This past Saturday our goats were professionally sheared by Emily, who came by on her way home from Juniper Moon Farm. I have to admit, I’m such a huge fan of Juniper Moon Farm that I’m a little star-struck to have secured the services of their shearer. Small world! Unfortunately, Lucas and I were out of town for a wedding reception, so we didn’t get to see (and photo-document) the shearing – but I do have some before and after pictures:
Admittedly not a well composed shot, but it shows off their coats. It was taken about 1 month ago (the phantom hand is Lucas). It was so funny to watch them run around with all that wool attached – very floppy!
They’re so tiny now! And so leggy. And now I have two very large boxes with a fleece in each. I spent some time looking at Ivan’s (the larger one) fiber while it was still attached. There’s a high percentage of coarse, thick guard hair – which isn’t great for spinning yarn – so I think I might just toss that fiber (though I hate to do it). But his sweet personality more than makes up for not getting to use his fiber. As for Hamlet (with the horns), I think I’ll have to spend some time picking through his fleece for areas that aren’t heavily laden with vegetable matter – this goat has a serious bramble addiction. Sigh.
This additional fiber is a nice kick in the pants for me – I need to sit down and process BOTH this fiber AND the fiber I harvested from Hamlet last Fall (which I’ve stored in cedar chips). Wish me luck!
Aghh! Naked sheep! So cute. Can’t wait to see what you do with the fiber!
Wow, they look so fluffy and sweet! I hope you can use a lot of their fibre, even coarse fibre can have its uses.
Thanks for your comment on my blog as well, it’s always lovely to get some feedback!