It’s shearing season here and sheep all over are having their wool sheared. Given that it’s been quite hot for a couple of days, our sheep are quite happy not to be sporting their woolly coats right now. Shearing is also important for health, hot weather means more flies and blowflies, in particular, can be quite a threat to sheep.
One of the sad facts is that, these days, wool is almost worthless. Most is bought by British Wool for less than a pound a fleece. That’s pretty much what it costs to shear a commercial sheep. For small flock owners like us, the cost is higher.
Nicole recently started making felted rugs (felted fleece rugs at Auchenstroan). These are starting to prove popular and so Nicole is planning to ramp up production a bit. This mainly involves drafting me in to help.
We have a few fleeces left over from last year and 27 of our own Coloured Ryeland fleeces from this year. However, we thought it might be good to see what kind of rugs could be produced by other breeds. So, we have got a few fleeces from our Farm-sitter’s farm (pictured at the top) and also some Shetland fleeces from a smallholding further up the road from us.
It will be good to see how the rugs turn out. They will appear in our shop as they are finished.
