Welcome to Whispering Pines Farm's RU-vid channel, "Soft Shetland Wool". This channel is about life on our farm where we care for our soft shetland sheep and their wool. I share videos of all that goes on in our farm life in my videos which are in the playlist "The Good of Work". There is a playlist about all the tools offered by Majacraft which I sell in order to help support the farm. I also show you the methods I have adapted over time to turn my sheep's wool many wonderful things including yarn, felted items and hand knit objects to name a few. These videos are located in my playlist called "Tutorials". Thank you very much for liking, subscribing, commenting and sharing my videos!
Black wool looks so amazing. Hope to see more of it in market dominated by white wool. Black wool my favorite. Thanks for sharing. Theres a breed in India called deccany sheep known for their coarse but highly durable black wool
I am enjoying your channel...as a first time sheep owner, and beginner spinner. I have raised dairy goats,and horses for many years...but sheep are new for me. I have 2 little ewe lambs..and I really want to halter and lead them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for sharing your flock, and your knowledge. ❤
Congrats on your growing flock! We breed for polled rams. Some of them have small buds, that is a hybrid expression of horned-ness. I did a video on horn genetics if you are interested: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GD-iRnYK_HA.htmlsi=VEVSfYBwzR4cpiTn&t=2051
After full view I have to say I empathize with you when letting them go.... always a little bit of your heart goes... and finding a good home is always the priority! But, as always, there is work to do and other ones that need you. Coming from letting go of my litters of my champion puppies to retired males and females...you have to let them them go or you become the crazy dog lady or sheep lady should I say...lol! Only so many we can keep at one time. We are always looking to improve our stock to the standard...and share our good lines with others...otherwise the lines degrade and our standards disappear. Always hard choices for a breeder, shepherd and protector of our our animals and stock. Always tickles me to one one our our line prove them selves in the conformation ring and see their progeny succeed with other handlers! And the good lines go on....Thank you for sharing!
I love Carmen! I am processing her wonderfully soft fine fleece now. It is buttery soft but a challenge for me. Only my second fleece processed, both from you this year. I am hand carding her fleece and spinning from rolags and she spins up very nicely. I got a very nice ombre effect from dark to light. And a soft lofty yarn. I love her wool ! Just need to take time with it. Thank you for all you do with your sheep it is much appreciated.
Dammit! Janet??? (just kidding... I love how emotional you got about her. I'm emotional right there with you! ;-) Edited to add: I so appreciate how careful you are to find the *right* new homes when it's time to "trim" your flock.
It is so hard to sell any of your sheep, but it seems like they will be taken care of by Mac. Like you said you like sharing what you and Rich have created❤️
HI Nancy - the only difference is the finish on the drive wheel - the pro is painted and the Suzie has laminate - with the clematis etching. The Suzie pro bundle comes with a few more accessories. Hope this helps!
Oh, what a beautiful video, Jen. Thank you for sharing. You have made a fabulous job of, what must have been, a tricky little fleece! I love the pattern too. They couldn’t have picked a more caring and compassionate spinner/knitter/sheep lady(!) than you! I’m sure they will treasure the scarf. It was so interesting to watch your processes too. 😊🥰
Hey Jen, I just washed Fanny’s 2024 fleece and am drying it now! I loved that she was older and “a little bit stand offish”. I can relate! I have never purchased a raw fleece before. All you share and teach me about your flock made me take the risk. I cannot wait to prep and spin this soft, crimpy, fleece!😊
thank you! I don't use software program for the genetics slides, I just make them up in Powerpoint. I wonder though if there is an app that would do all that for me automatically. That would be v. cool!
I love the mix of heavily-detailed genetic analysis and "I just had a feeling..." !! I happened to watch this video immediately after a video about breeding North Ronaldsey sheep on Auskerry island (one of the Orkney islands off the north coast of Scotland). (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KOB7qKFqd64.html) -- a VERY fascinating contrast in how different shepherds select for breeding... If you're not familiar with those videos, I strongly encourage you to watch some of them. It's a wonderful (although now increasingly bittersweet) story. I've also got to think that somewhere back a zillion generations, the NR and Shetland were related. They're both small; there's something about their faces that looks similar. I do have a question-- when you were talking about this year's spotted lamb , you talk about how the spotting must have come from the mother. Couldn't it have come through the father?
Hi Jillaine - Thanks for the video suggestion, I will certainly check it out. If you are talking about Mabel's lamb then yes, you are correct, she is spotted from both parents! Sorry for the mistake in the video, thanks for catching that!
Very interesting understanding all the Shetland colors and seeing information you keep on the genetic traits so you can plan. I had no idea how many recessive traits there were and the mystery of who carries which color. So cool being able to apply clues from the lambs. Thank you for posting and look forward to the bird names
Thanks! There is a lot more genetic information that is known out there about sheep, I really need to make the time to understand it more. But even so, just the three traits I understand can get a little complicated!
Thanks! So, we don't like to tag until after they have had the full series of vaccinations which include a tetanus toxoid - just to be on the safe side, and we don't need the tags to identify them since we don't have a ton of lambs, and I can usually identify them by sight.
Thanks Jaye - I was rewatching some of the lamb videos to make this and glad I made them, as a lot of the stuff I don't remember due to the fog of lambing exhaustion!!!
Genetics 🤩 I was wondering about that little ewe who had that weird condition. Weird question re white fleeces: I noticed with Matilda’s fleece that the white had what I’d call a warmer undertone. It was creamy white. Are there fleeces with a cooler undertone that would be a whiter white?
Haha yes, genetics are so fun! I have noticed the same thing - I call the white wool from a black based sheep more of a blue white, and the white from a brown based does look more creamy to me. This is only my observation - there is no science behind my statement!
Want to order Suzie wheel with fast speed and large bobbins for when there’s a fair so I don’t have to change out.what’s the price for something like that?
Thanks for your comment - so if we removed all 4 standard bobbins, the delta flyer and the suzie pulley, and replaced them with 4 jumbo plastic bobbins, the plying flyer and the high speed pulley, it would be 1319.50. I created a listing in the shop for this custom wheel - I have everything in stock except for the plying flyer - waiting on a shipment of those at the moment. Here is a link to the listing - softshetlandwool.com/products/majacraft-suzie-spinning-wheel-for-fair I hope this helps!
You are absolutely amazing and I can tell you treat your sheep with loving care. I would love to buy a fleece and spin your wonderful fiber. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.
Sorry to hear about your pain. My hip MRI came back bad. Bone on bone and a labrum tear. It really is inhibiting me from all my sheep chores I need to do. Probably have to have a replacement 😢
