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The Lambs     ~     Shearing      ~      Fleeces & Hanspun Yarns

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Tops & Vests 
Leno-Lace Imagery
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  Book Cover: Yarn Talk
Yarn Talk, an illustrated
chapter book
See pages & stories in process
LambTalk - pics & narratives of my small family of Shetland sheep. See new lambs, strange weather, and visitors.Though these pics range through the years, their habits are the same and they seem to follow a continuous set of rules. I've named these rules: 1.Eat! ALOT!  2.Stick with the flock. Always!  3.Be Aware!.   4.Not too close!   5.Play games. More on the blog.
YarnTalk - stories based on my sheep, entirely true. Almost. SnoBelle, oldest of the lambs, wants a shawl. But no one will help her. Not the other lambs, nor her argumentative aunts and the ornery, greenish, Uncle PupEye. Only Gramma Filene inspires her with stories of learning about the loom, the spinning wheel, yarns, and most of all, about dyes. Follow SnoBelle's escapades, explorations with color, and even a race through a hurricane. In process, with updates on the blog.

She thinks I can't see her behind the tree.
New lambs are fun. Mine have such variety in color, breed, and the games they play. Here are past photos.

Oreo, one of the cutist and nicest li'l rams.
Recently, the FL panhandle was surprised by snow. A first, for the sheep. Their expressions show they're entirely bewildered.

LilyPut in the garden.
It had gotten sooo overgrown, I had to put the "Ovine Yard Service" to work.


Swee' Pea and Oreo


three "kids" and a stick

Also see
Pics from the Camps
for many of the groups who have visited.

* * * * *

At right, Spatz had black "patent leather shoes" and seemed to want a top hat. So playful as a lamb! He has since grown into the careful ram shown in back of the snowy threesome above.

Ivy, another bottle baby, and her cousins went visiting to a neighbors. They'd never seen puppies before. The neighbor helped to feed her when she was very tiny. Mom, Swee'Pea, makes sure it's done right. Ivy became very social and accompanies me to classes. She helps show off her soft wool and all the woven items done on the loom.
            

In this pic - Panda- 9 days old;
Pansy & Shamois - 5 days old.

 

"Say, I got sheared and had twins all
in the same day. These are my boys,
LingLi & Panda."

    
Then came the girls, Pansy & Shamois. Altho mom is very attentive, she can't feed them. So it's back to bottle-feeding.
Ahhhh.... sublime.

 

 


"Just how close do you think you're coming?"


Meet CinnamonPat,

a few hours old in these photos. She came on St. Patrick's Day, and surprised me by suddenly being there, strong and healthy, and jumping around the woods on her first day.

Strange coloring, coming from two white parents. Maybe Swee'Pea was keeping company with a racoon?


Meet, Mom, Swee'Pea. She had also been a bottle-baby (pic: below center) and gave us a big surprise when she was the first to lamb this year.

Meet Dad, Biscuit, March '10. (see him as a baby below). His horns have grown, his wool has grown, and his attitude has definitely gotten a little scarier. Some rams will butt little ones, but Biscuit is great with the lambs and takes his role as daddy-guard in stride.
   Swee'Pea was used to being close and fed by hand and so is much more comfortable with me and the camera nearby. . . . . . . . Biscuit is not! But he doesn't mind hanging around the background.
    "Thank goodness she's not using our wool in that 'weaving', so they call it. I'd rather keep my coat,
thank you very much." ( YarnTalk )
BUT,the new lambs have yet to experience the heat of a Florida summer; they'll be so thankful for a haircut.) Following: pics of the shearing process.

Dixie Belle &  Schnuckle Belle, and Doozey & Floozey

(I learned of the name "Schnuckle" on the morning of her birth. It's German for "little lamb".)       

     
   Suffolk babies are born black as coal. It's a wonder their moms recognize them as their own, but sheep care more for scent than vision. New lambs and moms identify each other by scent and an orphan has a tough time being adopted unless the new mom is tricked into believing it's her own. (There are various ways of doing this, which I'll leave out now.)

 
Schnuckle Belle is a bottle-baby this year, but not because she's an orphan. Her mom is very attentive, but couldn't feed her.

 

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Black Jack and Dingo,
1 year ago. Black Jack is this year's lambs' daddy.


As they grow, their bodies get greyer and lighter until finally they mature with completely white bodies, coal black faces and black stockings.


Doozey & Uncle Dingo today.

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1.Shearing starts with sitting down.  

2. Just like a haircut, wool's trimmed from neck and ears.

 4. Turn over to shear the other side.
3. The fleece hangs together like a blanket and rolls off all in one piece. 5. All done, nice and cool.            back to top
            
Rams like Biscuit, with horns and LOTS of wool, take a little more time. His Shetland fleece is very long and silky.

Fleeces are collected annually and a variety of shades & textures are spun into yarns. Use handspun for knitting, crochet, and other yarn projects besides weaving.
Note: Many handspun yarns are done from commercial roving and look fairly uniform. The roving is automated: prewashed, predyed, and pre-carded.. Mine are NOT. Carding and spinning directly from raw fleeces, "in the grease", preserves some lanolin and also allows a variety of textured yarns. Dyeing by hand also allows much variety.
Email me for samples. See more yarns and rovings.
Missy has luscious wool, a lot of it, with various gradations of color from her white back to her black legs.
When spun, it's very light and soft.

Weaves by Cappa ~ Alice Cappa ~ acappa@alicecappa.com

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