 22lb or 352oz; 2/3 will be spinable ie 230oz i.e. £1000.

Expensive jumpers!

How much is it commercially, wooly shepherd?

[kaz]

I just took 34 kilo of coloured ryeland fleeces to the wool board and got an advance payment of 2p per kilo.

[Rosemary]

Surely you get more than that!

I was really wondering how much it was to get it spun commercially but I'm gob-smacked. 2p per kilo isn't the final price surely

[kaz]

Total amount I got for last years coloured fleeces were 0.09p per kilo. I also took in 68 kilos of white fleece and had an Interim payment of 0.12p per kilo. Legally you are supposed to be registered with the wool board if you have (I think) over 3 sheep. I think personally that we are being ripped off., just look how much a pure new wool anything is.
Any idea what I can do with next years coloured fleeces and my one alpaca fleece?

[Rosemary]

I checked the BWMB website - if you have four or more adult sheep, you are required to register with them. I will be looking into this more. On their webite the opening page it had prices but I can't make head nor tail of them. I think I will give them a ring - the website's not clear to me. Do I HAVE to register with them if I'm happy to sell my own fleeces or what.

I should have stuck to pigs.

[rustyme]

hello Rosemary,
                   on the tv a while ago a farmer was saying he was getting about .5p a fleece for the good stuff, and was losing on the lower quality . He , however , was shearing over a thousand sheep .The same farmer also said that in the late 60's and early 70's , you could pay the rent of a farm for a year or buy a tractor with the money you got for a thousand fleeces, now you can't even fill the fuel tank with the money from the same amount.  Anyone with only a few sheep really would be hard pushed to make any money IF, they sold to the wool board. All wool has to go through them (if you have over 4 sheep) it was meant to stabalize the price of wool ....lol.  If , however , you have 4 sheep and then Dan has 4 sheep and then an aunt has 4 an uncle has 4 , then there is no need to register and sell at a loss to the wmb. As for spinning the fleece, if you don't have enough to get it done comercially , then you could spin it with a drop spindle. Very easy to learn how to use, and it is amazing how much you can do in a short time. I think i did enough for a woolly hat in an evening years ago , and that was when I was still learning how to use it !!!. My late mum knitted the hat though .

cheers

Russ

[The Chicken Lady]

At those prices I would not sell to them on principle  I had my spinning lesson and did not do too bad. Someone is going to lend me a wheel to practice on and if I am happy I hope to have one bought for my significant birthday in October  I can knit and fancy a waist coat to wear at home during the colder months and then I will be able to turn down the heating a degree or so. I'm not fussy what it looks like as I will only wear it at home. As I get better I hope to sell some of the wool to knitters at work 

[kaz]

Try finding somewhere to store that many fleeces.

[The Chicken Lady]

The woman teaching me to spin tells me that she paid £20 for her first fleece  I have seen Jacob fleeces for sale on ebay at around £5 - not sure if this includes P&P. Have also seen alpaca fleeces but not sure of the price. Is there not a local spinners guild that would buy them from you for more than you are selling them for now. I hate to be or see people being ripped off.

[kaz]

There is a saying around here that they are Cardi's (not very free with their money). Have found a mill in Brecon that will spin wool in quantities of 25 kilos, so will be looking into that. Have had a sign outside my place for the last week "Alpaca Fleece For Sale", not even one enquiry.