SKIRTING A FLEECE

Good skirting of wool fleeces is absolutely essential to good processing and there is a big difference between skirting by a shearer and skirting for a spinning mill.

Ask your shearer to roll each fleece separately (not piled one on top of the other).

When you’re ready to skirt, lay out each fleece sheared side down on a flat surface or over a mesh or slatted screen .

Remove and throw away:

• All bits of manure that cling to the wool
• Locks of wool that are heavily matted with manure
• Sections of wool that are obviously different from the majority of the fleece – usually from the belly area: shorter, tightly curled, a different texture, sometimes a different colour. If included in your fleece to be processed, these locks will only diminish the quality of your finished product.
• Locks that have burrs embedded in them. Burrs will damage our carders.
• Binder twine, sticks, wood shavings (please don’t bed your sheep in wood shavings) and as much other solid material as you can find.

Pick up the fleece (or a convenient portion of it) and hold it sheared-side up. Shake it hard, and a great deal of dirt, seed material, and assorted foreign bodies will fall to the ground.

Reverse the fleece so you are holding it sheared side down. Shake it hard again, and you’ll likely see dozens of ‘second cuts’ fall to the ground. Second cuts in a fleece being processed for spinning create slubs in yarn, so getting rid of them before you send us your fleece will greatly improve the quality of your yarn.

SORTING A FLEECE
(Adapted from In Sheep’s Clothing, by Nola Fournier and Jane Fournier)

Why Sort Your fleece?

Skirting generally removes bellies, necks, eye pieces, topknots, and stained areas around the outside of the fleece. However, a single sheep may have as many as fourteen different types of wool covering it, depending on the breed, the individual and its age.

Careful sorting can prevent a number of problems: uneven yarn, different rates of shrinkage, and uneven results from dyeing (different parts of the fleece may absorb dye at differing rates).

How to Sort Fleeces

Spread an old sheet out on the floor or grass. Tip your fleece on to it and spread it out with the tips uppermost, trying to keep it as near to its original ‘sheep’ shape as possible. This will be quite easy if the fleece has been rolled into a compact parcel by the shearer. If it hasn’t, do the best you can. Use natural dividing lines when separating portions of the fleece to make life easy and minimize waste. Use your hands and fingertips to tell where the quality changes; when you detect a change, separate the portion off.

Remove any dirty, stained or otherwise unusable wool from around the edges.

Locate the centre back of the fleece and set aside any mushy or unsound wool caused by weathering.

Separate the rump wool, which will be similar in character to the back wool but coarse and more sound because it is less weathered.

Separate the britch (the outside of the hind leg) which will provide the coarsest (‘strongest’) wool in the fleece.

For garment making, the shoulder wool is usually the most desirable portion; the upper sides will be the next best. The centre of the back is likely to show the most weathering.

Using the Different Sections of Sorted Fleeces

Every section of the fleece can be used, but probably not for the same project. For example, the best fleece can be used for garment yarns, while the strong, sometimes hairy britch pieces can be used for rugs or for stuffing toys or cushions.

SENDING FIBRE TO THE MILL

The Gulf Islands Spinning Mill is located on Salt Spring Island, the largest of the Southern Gulf Islands. Goods can be shipped to the Mill by mail, freight or courier.

Nobody likes long turn-around times -- but most producers shear at approximately the same time of year, and delays are inevitable if we are inundated with orders all at once.

We'd prefer to even-out the flow of orders, which will allow us to work more efficiently and to promise reasonable turn-around times.

So when you contact us (by mail, phone, fax or e-mail) we will ask you to ship on or about a specific date; that way, we'll be able to start processing your order as soon as possible, after it arrives.

Packaging your Fleece

Pack your fleeces as tightly as you can in water-proof, puncture-resistant bags, or in plastic bags inside cartons. The Post Office limits package size: each side of a carton must measure no more than one meter in length. It can be very frustrating to have to re-pack a shipment!

If you are shipping more than one bag or box at a time, please label each as "#1 of 4 -- gray wool for roving" or "#2 of 4 -- llama to be spun " (or whatever is appropriate). Attach labels well, and place a copy INSIDE each bag, just in case.

Well before your shipping date, we'll have sent you a form to be filled out, giving us information on what fleeces you are sending and what kind of processing you require. To download and print this Order Form and additional important information about sending your fibre, click here. Please enclose this form in bag #1. Your careful instructions will help us to achieve your goals!

We'll contact you if we have questions, so please remember to give us your e-mail address as well as phone and fax numbers.

If shipping from the USA, please use the postal service rather than a courier. There are extra customs and brokerage charges with courier services. Also please clearly label the shipping containers with 'Wool for Processing and Return' to avoid duties as it is your own product that is returned to you.