The skirting tables March, 2017
We had quite a weekend this past week–shearing day! Our first! And we loved every minute of it thanks to Cathe of Seven Sisters Farm and the good work of many Spinners and Weavers Guild members. The day began at 8:00am and ended with a chili lunch. It was punctuated by good humor, an excellent shearer, team-work, skirting, and fun. There was a 3-legged barn-cat named Tigger; at least four different breeds of sheep (Finn, Cormo, Leicester Longwool, and Corriedale); and a community of folks coming together in a warm barn on a chill morning.
My dear Spencer captured the day on video, so if you are hankering for a shearing experience of your own, check out his film.
And here are some of my pictures from the morning. What a day! And I didn’t even come home with any fleece . . .
Prepping the sheep in Cathe’s barn; some were jacketed
The shearer in action; Beth looks on and Cathe talks wool (right)
Onlookers; Spencer is in the back filming
Spencer takes on the skirting table
One of the beautiful Finn fleece
Kristi and Cathe sort the Longwool fleece–which will be millspun
A neighbor’s sheep all shorn and heading back to their trailer
Knitting the Stash! 
What great pictures!
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and a lovely video you made!
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Great photos, and Spencer’s video is wonderful. Thank you for all of your help and the great press!
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Yes! Thanks for including us, Cathe! What a fun day that was!
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What a great post and video! I am organizing a sheep shearing day for my knitting guild so this video came at a good time! Hope we have nice weather like you. How did the farmers keep track of the different fleeces coming off (10 am hour?) – or they probably just know by the fleece…
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Oh good, Rachel, that’s great to hear! As for sorting, Cathe and Kristi had their own methods. I think they were less concerned about the longwools because they were all headed for the mill. The others were wrapped in sheets and tagged with breed and sheep number.
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Thanks for sharing the wonderful photos and footage. I’ve never seen the shearing process in this much, labour intensive detail. 10 sheep an hour is incredible!
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Hey Shirley, I know, right! Fleece were flying! It was such fun to see it from start to finish.
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Awesome! I can smell that wonderful sheepy smell!
That gray Finn wool looks dreamy. Thanks to Spencer
For filming the event. Ands thanks Melissa for all that you share.
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Oh, the sheepy smell!! Yep, that one! Love it. And the barn was warm despite the chill outside. We had a lovely day and I’m so happy to be able to share it with you all 🙂
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Always fascinating to see the process before all these beautiful skeins get into our stash!
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Hey Alina–it’s so wild to see the wool on the hoof. And such fun to think of all of the spinning and knitting that could be completed with so much fiber 🙂
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Wow, this looks like a great day out! I really enjoyed your photos and Spencer’s video – that sheep shearer was incredible to watch! Plus I’ve never seen sheep in jackets before, it really makes such a difference to the fleece, doesn’t it?
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The jackets are insane–they have to keep resizing them as the fleece grows, but the magic when they come off in the end is incredible. I have processed one jacketed fleece and it was a completely different experience.
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I’d say so… Less cleaning needed, for a start! I imagine it also eliminates the changes of any fine bits of grass or twig showing up in the finished yarn – although sometimes I like coming across those as I knit. It reminds me of the connection between the ball of wool in my hands and the sheep it came from!
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I know what you mean about the hay bits–my current yarn is an Illinois Shetland that has so much VM in it that I feel like I’m standing shoulder to shoulder with the sheep! I love it so.
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