From the Pastures: ‘Tis the season

Wool season is here in northern Illinois. Those wool socks, wool blankets, sweaters, gloves and mittens are so comfortable. Wool is a remarkable natural fiber. The website www.americanwool.org has a lot of resources to help with wool promotion. Check it out and help spread the word about wool’s great benefits.

My little wool producers are doing well with the change to colder weather. I was able to consolidate the pens to three so there are not as many waterers to keep unfrozen. Sure hope this helps with the electric bill. I started feeding hay around Nov. 5. Both the Shetlands and the Scottish Blackface did well on the hay from our pasture last year. They did not need any additional grain.

When sorting the ewes for breeding, I noticed that there were several nice yearlings and 2-year-olds. A couple have the moorit color trait, which is a medium brown color. This color spins to a nice finished yarn. I decided to use a ram lamb born this year. He is a true black color and should throw some nice color patterns with the moorit ewes. My granddaughter has signed up for the sheep project in 4-H. She is excited for some lambs this year that she may be able to take to the county fair.

Our live sales went well last month. We sold several Shetland rovings and Scottish Blackface batts. The Shetland rovings were a nice gray color. They will spin to a very nice yarn. Several people have stopped by recently who are either hand spinners or weavers. It has been fun to talk to them about what projects they are working on.

Also, several producers have contacted us about processing their wool or other fiber. A lot of these people are new customers who have not processed their fiber before. Most of the time, we can help them unless their fiber has a fiber length that is too short for spinning. Our spinning frame has a hard time spinning fibers that are shorter than 3 inches. With the low wool prices, it is beneficial to make value-added products.

Have a wonderful holiday! Happy New Year!