Shearing Day

Tuesday was shearing day for the sheep at Sand Holler. This was my first experience with sheep shearing and I was surprised to learn how difficult it can be to find an experienced shearer. The shearer that we found doesn’t live in Texas, but travels through a few times a year going from farm to farm. I also learned that the quality of the fleece you get depends, in part, on the skills of the shearer. A good shearer doesn’t make “second cuts” – that is, they clip the whole length of the fiber off in one go and don’t have to clip the same spot twice. When the fiber is processed, the shorter pieces are often discarded because they are not suitable for spinning. Now that we have all this nice fiber the question is…what’s next? With any luck, we’ll be able to post a photo of a Sand Holler wool rug before the next shearing. Marissa - Do you still have that drop spindle?

Linden was ready for his haircut! Being a sheep in central Texas gets hot.

Two minutes later..."Whoa, what happened?!"

Who knew Morus looked like a Dalmation under all that fleece?

Desi, our ram, doesn't look nearly as intimidating without his wooly coat.

Bags of fleece ready for processing!