[quote author=Kathleen ;IMO, the top-quality, very fine wool is well worth the extra trouble, but you'd probably have to learn to do your own shearing in a lot of places. (If you have a bad back, don't even think about doing much shearing, though.)
Kathleen
Kathleen; I talked to Jean today by phone...just happened to be her birthday today ! She's 96 and still going strong ! WOW ! She's getting some of "her girls" ready to go to the big wool show in California, where she always wins big; not only with her sheep on-the-hoof; but with her fleeces.
I asked for some clarifications on the Merino weights. Seems that she started with the Delaine Merinos many years ago. Normally rams weigh in at 180# Ewes at 120# plus fleece.
Over many sheep generations; she has kept the bigger ones; to GET even heavier and bigger-boned Merinos...on purpose. (Bigger sheep, more wool -they do better on her type of ranch land ) Her Merinos do have the chest wrinkles in the front; some of her rams have the big neck rolls. But since she still does her own shearing (at 96
) she's used to them.
The 300 pounder ---well; turns out he is one of MY 3 standing fleeces every year! LOL ! I've seen him---he's a big 'ol FLIRT, too ! I get 1 Merino, 1 white Corridale, and 1 black Merino-Corridale X every year, and the merino bloods are bigger then normal ones.
That weight is WITH his full fleece. It's a huge Merino ram, named Shane; that has a fleece in color from medium silver to an oxford gray; always about 5 inches long every April; and even after Jean skirts it for me to save on shipping costs; it STILL weighs close to 25-26 pounds in the grease ! Oh, and do I pay dearly for that "lover-ly" stuff !
I cry when I make out her check. But it is soooo soft, and even from a ram; it has no smell...besides the lanolin.
When I first started buying fleece from her; she told me to expect the 50% loss after washing.... so when I got the first one clean and dry...weighed it...compared that weight to the raw weight....did the math.....
ah, ok, now I'm confused...it doesn't add up to a 50% loss.... so I talked to her, emailed her...we did the math again...still didn't add up....hmmmm...
So I thought "well, maybe I didn't get it CLEAN...? " ( I'd never washed a fleece before..) So I picked a handfull of dry ,clean ? fleece from here, from there, & so on; boxed up about 2 pounds, and sent it to her to inspect. Thinking I must not have gotten all the grease out..... Nope, she got it, emailed me back...it was clean as a whistle. We did the math again;
You won't believe it----no one does. It has to have something to do with the breeding she's done over the years..... In the raw; it practically drips lanolin; but clean and dry; Jean figured I was only getting a 38% loss on any of her fleeces I washed !!! ( The same numbers I got ! ) Full blooded Merinos ! She's "picked my brain" on how I washed it.....even sent me several more to simply wash FOR HER---so we could see if it would happen again....40-41% ! ( Wish I could recycle all that lanolin, tho...seems a shame to toss all of it out. Jean doesn't spin wool , as a rule, she doesn't normally wash it either., so she didn't know...no one had ever told her....)
I wouldn't want to spin in-the-grease...couldn't with a cat in the house. As it is; Pete takes up a "guard post" on top of the boxes as soon as they get here; until they're washed. lol ! The only one I will let him roll in; is Shanes' gray fleece...because Pete's gray....and only when I'm ready to give HIM a bath when he's gotten it out of his system ! Once it's clean, he ignores it; until we spin---he helps the wheel "go round" till he gets dizzy and falls over .... then he ignores the finished yarn....only cat I've ever seen that ignores yarn.
You can't store wool -raw- for very long---it will solidify into a solid block that will take forEVER to pry apart to wash.....ask me HOW I know THAT ....
I've seen Jean shearing a few years ago...( that's when I saw Shane on the weigh scale. ) she has a harness type thing set up ; that her mother made.....like a hanging sling for
her to "hang in" leaning over...to shear from...saves on her back and legs. But I'll tell you what....even at 96 years old....I would NOT get into an arm-wrestling contest with her !! She STILL has muscles that will put most men to shame ! She still does all her own ranch work herself.....except for setting
fence posts... And I don't blame her there.
hmmmm...that reminds me...I have a free fleece from a friends' Corridale ram that's been sitting here a few months ...whoops...I forgot about it...it's still raw... <sigh> guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow and the day after,,,....urggg...it can't go in the wool room till it's clean !