TOP: Glorious TOP

Last FEB. at Char's spinning party she gave me the belly wool off her cormos as they were being shorn. White, brown, taupe, and dark brown was all thrown into a big bag. I took it home and stored it in Bill's old studio. A couple of weeks before MFF my friend, Betty, was out there with me and we stumbled onto the cormo belly wool and she wondered what I was going to do with it. I said I don't know....and together we came up with the idea to combine it with a few of the shetland fleeces I had left over from my shearing party as well as some of the wool that had been skirted off the BFL's. We also included a good sized bag of VM polluted shetland neck wool that karen had left for me. It was too contaminated to use for roving and she couldn't sell it. Of course everyone knows that Karen Valley and Meghan Namaste raise the finest wooled shetlands in north america so we got the bright idea to combine that vm contaminated neck wool with the cormo belly and the shetland fleeces and the bits of bfl skirtings (both black and white) and have it turned into top. We knew that zeilengers would get all the vm out. WELL....... Betty took delivery of the 8 pounds that came back last week from 17 1/2 original pounds (correct me if I'm wrong Betty).....and oh my gosh you should see the product. It is incredible. It came back sort of a steel gray...totally looks like one color...and soft and it practically spins itself. Top is truly a luxury. I dyed some of what I got yesterday when Betty, Jim, Dan & Maggie were over....and it turned out way beyond our expectations (rainbow dyed). I used Teal, Saphire Blue and Vermillion as the colors to overdye the dark steel gray/taupe top.

I will post photos below of the top as it looked before dying....and a photo of the dyed product, and then if I can get a good photo, a photo of how it looks spun on the bobbin....(just one ply so far...will eventually be 2-plied).

Breeding Groups Up at Sheltering Pines

Thanks to Karen Valley for coming down and helping me get my breeding groups together on Monday (Oct 11). Not sure I ever would have gotten them up without the help! But they are up now and the long winter wait begins. Here's the way they ended up with a total of 17 ewes being exposed of which one will be for sale:

Breeding Group #1: Wintertime Fudge's girls

Wintertime Fudge: His horns are pretty tight, but with his micron test in March, 2009 being AFD 17.7, SD 4.1, CV 23.2 and percentage UNDER 15 microns at 22.9% along with a comfort factor of 99.8% I'm using him heavily! His fleece is awesome plus he's spotted! :-)


Winter Sky Alafair: I'm not sure what her micron count is now but it was about 27 point something as a 7 year old. She is 8 years old now.


Underhill Alix: moorit ewe . at 6 years old she tested at 26.1 AFD, 5.2 SD, 19.9% CV She is probably my finest adult ewe. (in terms of fine fleece)


Underhill Amethyst - at 4 years old she tested at 28.2 AFD, 4.6 SD, 16.4% CV



WindyAcres Azalea - at 2 years old tested at 26.3 AFD, 4.5 SD, 17.1% CV



SheltrgPines Bengal - at 1 year old tested at 23.0 AFD, 4.3 SD, 18.8% CV

SheltrgPines Catherine - at 4 years old she tested at 27.0 AFD, 5.3 SD, 19.7% CV

SheltrgPines Ceylon - at 1 year old not tested yet - will test in March, 2010


SheltrgPines Debonaire - at 2 years old tested at 25.3 AFD, 4.7 SD, 18.6% CV



V Creek Guinevere - at 3 years old tested at 27.2 AFD, 4.9 SD, 18.2% CV



SheltrgPines Hermione - at 4 years old tested at 28.3 AFD, 4.6 SD, 16.4% CV



Lil'Country Possum - at 2 years old tested at 26.6 AFD, 4.5 SD, 16.8% CV



SheltrgPines Zanzibar - at 1 year old tested at 24.3 AFD, 4.7 SD, 19.5% CV


And here is WinterTime Black Forrest (being leased) and his breeding group:


WinterTime Black Forrest (1/2 Polled) - at 3 years old he tested at 25.7 AFD, 4.9 SD, 18.6% CV



SheltrgPines Bombay - 1 year old. Not yet tested. will Test in March.



SheltrgPines Maura - at 4 years tested at 29.6 AFD, 4.6 SD, 16.8% CV



SheltrgPines Salicional - at 3 years old tested at 26.7 AFD, 4.5 SD, 16.9% CV



SheltrgPines Siam - at 1 year old tested at 26.6 AFD, 4.9 SD, 18.6% CV


The following ewe lambs are being overwintered and will be tested in March, 2010, to see if they are good enough for replacement ewes for any of the adults next spring. :-)

Gray katmoget ewe lamb - dam is Underhill Amethyst - Sire is Wintertime Blues

Moorit ewe lamb - Dam is SheltrgPines Bombay - Sire is WinterTime Fudge



Moorit Smirslet ewe lamb - Dam is SheltrgPines Ceylon - Sire is WinterTime Fudge


Gray Katmoget ewe lamb - Dam is SheltrgPines Debonaire - Sire is WinterTime Blues

Gray Katmoget ewe lamb (carrying spots) Dam is SheltrgPines Siam - Sire is WinterTime Fudge

Gray Katmoget ewe lamb - Dam is SheltrgPines Salicional - Sire is WinterTime Blues

2 other ewe lambs not pictured...need to get photos. This is my entire Ewe flock!

What I think Shetland fleece should look like.

I thought I'd post photos of some sheep I really like the fleeces on. This is how I think Shetland fleece should look like. It's no secret that I'm NO fan of double coated shetlands. I think uniformity is part of the standard and if you look at a histogram on a double coated shetland there is a huge difference between undercoat and outer coat. If I wanted double coated sheep I'd raise Icelandics! Enough of my opinion, eh? lol Here's what I like:

I really like gray Katmogets that have that deep bluish look to their fleeces. This is one of those. Her dam is Underhill Amethyst and her sire is Winter Time Blues (he also has this wonderful deep blue color).

This SheltrgPines Bombay (black yearling ewe) and her ewe moorit ewe lamb. Both are good examples of single coated classic Shetlands. (The morrit ewe lamb's sire is Winter Time Fudge)

This SheltrgPines Ceylon a moorit/white smirslet/sokket yearling ewe. I still breed for spots but it's taking time to develop the type of fleeces I like in spotted shetlands.
This girl is looking good.

This a moorit smirslet ewe lamb out of SheltrgPines Ceylon and Winter Time Fudge. This is how I want to see spotted fleeces looking.

I normally don't get too excited about solid black ram lambs, but I had a look at this boy's fleece the other day and thought it looked exceptional. He is out of SheltrgPines Salicional and Winter Time Blues. He is available for sale.

This is SheltrgPines Siam, a gray katmoget yearling ewe.

Nella Fantasia

Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo giusto,
Li tutti vivono in pace e in onest?
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano,
Pien' d'umanita in fondo all'anima.

Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo chiaro,
Li anche la notte ?meno oscura.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano.

Nella fantasia esiste un vento caldo,
Che soffia sulle citt? come amico.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano,
Pien' d'umanita in fondo all'anima.

[English translation:]

In my fantasy I see a just world
Where everyone lives in peace and honesty
I dream of a place to live that is always free
Like a cloud that floats
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul

In my fantasy I see a bright world
Where each night there is less darkness
I dream of souls that are always free
Like the cloud that floats

In my fantasy exists a warm wind
That breathes into the city, like a friend
I dream of souls that are always free
Like the cloud that floats

Lambs growing - My picks.

I've decided to keep only 7 ewe lambs and no ram lambs this year. This is a record low number for me. My plans to date (unless something drastically changes) is to keep 14 breeding adult shetlands, 7 ewe lambs for evaluation to replace adults next spring, and 2 rams. At this point in my life I need to simplify and not having so many barns to water in the winter will be hopefully just what the "doctor ordered"! :-) I decided a few years ago to breed toward the finest possible fleeces that I can achieve and I'm very happy with my lamb crop this year. I've decided I will probably only be keeping single coated lambs these days.
here are my picks below:

Gray katmoget ewe lamb that looks to be very single coated. Her dam is SheltrgPines Debonaire and her sire is Wintertime Blues.

Moorit smirslet ewe lamb that looks to be exceptionally single coated. One

of my faves of the year. Her dam is SheltrgPines Ceylon and her Sire is Wintertime Fudge.

This little girl is very pretty. Another single coated gray katmoget out of
Underhill Amethyst and Wintertime Blues. She carries moorit.

This little gem was born late (mid-May): she is single coated gray katmoget ewe lamb carrying moorit. Her dam is SheltrgPines Siam and her Sire is Wintertime Fudge.

This exquisite little bomb shell is an incredibly single coated moorit ewe lamb born June 6, 2009...believe it or not. I cannot believe how she is maturing. I think she would be a show ring winner if the show circuit had not been ruined by those pushing primitive shetlands as the "REAL Shetlands". I used to have primitives until I learnt to spin and found it burnt the skin as it passed into the spinning wheel and basically made binder twine that was useful for baling hay. (pardon my sarcasm) :-) Her dam is SheltrgPines Bombay and her Sire is Wintertime Fudge.

This adorable little thing is very small, but I think she'll grow. She's moorit and exceptionally single coated. Her dam is Whistlestop 0427 (a.k.a. Izzy), a jet black, single coated ewe. Her sire is FirthofFifth Thayu (shaela), so this little girl will carry the mioget modifier.
She was born June 3, 2009

The lamb standing to the right of the gulmoget is my last pick. She is a gray katmoget that looks to be an exceptionally DARK and SINGLE coated ewe lamb. I love her face and deer-like qualities. I am not a fan of the large shetlands breeders are creating these days to please the meat judges in the show ring. In my opinion nassa should be putting its foot down on larger than standard shetlands. The nassa web site states that rams weigh 90-125 pounds and ewes weigh 75-100. I'm easily seeing yearling rams in the show ring approaching 150 pounds or greater...and adult rams approaching 200 pounds. I think if people want to raise a meat breed for show they should choose something other than shetlands! The standard has always stated in the past that shetlands are fine boned.

And here is another shot of Salicional's ewe lamb (see previous photo)...this is s side shot.

Well, these are my choices for 2009....along with my 2 cents on shetlands. :-)

More Lambs

These lambs are also for sale. The first is Azalea's fawn katmoget ram lamb that looks to be scurred....or very small horns...not sure how they would be classified. He was born in March, so they are extremely short for horns. His sire is FirthofFifth Thayu (shaela) so he carries the modifier. Very nice single coated fleece. There are 3 photos of him.

The 2nd is a very nice black ram lamb out of SheltrgPines Debonaire and Wintertimes Blues. This lamb has an extremely nice black fleece....I find good black fleeces hard to find. It is single coated and VERY crimpy. There are 2 photos of him.

The 3rd lamb is a moorit ewe lamb out of SheltrgPines Elisabeth and FirthofFifth Thayu (shaela). She's a pretty lamb, will carry the modifier...and has an intermediate fleece. There is 1 photo of her.

Katmoget Ram Lamb for sale

For those of you working on polled genetics in rams I have a short scurred ram lamb (gray katmoget) that is going to be single fleeced and nice dark katmoget color. His fleece is in the process of changing from that fluffy lamb's coat to a single coated lock that looks like lace. His sire is FirthofFifth Thayu (shaela) and his dam is Li'l Country Possum. (possum's sire is polled) (I bought possum from Juliann Budde. This ram lamb was born in march.

More Lambs

This gorgeous little musket ewe is out of SheltrgPines Isidora and FirthofFifth Thayu. She would be Ag/Aa Bb/Bb M?/Mm SS/S? (carries the modifier). (Thayu is shaela) She is available for sale as well as her handsome musket brother.