FINNSHEEP Raw Fleece, White, Pi 2022, 1 pound 13.6 ounces, free shipping

This is Pi’s 2022 Raw Fleece. Pi is a purebred finnsheep lamb that was coated/ jacketed much of the year. Very low on VM (vegetable matter- hay, straw, grass from the pasture). I skirted it myself. I’m a hand spinner as well as a shepherd. I dislike VM as much as the next spinner…in fact, maybe more so. I get a little ruthless about skirting and removing all wool that has VM in it so you are only getting nice wool with Point of View Farm fleeces. It weighs 1 pound 13.6 ounces.

I spent a good amount of time on the skirting table picking out any stray hay pieces I found making sure that is the case.It is really quite wonderful and free of contaminants.

Pi was born at Point of View Farm in 2019. Her fleece is soft but, not very long- between 3 and 4″. Nice length for handspinning especially for newer spinners who want some length but, not too much. If you have been following our farm a bit you might have heard about Pi. She was born on Pi Day, 3/14, in 2019 and was the tiniest little runt of the litter. It was Betula’s last litter here. Betula’s fleeces won awards at Maryland sheep and wool and also the Dutchess County fair. Her wool quality was something and we are so happy that several ewes in our flock carry on her genetic legacy. Betula was a super wool producer and fabulous mother to all her lambs….and she liked to have quints and quads.

Back to Pi, she was 1/2 the size of her litter mates and at birth her eyes were not open yet. Lambs are usually born being able to see since this helps them find the udder. Pi needed help…she was really tiny and couldn’t see yet. Point of View Farm shepherds to the rescue! Sten cared for her day and night for the first week…after that, Pi was off and running and soon caught up to her siblings in size. She has always remembered Sten as ‘mama’ and to this day still comes, much of the time, when she is called for a chin scratch. The photos included are of her shortly after birth in a red coat with her dam and siblings and also with Sten as an older lamb. She’s much too large to hold now but she still loves attention. She is not a mother to lambs…she’s an ‘auntie’. Pi’s only source of revenue for the farm is her special soft fleece. Thank you Pi.

Raw fleece means it has not been washed yet so it will smell like a sheep and need washing either before or after spinning (if you like to spin in the grease- this fleece would be a candidate for that). Pearl’s fleece was carefully and professionally shorn New Zealand style (in a single piece) by a shearer who takes pride in his work, is careful, gentle and knows what he is doing. It is not easy work but, a good shearer makes it look easy. Our shearer has shorn all our award winning fleeces at Rhinebeck and Maryland Fleece show and sales for many years. He has been shearing sheep for decades and is a good friend too. We very much appreciate his quality shearing and sheep handling skills. He is good at what he does. He’s fun and always has a joke and good story to tell.

I LOVE to dye finnsheep. Pi’s fleece would be beautiful dyed….but, of course, the way it gleams in the light is pretty special too. You decide.