Flat Sheep

Yep, you read that right, Flat Sheep... fleece to be exact. I love sheep. Have always loved sheep. I like the Biblical references, the peacefulness of hearing them on a hillside, the warmth of their wool and their sweet, serene expressions. The only sheep I've owned are pictures or loveys (one that's especially dear to my heart is the one I called "Lamby" that we gave to our first foster daughter. That little lovey is so dingy now, but it is oh-so-loved. Even though N's almost 7 years old, she still holds it dear to her. Ahh, warm fuzzies).

So, for those of you wanting to have a sheep, a fun way is by getting a fleece, which is just another way of getting the wool from a sheep's haircut. The sheep's glad to have a new doo for the spring and you get to turn its wool into a wearable item. How great is that?! My first fleece is from Lamber. Hi Lamber!

Lamber is a Jacob Sheep who resides comfortably at Honeysucklesheep in California. They are dedicated to helping to preserve the breed from extinction and work with the conservancy group, The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy I loved working with this small, family-owned farm who truly love and care for their sheep. It's been a true pleasure.



A great source of reference about this breed, along with so many others is, The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook by Deborah Robson & Carol Ekarius. It's a beautiful compendium of everything fiber-y. According to their book, these sheep are multicolored (browns, black, white and lilac which is a soft gray or brown). Their fleeces weigh approximately 3-6 lbs 91.4-2.7 kg) with a staple length of 3-7" (7.5-18 cm) and a micron count of 25-35. A Biblical reference can be found in Genesis. It's wonderful that they're actually being used in gene therapy to help children with Tay-Sachs disease.

So, if you've never processed a fleece before, come read along & learn how & maybe it'll inspire you to get a lil bit of wooly to work with and spin up.

I gotta tell ya, the fleece was soo clean, very little VM (Vegetable Matter) to pick out. And yes, it smelled like a day on the farm... which I happen to like the smell of earthy, fresh back-to-the land farm. I started with a small amount of fleece (2 oz+)
That way, if I mess up, I haven't ruined a beautiful fleece by felting the whole thing. That would be one very large felted rug (lol).

Next, I lay it on an old towel to hand pick through & pull out any nasties (dirt, vm, etc) and really, this one was sooo clean, so super-duper easy... other than needing the fleece police --yep, that's Kiki in the picture sniffing around. Hmm. My hands felt so wonderfully soft from the lanolin-rich fleece.


I put on a tea kettle and had our kitchen table set up with a plastic bin, large measuring cups, an old wool blanket, mesh laundry/lingerie bag (at Target for about $1.50 for two), Eco Magnolia & Lily laundry soap a 100% natural (formaldehyde free, petrochemical free, neutral pH) cleaner/fabric softener in one. I had done a lot of research in trying to find a gentle cleaner, eco-friendly & 100% biodegradable and *affordable*! I got my 210 fl. oz (6.21L) from Costco for less than $20. I only used 1/4 c (line 1 on their cup) per 2 oz of fleece. There is a light scent that does remain in the washed fleece, but nothing too overwhelming.


Other supplies I used were oven mitts (to handle the hot water) --silicone would be great due to being waterproof, portable laundry dryer, scrap mesh material, clothespins, vinegar (optional for rinse), timer, cotton pillowcase & strainer or colander. I did not use a salad spinner, but I've heard that would remove water without agitating the fleece (and possibly felting it). It was easy to squeeze/press the water from this fleece, but I may opt to do the spinner thing eventually.

I put the 2 oz of fleece into the mesh bag and lay it on the inside bottom of the plastic container, poured 1/4 c. of Ecos onto the fleece and lay a mesh pan (that I got from Goodwill, that my Sweetie cut two edges off of so it would fit inside my pan) and poured the hot tea kettle water on top of. I continued to pour hot water from the tap and filled up the pan, so that the fleece was covered entirely with water. Then I covered it with a wool blanket to keep the heat in and set the timer for 15 minutes. It's important to note: Do not agitate or let cool. Remember, we want fluffy, not felted. Grab a cup of tea, a favorite knitting magazine, some chocolate and put on a favorite Norah Jones album. Ahhh....


Tick-tock, tick-tock... ding! **Warning to readers: Turn away if squeamish from sight of dirt. Me? Well, I've got two boys. 'Nuff said (lol).



Careful, it's hot now... I ended up pouring the lanolin-rich water onto our plants (remember now, this is eco-friendly, biodegradable stuff, just another handy feature knowing that it's plant-based materials going back into the plants). Honestly, my Sweetie asked the other day why our plants are growing so well... I don't know if it's because of the sheepie water or not, but I'm hoping it's all for the good of Sweet Peas Farmette :-) I squeezed & pushed out the excess dirty water using the metal mesh colander thingy.

Next, it's do it all again. Remember to keep the tea pot kettle going, so you have super hot water at the ready. 15 minutes on the timer for round 2 of washing. More chocolate, for keeping up your strength ;-) After this washing, I noticed that my water wasn't very dirty and since Ecos is low-sudsing, I just dumped out the water and the next two 15 minute sets would be clear water rinses. So a total of 1 hour to process the fleece. If your fleece is particularly greasy and/or dirty, you can add a small amount of vinegar to your last rinse to get any detergent residue gone and add a softening touch, but I opted not to with this fleece as I didn't feel it needed it.


Lastly, I lay the fleece on top of the flat part of one of our portable laundry dryers. I had used some scrap mesh material I had on hand and secured that with some clothespins and lay the washed fleece pieces on top. Putting another piece of mesh material or some fabric that's ultra breathable on top, to let both the air and the beautiful sanitizing sunlight through is ideal. Also keeps it from blowing away (ask me how I know :-o) I checked on it and turned it a few times to make sure it was drying throughout. Once all dried, I sacked it away in a 100% zippered pillowcase (hard to find, so look for pillow protector cases). I wanted to keep it dust-free allow the fibers to breathe naturally). Now, off to pick some lavender to make a natural moth-repellent sachet!


A nice ending to the day spent with a sweet sheep named Lamber whose wool will one day be spun into yarn and later knit into a warm cozy something to bless loved ones.