Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Back from Jefferson, micron counts

At the WI Sheep and wool festival, I took spinning and felting classes with my friend; looked at other people's Shetlands in pens and in the show ring; felt and saw the soooffffttt fleeces in the judging area (way to go, Champion Shetland fleece Tori Gygi); looked at the Other Breeds of sheep there (NO FINNS, darn it)and had a nice dinner out with Shetland people and their friends.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of Shetland show judging-- I thought it started earlier, but no, Noon; my second class was at 1pm.

This is a felted bag I made at my Friday class-- it got a little wild. The brown and white locks are from my own sheep; I do not have blue mohair animals!
It was quite fun to wet felt this bag and get it done in one workshop. The teacher, Mary Wallace, and other students were all so funny and kind.
It was a wonderful, three-day weekend, talking wool, sheep, felting, spinning, everything with many, many different nice, knowledgeable folks.
I got home and found fleece micron reports from Texas A&M on 8 sheepies I'd caught and sampled.
I have not been "into" this in the past-- it's just more work-- but it seems so many breeders are measuring fleece samples now, and a few asked about some of my lambs.
No great surprises, but the reports were still interesting.
Six of seven lambs were in the mid 20s, good-- my one older ewe sampled was 30 or 31?, and the one lamb I KNEW felt NOT Soft came in at 30-- while her twin was 24. So now I know that SHE goes to the pet home that wanted a lamb, and her twin stays here.
We're talking about Smudge, of Splash and Smudge, LRO Catnip's April or May lambs. Nice little brown girls, both, but Smudge is friendlier.
Good thing a pet home came up over the weekend at the local University of MN Small Farm Expo we exhibited sheep at.

(This is wool from my own Yarrow)

Will someone email me to tell me how to add to Blogger the "links to posts I like" item IN ORDER Of RECENT activity? I really want that, and spent a LOT of time trying to figure it out today.
Edit: THANK YOU VAL, I'VE GOT IT NOW!

Now, there are a million tomatoes and peppers that need attention in my kitchen!

8 comments:

Kara said...

I just took clips off my lambs today to send in. I haven't been able to figure out how to add that either, I just go to Nancy or Garrett's and link from theirs, but I'd like it on my own too. You are added as an approved reader so you can visit. Still adding emails slowly but surely.

Ebonwald Cardigans said...

Gail! It was nice to see you briefly at Jefferson!

Not only is AFD important (congrats on low numbers!) but the SD, CV and CF are also important. if you need help deciphering, just let me know! I'll be glad to help! (and would love to see all your results!)

If you want to change your blog list from alphabetical, there should be a drop down box (when you click on the 'edit' button on your current list of blogs when you are logged in and looking at your own blog) that you can change it to " most recently updated" and that should do the trick! good luck!

Gail V said...

By the way! TX A&M? said they are upping their per sample price to $2 each-- I'd gotten in under the wire before Sept. 1st, their change date.

Candy said...

I am trying to pin Connie down to a time she can take a day trip. I really want to come see your "kids" and learn about Shetlands. This micron things is intriguing, but confusing to me. Are you going to North Country Fiber Fair in Watertown, SD?

Juliann said...

Gail it was wonderful hanging out with you at Jefferson. Denise and I really had a great time.
Too bad you didn't bring your sheep, I was really looking forward to seeing them, but I can understand the logic of sending them to the other venue, instead.
You can see what a wonderful tool micron testing is. I think if we are selling registered breeding stock, it's good to provide potential customers with all the information we can, on both the lamb and the parent stock. I still have some higher microning sheep, and I'm sure testing has cost me some sales (I KNOW it has), but I can sleep better at night knowing I've done everything I can to let people know, in all honesty, exactly what they are getting when they hand over their hard earned money for a breeding animal.
I wish more people would do this instead of telling me to take their word that the sheep has "such a NICE fleece, so equisite and soft" I've learned the hard way that these descriptions are too subjective for me.
Don't forget to enter your micron test results in the NASSA database. ;)

Anonymous said...

here is the blogger link instruction and video for how to add the recent activity blog list to your blog :)

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=97628

Gail V said...

Val,
whoever you are (my cousin, Val?)
thank you for directing me to the blogger video. I DID IT!
Now I can get back to the business of adding blogs I enjoy.
Thanks again.
Candy, I know nothing about the fiber fair you're speaking of. I should stay home! The garden went nuts just this week! (But how far is it?)
Juliann, Garrett, thank you for the comments on micron counts. I guess I was lucky the girls came in well. The more I spin and feel fleece, the better my hand is getting at the feel-thing, too.

Becky Utecht said...

I love the purse Gail! Felting is so much fun. And congrats on your micron testing, it's a good way to learn more about your fiber. Do you micron the Finn ewe? IF so, was it pretty fine? Finn fleece is great for felting you know. ;-)