Here is a photo I received from Debra Haden of a hand-sheering demonstration by Sharon White, at the 2006 Taos Wool Festival. I am certainly not this good at it. I cheat! I put my sheep in my goat stand and stand them up while sheering them. My back just won’t take bending for that long of a period of time. I do use the old fashioned type hand sheers. I may have statd this before, but I purchased… at a very expensive price tag.. an electric sheer. It is noisy, heavy, and it cut my poor sheep’s skin terribly! Never again. I love my babies too much to put them thru that. Any one want to buy it?
Archive for Fiber Animals
Hand Sheering Sheep
Peaches the Llama
Ok, my bad… appearently my little “girl” Peaches is a little “boy”. Oops! Now looking at the back end of this animal while in a standing possition, it looks like a girl…. but once caught and held up for closer examination….. definetely a boy. I guess the little hangy downs are just not down yet. 
Too bad, cuz he now knows his name, and will remain “Peaches”. He doesn’t come to me, but perks up his ears when I call his name, so I still have hope. My friend Deb has a baby llama that comes to her for petting. I am sooo jealous. On the up side… I no longer have to look for a mate for Holly, since these two have definetly bonded. I just have to wait for him to be old enough to do the deed. This explains a lot. I couldn’t understand why the baby preferred the other females company to his mothers. Peaches and Holly are always together, and Peaches only goes to his mom (Prettyface) for feedings. Can you say, “love at first sight”?
Kid Mohair- Penny
Here is a photo of my 11 year old son, Zack with Penny, a newborn angora goat. Kid mohair is to die for (or is that dye for?)! It can be spun uncarded for a loopy curly boucle looking yarn, carded for a shiny satin looking yarn, or used as is for curly doll hair. Yes, kid mohair has for 100’s of years and still is used to make the finest doll hair.
Covering Fiber Sheep
Whether or not you card your raw fleeces before you spin it, the fiber must be picked and virtually free of vegitation before it is spun. To make this job easier, COVER your fiber sheep! I can’t stress the importance of this statement. If you don’t raise your sheep and you purchase raw fleeces, look for those that state the animal was covered. This will make your job of spinning the fiber so much easier. Sheep are sheered only once a year. So, they have all year to get dirty, roll in the grass, have their hay thrown on top of them, etc. … you get the picture. Not to mention goat heads and foxtails that can cut your fingers when you try to pull them out. Covers can easily be purchased or made at home. In cold weather, the covers act as added protection against the elements. I am an advocate for just letting my animals be animals. I don’t mess with them unless they need me. But covers are a wise investment for the added comfort and protection of my sheep and my fiber. This I do for me!
Holly
And this is Holly. She was born two days before Christmas, hence the name, so she would be 1 1/2 years old as of the date of this post. She is very shy!
Fiber Animals
Let’s not forget where this wonderful natural fiber comes from! This is my llama named “Pretty Face” who lives happily with my family here in Estancia, New Mexico. I am not sure how old she is, but I would venture to guess that she is at least 7 years old. I bought her a year ago, and was told that 5 years ago, her fleece won first place at the Taos Wool Festival. Hopefully that comment was not lie told to convince me to purchase.
