# Finnsheep Wool?



## BlackSheepGirl (Mar 9, 2010)

Does anyone have some Finn wool or roving for sale, or have recommendations on where I could get my hands on some? I had a Finn ewe several years ago (may she RIP) and that old girl was one of the softest sheep I've ever felt. Lately I've just been dying to get my hands on some more Finn wool, or better yet roving. So fellow spinners, any suggestions on where to get some good Finn fleece?


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Callielamb has a Finn sheep, I believe a ewe. She may have some cross babies? I'm not sure if she is willing to share but she may know people who do.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I have 3 finn ewes, 2 finn rams and one corriedalexfinn ewe. They are being sheared tomorrow. Not sure I can let go of any.........I've waited sooo long to get usable wool........

what color do you want? I have black, white, and grey. Only the grey is kind of an oatmeal/gray mix. He hasn't really settled into his real color yet. That is if he hasn't felted his too much under that jacket. I have crimpy curly white. Crimpy, crimpy black. Curly white - but she wouldn't tolerate a jacket. Foamy white ( that's the corriedale) and crimpy, crimpy white. 

Dh built me a drum carder for Christmas. But one of the drums wobbled. Something about the bolt/axels not being straight. He cut his own out of a steel rod....now he just has to fabricate the wood roller at the end of the drum....otherwise, I'd have rovings....or rather batts.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

Umm, I nearly hate to share, because I feel like the fleeces are so dirty. I've been reading the soaking-to-get-it-clean thread, but haven't done anything about it yet. My Finns are not greasy, so I've kind of waited until I could find greasy fleece to start the process. Anyway, I've got two white Finn ewes, one black/brown Finn X Icelandic ram that looks all Finn, and 3 sacks of Finn or Finn X Icelandic white fleece from prior years. I have a drum carder that I don't know how to use, and absolutely no time to play with any of it. I also have 5 FinnXIcelandic lambs (we like the taste of Icelandic and I really raise for meat) so far this spring. The others are too mixed to name. If anyone would like samples, let me know and I'll put some in the mail. Again, it's icky wool, but I've handwashed it before and it comes out white, soft and curly. 
Kit


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## BlackSheepGirl (Mar 9, 2010)

Wind in Her Hair said:


> how exciting, Callieslamb -we'll need pictures!!!! LOTS OF PICTURES!!!


I second this opinion. =)


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Well, they were sheared today. I stood there looking decorative switching my camera from hand to hand.....and didn't take single picture. I can take some pictures of the fleeces, now that they are all bagged up. Maybe one of the raw and one of a piece cleaned?


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

KIT.S said:


> Umm, I nearly hate to share, because I feel like the fleeces are so dirty.


Kit,
C'mon, post some pictures of your fleece. What you may consider dirty and what we may consider dirty could be two very different things.

For me, 

I don't want burrs in my fleece
I want my fleece skirted a LOT! (no neck, no britchen, no leg, no belly wool)
At least a 2"-3" staple
A LOT of crimp! (I lurves me some crimpy fleece!)

Dirt, I can handle, the burrs and unskirted fleece, Nope, I'll pass on it every time.

BTW, Welcome to HT and especially The Flock!


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

WooHoo! I found this thread again. Sigh, my HT still isn't working right. I'm so glad I'm not responsible for making any websites work!

Ok, below (hopefully) is a photo of the current wool. The bottom left corner is a quick rinse under running water. Still yellow - I figure bright dye ought to take care of that!

If you mean by "burrs" those 1/2 inch diameter seedpods with velcro all around, we don't have those. What is "britchen?" Is that "britches" like the butt area? I threw away the nastiest goop and any second cuts that I figured were too short to bother. My Finns don't have much wool on their bellies and none on the legs. I didn't know about the neck, guess I'll dispose of that next time, too. The more I learn about what I should want, the more information I'll have about how to shear for best effect.











This is Poppy with one of her 2-day-old triplets. You can kind of see her wool, but if the neck isn't good anyway, then this may not be representative. 









And these are a couple of the other kids. 2 to 3 weeks old, nearly.









And thankyou for the greeting! Anyone near Salem, Oregon who could show me how to handle a drum carder?

Kit


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Cute lambs, Kit

Here is my smaller ram's almost felted fleece. Grrrr....He was jacketed.









Rusty is supposed to be grey. He was born black and changed to oatmeal. Now, he's almost white with gray spots. As in one of two curls of gray here and there. As I looked at his fleece, I thought I would try to save what I could. THis picture is from his bottom side. Not as much curl showing as he has.









I had to pull each lock out of the pile. I was able to save 2/3 of his fleece. There was lot more grease in his fleece than I expected. What looked like felting, was very often dirt and grease mashed together at the ends. I separated out individual locks and them pulled them apart to fluff them - hopefully so they will wash beeter. Here is the basket of fleece where I pulled each lock part. 









I will add pictures of when it's washed up later.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

KitS Welcome to the Fold! Love the baby pictures, so sweet. You fleece looks very nice, not too yucky at all. I bet it washes up beautifully.

Callie that fleece turned out gorgeous. Do you enlarge their coats as their fleeces grow? A lot of the people I know either change out the coats or some how change the sizes as the fleeces grow to prevent felting. Some breed felt easier than others.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Yes, I enlarged their jackets 3x this winter. I made my own for about $6 a jacket. The smallest ones, I re-sewed to make the middle size. One ewe is so big with lambs before shearing, that she got jacket from the fleece fabric. I worked just fine. I might use tht for the pregnant ewes next year. I only put them on in the fall as I start to feed hay. Rusty - from the fleece pictures- went past his prime with one sized jacket. He also went 2 weeks without it and was wet when I put it on. I am happy with how much I was able to save. The color is what surprised me. When I last saw him, he was tan color.


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## BlackSheepGirl (Mar 9, 2010)

Yes! I found the post again! And there are pictures! :bouncy:
If you guys have any brown/black wool, could we see pics of that too?

@KIT.S- I agree, that wool doesn't look that bad at all. It doesn't look to be too dirty, a good washing would probably help get rid of that yellow as well. Also, cute baby pictures! I especially like the spotted one.  My ewes aren't due til April, so til then I have to be content with other people's lamb pictures. (and just a little side note about washing, I would keep away from the running water if I were you. I don't know how well finn wool would felt but if I washed any of my Icelandic's wool with running water chances are I would end up with a big ball of partially felted wool...)

@Callieslamb- It looks good after you picked it apart, I wish I could reach into the picture and touch it. I can't wait to see what it looks like all washed up!


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## BlackSheepGirl (Mar 9, 2010)

Oh, and another thing, What is the staple length on your fleeces?


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

The one I have washed so far is 4 inches - but he's a yearling so it's his first shearing.

Here's an unwashed yearling ewe lamb - Gertrude









Her Dad, my larger ram, Skipper









and her mom- my black ewe, Gibby. I could not get a good picture of the crimp in her fleece. Both batteries are drained in my camer...so I'll have wait a few hours for the other two.









Gibby and Gurty are bred to Rusty this year, rather than Skipper, so I should get black or grey lambs from Gibbs and no telling what from Gurt.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

(and just a little side note about washing, I would keep away from the running water if I were you. I don't know how well finn wool would felt but if I washed any of my Icelandic's wool with running water chances are I would end up with a big ball of partially felted wool...)

Good grief! Running water? I had no idea it was so delicate! I knew I didn't want to change the temp of the water, but I guess I've just lucked out, because I've been scrubbing it with dish soap under the faucet, just to see what comes of it. I will have to go back to the thread on soaking in rainwater, and see about cleaning it that way. 

I have an Icelandic ram who looks like he has lots of wool, but clipped some just to see, and it turns out to be under-wool and guard hairs, much like the wool of muskox. I hadn't realized it would be like that. My previous Icelandic ram had more, well, wool-like wool, although it was straight.

Arrgh! More things to learn!

And Callieslamb, your wool is absolutely beautiful. What kind of material did you use for your coats? Do you have any photos of your sheep wearing their coats? 
Kit


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I bought fabric from seattle fabrics - denier 500 or something like that
Coated and Uncoated Nylons : Reflective Fabric : Polyester Fabrics : Seattlefabrics.com. 

I got the pattern and instructions (and what fabric to buy) from Making Sheep Coats They were very easy to make. Just basic sewing skills needed. I hemmed the first set and decided that with the fabric I was using, I could just serge the edges. It worked just fine.

I don't have a good picture but here they are in the field









You can see that the ram's jacket ( green) is getting too small from the way it pulls on his leg and neck. 

I only put straps on the back legs. One ewe, the one that had triplets yesterday, was so big, when she grew out of her last jacket, I just made her one out of fleece (the fabric, not wool). It worked just fine. They broke the leg straps quite often. That was my sign that they were getting too small.


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