 The sheep are doing great despite the hot weather. We've a couple of batches due to go off to pastures new (new owners setting up their own flocks) as we need to downsize a bit. We tried to have a couple of picnics at the field while we were spending days there working, but they didn't always work out as planned as the sheep tried to mob us for our sandwiches. Prime offender was Tille (left). She's fearless. The sheep are not yet sheared; we were tempted to start a couple but - despite recent good weather - the rise just isn't there in the fleece yet. The rise is a natural thinning of the fleece and when we handshear, we aim to cut along the rise and above any new growth. This makes the fleece much easier to process. Machine shearing tends to run along the skin of the sheep, removing both the older fleece and any post-rise growth, leaving a fleece with a weakness in the staple. As we have not lambed this year, our rise might be later - the ewes just haven't had the same demands on them physically as they would if supporting/feeding lambs. We cannot treat the sheep with any anti-fly treatments until after shearing, so we have to be alert for flies laying their eggs in the rise of the fleece (a nice moist warm place for them to choose) and the risk of flystrike. Regular checking is essential and it is always a relief to get the sheep sheared and treated. We'll have fleeces - straight from the sheep - available for sale soon. Contact me if you are interested. As far as wool dyeing goes, I've made a start on dyeing some of the new DK yarns we've had in. After trials, it's only really the Haar DK which is light enough to take a dye and I've managed to produce these stunning shades. I absolutely love them and need to dye some more for myself to knit with!
In terms of the yarn which is away at the dyers, progress has obviously been halted due to lockdown, but hoping to have some back ready for Woolfest in June. Really looking forward to it!
I'm not about to launch into lots of lockdown musings: there've been times when I've really struggled with the lack of freedom to be 'out' and seeing friends although the first few weeks were fairly calm and positive. What I had thought was a lockdown 'fuzzy head with tiredness', or perhaps the return of depression turned out to be the most common 'very common' side effect of some new tablets I'd been prescribed *face palm*. Like lots of others, I've been trying to rediscover pleasure in small things and stay connected. Stay well, all of you
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