FINNSHEEP Raw Fleece, Medium Dark Grey, Violet 2022, 3 pounds 8.3 ounces, free shipping

This is Violet’s 2022 Raw Fleece. Violet is a purebred young finnsheep ewe that was coated/ jacketed much of the year. Very low on VM (vegetable matter- hay, straw, grass from the pasture). I skirted this 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 3 pounds 8.3 ounces. She is not coated all year long so you will find some VM in there but not very much, I promise. I spent a good amount of time on the skirting table picking out any stray hay bits I found making sure that this fleece is as nice a spinning experience as possible.

Violet was born at Point of View Farm in 2020 to a fantastic ewe, Belle, who is also a very dark grey colored finnsheep. If you are lucky, you might also find Belle’s fleece available. Belle is a very unusually colored BLUE finnsheep. This pattern was only recognized by the registry just this year in 2022 and not many blue finns are out there. I suspect Violet carries 2 different variations of BLUE agouti patterning which makes her not quite as dark as her dam but, darker than most grey finnsheep. Violet gave birth just the other day. I’ll try to add a photo of her with her lambs soon. If you buy this before I do, please remind me to send you one. She is really a beautiful ewe.

If I am going to be very critical, it has a bit more variation in consistency than I would ideally like. This means her shoulder and mid body are finer wool than at her hip. You can see this a bit in the staple photo. Shoulder is on the left by the measuring tape (in all my fleece listings). Each lock sample to the right of the tape is then taken a little farther down her body. Ideally, the fleece on a sheep is quite uniform however, with heritage bred sheep there are variations in fleece type, especially when working with these rare color genetics. That being said, I LOVE this fleece so if you do too – nevermind my comments that are given in a effort at full disclosure by a certified wool classer. I would happily spin this fleece up into a sweater myself. I love the greys and we only get a few each year.

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). Violet’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 he helped mentor us when we were new shepherds. In kind, we do the same for shepherds as well. 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.