Under The Son Farm: For Sale: Fiber to Finished Goods

For Sale: Fiber to Finished Goods

Under The Son Farm now has a new store front! We have our some of our combed top, yarns, and goat milk soap listed. You can check it out here:

www.squareup.com/store/under-the-son-farm/

Under The Son Farm has the following for sale at all times:

Raw fleeces - call and ask for available colors. Fleeces at the moment are all purebred Shetland.

We have all of the Shetland purebred colors on the farm and most are available, with some of the more rare colors rarely available.

Colors:

White
Musket (pale cream to brown/grey) grey (usually light, a few dark)
Mioget (rose gold to yellow gold, various shades) grey katmoget (pale grey to very dark grey/black)
Fawn Katmoget (shades of light brown to pale cream)   emsket (blue gray)
Fawn (light brown, with white fibers sometimes) shaela (black frost)
Moorit (brown, with white fibers sometimes)   black (most are Shetland black, with brown tips)

PLEASE NOTE: Due to our hot Indiana weather, our fleeces sometimes have a "lanolin" line next to the shorn or rooed end. This is normal and easily washes out.

Raw fleece ranges from $16-40/lb. These are grade 1 or 2.   Fleeces range from 1.5 lbs to 3.5 lbs, skirted (no britch or neck wool). Fleeces are covered in winter to protect from hay contamination and are virtually VM free. The reason that the price is high is because of the RARITY of the quality of fine wooled Shetland fleece!!

Roving - call and ask for available colors. We have several different "types" available from very fine Shetland lamb's wool all the way to britch wool. This is so that the perfect match for the project you want can be had whether it is for a fine lace shawl or scarf, an everyday shawl, hat, scarf, gloves, sweater, socks, or for that lifetime Shetland wool rug. We have special blends available too - Shetland mixed with alpaca, mohair, angelina, angora, dyed, or natural/dyed. Many of these are handprocessed right here on the farm on our carding machine in small batches.
Roving is $4.00/oz for grade 1 or special blends, $3.50/oz for grade 2, $3.00 for grade 3, and $2.50 for britch/rug roving.

Under The Son Farm booth at Greencastle Fiber Event 2012

Combed Top - Woohoo! Just got back from Zeilinger Woolen Mill a bunch of wonderful combed top. This luscious top is made from our prime natural colored very soft Shetland neck wool and lamb fleeces. Our Shetland top is wonderful to spin as is, drafts like butter, and can be felted into a fine felt. The natural colors blend beautifully together to make any sort of knitted good (Fair Isle is perfect for this or a multi-colored lace or hap shawl) or spin to weave that gorgeous tartan blanket. Or, have fun dyeing or handpainting your own colors. Shetland dyes beautifully!

Top row, l to r: white, light cream, dark cream, mioget (very limited supply), moorit (limited)

Bottom row, l to r: light grey, emsket, med grey, shaela, shetland black

Note: for the creams and the emsket and med grey - there is a slight difference between the colors.

Combed Top is priced at $4.00/oz or $48/lb for one pound or more.

Combo packs of all 10 colors of combed top, 2 oz/color, is $64.

If you want larger combo packs, just drop me a line!

Batts - Quilt batts currently available are moorit Shetland in twin or queen size and white Cheviot available in queen comfortor size. Wool batting makes excellent bedding material as it allows the perfect temperature for sleeping.

Felt yardage - available in small pieces up to 2 yards in length. Perfect for trim pieces on garments or full garments. Lightweight to medium weight. In natural colors, dyed, or with a combination and also some with a eclectic mix of materials for a unique piece.

Felted Shetland - natural and dyed

Felted Shetland - dyed with eclectic yarns

Felt batts

Handspun or Millspun yarns - We hand wash all of our fleeces right here on the farm, before they are further processed, so that we have control of how they are handled.

Millspun yarn is currently available on the yarn page. Several wool mills have been used and we have been happy with them all and have always received compliments for the superior quality of our fleeces from the mills.

We occasionally have handspun yarns available.

Sheepskin hides - NEW!!! The latest batch has arrived and they are spectacular!! See this blog post for a listing

Finished goods - a few items are usually available such as felted scarves, knitted mitts, knitted hats, or woven shawls. Woven blankets will be available in the future. Custom orders are welcome.

Welcome to Under The Son blog!

There are about 50 Shetland sheep on our farm during the winter months and over 100 with the lambs in the spring time. Most patterns along with a few spotted sheep are here on the farm. I specialize in breeding classic fine fleeced Shetlands that are the hallmark of the Shetland wool industry and have been for hundreds of years.

Blogs posted will be relevant to our Shetland sheep farm goals such as working towards a classic type fleece - a fine to very fine, dense, silky, lustrous, 3-6" Shetland fleece, raising conformational correct pure Shetlands and growthy Shetland cross market lambs, as well as all manner of Shetland fleece production through to the finished products.

I am a spinner, weaver, knitter, felter, crocheter, dyer, soaper and have done all manner of other crafty things such as basketry, beaded jewelry, sewing, quilting, cross-stitch, etc.

Wool for sale includes raw fleece, washed fleece, rovings, spinning batts, quilt or comfortor batts, felt yardage, handspun yarns, millspun yarns, and finished knitted, woven, or felted goods such as fingerless gloves, purses, scarves, shawls, ponchos, ruanas, vests, jackets, and blankets.

Vist my Ravelry group for even more information. http://www.ravelry.com/groups/fine-shetland-wool

About Shetland Sheep

Shetland sheep are a heritage breed dating back a thousand years or more and are related to Soay sheep. They have primitive characteristics such as a naturally short fluke shaped tail, wool that 'roos' or sheds in the springtime, small size, and fine bone. They are famous first and foremost for their fine, soft, naturally colored wool that is very lightweight and warm. This wool was one of the two pillars of the Shetland Island economy for centuries.

Shetlands, the 'kindly' (soft) wooled native breed of sheep, were preserved because the Shetland wool industry was facing extinction with the the infiltration of coarse long wooled big sheep on the island. Steps were taken, such as the writing of the breed standard and paid ram incentives, to ensure the existence of this rare native breed and the continued existence of the woolen industry that employed so many of the women of Shetland.

Garments made from breed standard 'kindly' Shetland wool can be next-to-the-skin soft scarves to warm, soft outerwear sweaters. It is a fine wool with crimp (called 'wave' by the writers of the standard) and is normally used for knitted garments with good memory such as stockings/socks, hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, shawls, under clothing, and the famous Shetland sweaters. It is a 'longish' wool, around 3-6", depending on crimp. It is sometimes good for felting and some fleeces are very silky. As it is a heritage breed, there is quite a bit of diverseness found within the breed, especially in the colors and patterns that run the gamut of browns, blacks, greys, and white as well as spots and patterns. All in all, it is one of the premier handspinning fleeces to be found.

From the Shetland Sheep Society

"Shetland sheep have for generations been noted for their very soft and well crimped fleece. The wool is the finest of all native breeds and shows an amazing variety of colours and patterns. There are 11 main whole colours and 30 recognised markings.

By selecting from coloured fleeces a range of naturally coloured yarn can be produced. This eliminates the need for dyeing and therefore retains the soft feel of the natural fibre and is favoured by those who prefer a totally natural approach.

Shetland wool fibres are of a simple construction witha central cortex covered by a thin scaly cuticle, and have an average diameter of about 23 microns. However there is a range from 10-20 microns for neck and shoulder wool to 25to 35 microns for britch wool. the average staple length is 3.5 inches. The amount of crimp varies, and is most important in providing the 'bounce' required for knitwear. There is a positive correlation between fineness and crimp, with wool of the finest quality being crimped at between 8 and 12 to the inch. Wool from shetland sheep is used to produce gossamer lace, the famous 'Fair Isle' knitwear, and fine tweeds. Pure bred Shetland sheep tend to shed their fleece in sprin. The growth of new fleece can cause a rise or weak point and where this is present the fleece can sometimes be plucked or 'rooed' by hand. The timing of this can be different in each sheep, however, it is worth taking the care to get it right as rooed fleece can be amongst the softest because the fibres have no harsh cut ends as occurs with a sheared fleece.

Shetland fleece can be handspun straight from the fleece or made into rolags and then woollen spun. It can also be sorsted spun by hand, used on a peg loom or handwoven. It also felts well using either dry or wet methods. When processed commercially the wool can be made into the finest lightweight worsted cloth or heavier weight, harder wearing fabrics and tweeds."

Under The Son Farm

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For Sale: Fiber to Finished Goods

Under The Son Farm now has a new store front! We have our some of our combed top, yarns, and goat milk soap listed. You can check it out here:

www.squareup.com/store/under-the-son-farm/

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