Skirting Wool: The Essential First Step to Beautiful Fiber

Skirting Wool at our homemade skirting table

So, your sheep have been sheared, and you've got a beautiful fleece in front of you.

Now what?

Or, maybe you’re just curious about the process. wool goes through.

Before you can spin, felt, or even sell that wool, you need to "skirt" it. Skirting is the crucial first step in preparing raw fleece for processing, and it makes a world of difference in the quality of your finished product.

Let's dive into what skirting is, why it's important, and how to do it effectively.

What is Skirting?

Skirting involves removing the undesirable portions of a raw fleece. This includes:

• Vegetable Matter (VM): Hay, straw, burrs, and other plant material.

• Manure and Dirt: Any soiled or heavily contaminated areas.

• Short Cuts: Fibers that were cut too short during shearing.

• Cotted or Matted Wool: Tangled or felted sections that are difficult to process.

• Second Cuts: Fibers that were cut twice during shearing, resulting in short, undesirable pieces.

• Stained or Discolored Wool: Areas that are heavily discolored or stained.

• Fleece Tips: The very ends of the fleece, which may be weathered or weak.

Why is Skirting Important?

• Improved Fiber Quality: Skirting removes impurities that can weaken or damage the wool, resulting in a cleaner, stronger, and more consistent fiber.

• Easier Processing: Clean fleece is much easier to wash, card, spin, and felt.

• Enhanced Finished Product: Skirting leads to a more beautiful and high-quality finished product, whether it's yarn, felt, or another wool craft.

• Increased Value: A well-skirted fleece is more valuable to buyers and processors.

• Protecting Equipment: Vegetable matter and dirt can damage spinning wheels and other fiber processing equipment.

How to Skirt a Fleece:

1. Prepare Your Space:

   • You'll need a large, clean surface. A dedicated skirting table with a mesh top is ideal, as it allows dirt and debris to fall through. You can also use a clean tarp or a large table. Here’s a design for one from our friends at Bide a Wee Farm

   • Good lighting is essential. Natural light is best, but bright artificial light will also work.

   • Have a large container or bag for your skirtings. Here’s a LINK to our favorite “bag holder”. We keep several in use. One for the wool discard and one for the skirted fleece

2. Lay Out the Fleece:

   • Carefully lay the fleece out on your skirting surface, with the fleece's "outside" facing down.

   • Spread it out so you can see all areas clearly.

3. Remove Obvious Debris:

   • Start by removing any large pieces of vegetable matter or manure by hand.

4. Work Around the Edges:

   • Begin at the edges of the fleece and work your way inward.

   • Carefully examine each section and remove any undesirable portions.

   • Tear off heavily contaminated or matted areas.

5. Check the Main Body:

   • Once you've skirted the edges, carefully examine the main body of the fleece.

   • Look for any remaining vegetable matter, short cuts, or other imperfections.

   • Flip the fleece over and repeat the process on the other side.

6. Bag Your Skirtings:

   • Dispose of your skirtings in a designated container.

7. Bag Your Skirted Fleece:

   • Place the clean fleece into a breathable bag, such as a burlap or paper bag, for storage. Avoid plastic bags, as they can trap moisture and lead to mold.

Tips for Effective Skirting:

• Skirt in a well-lit area.

• Take your time and be thorough. Often I hear anxiety from a new “skirter” worried about doing it right. Just know you’ll become more and more confident. I remember being very aggressive in the beginning. I felt it was better to throw away a bit of good wool then to sell a bit of trashy wool!

• Practice makes perfect: Like any skill, skirting improves with practice. The more fleeces you skirt, the better you'll become at identifying and removing undesirable portions. You'll develop an eye for quality.

• Don't be afraid to remove a significant amount of wool if necessary. It's better to have a smaller, high-quality fleece than a large, low-quality one. I am a member of the “if in doubt, pull it out” camp!

• Practice makes perfect. The more you skirt, the better you'll become at identifying and removing undesirable portions.

• If you are unsure of the quality of some wool, set it aside in a seperate area. You can then evaluate it later.

After 15 to 20 minutes we have a well skirted fleece! You could be faster but then you might miss the zen of it all !

Skirting wool is an essential step in preparing raw fleece for processing. By taking the time to properly skirt your fleece, you'll ensure a higher quality finished product and a more enjoyable fiber experience. If your sending your wool to a mill to be processed they will be particularly Happy with you and if your selling your fleece directly to the end user they will be left with hopefully nothing but compliments for you and your farms standards!

Happy skirting!

Do you have some favorite skirting tips you’d like to share? Maybe you have a particular skirting challenge you’ve faced? Maybe you have a question about skirting you’d like “like minded” folk to help you decipher?

Please share in the comments below!

The Shepherd's Lesson: Sometimes, the Sheep Know Best

As shepherds we think we know what’s best for our sheep. The benefit of years watching and learning from these creatures has helped me realize that most of the time, they do know best and don't need our interference. If we’ll listen to them and not try to “project” our human interpretation, we can see that. Sure, we have to get involved from time to time but I’ve found if we trust their instincts and get out of their way, they’ll often take care of things.

Like the ewe that insists on having her lamb in the woods, we let her. Is it the safest? Probably not but that’s what she wants to do. It makes it harder on us once she’s had the lamb to get them to safety but I believe allowing them to have those moments and make those decisions gives us a more mutually respectful relationship.

I’m sure there’s a shepherd or two out there ranting at me right now, “we must be able to manage them and that requires some degree of doing things in spite of their natural instincts.” Like I said, I realize there are times we need to step in and I realize my way isn’t going to align with most others…it’s just my desire to let them be as true to their natural ways as I can. I might pay for it with a little extra effort on my part but I believe I gain by raising sheep that are in touch with their intuitive ways.

The Girls!

The other day I was rehashing a decision to want to keep one of our older ewes back from breeding. She has given us plenty of beautiful babies. She deserves to rest, I thought. So, I did just that. She went to spend her time grazing in green pastures with the teenagers. What a glorious gift, or was it?

Well, to shorten what could be a very long tale, Willow, that’s her name, ended up pregnant anyway. How? We’ll never be 100% sure. Through a fence? Could be, but boys were not in adjoining fences except for short stints while moving sheep? Could she be that fast? One of our lambs might have been more mature then we thought? Like i said, we’ll never know for sure.

A funny thing happened on that day I realized she was with lamb, as I walked away from her pasture something beckoned me to look back. There went Willow trotting away from me and kicking up her heels.

She was mighty happy.

It’s as if she was saying to me, I love being a mom! You don’t get to decide.

I believe I had just been reminded, we’re not necessarily smarter then mother nature!

Willow

Not a Washout After All: Shearing Day Success

There are certain farm chores that come with the territory. On a sheep farm one annual task we have is shearing. Most folks shear their sheep annually although some of our sheep need it twice a year.. A great deal of our farms success depends on the wool our sheep provide so it’s an important date on our calendar.

Shearing Day

Regardless, the shearing must be done.

Several years ago we decided to make an event of it and include the public. That’s it, we’ll invite folks that have never had the opportunity to see sheep loose their winter coats. Some folks have never even seen a sheep before. As the annual event has progressed it has turned into quite a big ordeal. Hundreds of folks each year come to the farm to see, learn and enjoy the farm setting.

This year will go down as one we’ll NEVER forget.

Shearing for us always takes place in late February or early March. We plan as far out on the calendar as we can but generally cannot set the date too far in advance because setting that date depends on a few things out of our control. Number ONE, we’re dependent on the shearer. As you might imagine, shearers are not easy to come by. When you find one you like you do your best to work closely with them and develop a relationship you both can depend on. Once you get your shearer to agree to a date all the event planning begins. We cater lunch and offer other activities for folks once they get here. How do we know how many people to plan for? Well we don’t really. We generally go by the previous years attendance and add a buffer. So, we order food ahead. We plan help. We commit to a band. Yes a band; there is something special about sitting on a blanket looking out over a pastoral setting, listening to some musicians pickin’ away.

OK, check, check and check. Everything is in order.

The last thing we’re dependent on is the weather. Yup. Counting on the weather is like tossing a coin in the air. Mother Nature is going to do her thing regardless of how much time, money and effort you’ve invested. Once you’ve set the date (as far in advance as you can for obvious reasons) there is no turning back. We’ve all seen a next days weather forecast change or even sun when Al Roker said rain!

Well 2019 shouldn’t have been a total surprise what with the onslaught of rain we’d had. Weeks before and leading up to the day…the rain did not let up. From the first day the extended 10 day weather forecast is posted on television and smartphones, I am tuning in. First thing each morning even before coffee I am reviewing every weather outlet to see the latest predictions. Thursday, before this years event, they had predicted rain all day. THE SUN CAME OUT! Me, the eternal optimism kept imaging Saturday would be the same. Under my breath I also muttered, “it is going to be what it’s going to be”. I knew we’d have to deal with it.

The caterer called giving us the option to cancel or reduce our quantities. A few of the band members came by to say it was OK if we wanted to cancel. Alas, the event had been advertised and the shearer was coming…THE SHOW MUST GO ON.

Saturday began with more rain then I had seen any day that week, POURING! Even if it stopped before the gates opened we’d have mud galore.

How should we prepare? Would people even come?

via GIPHY

Although the attendance was certainly down we had some real troopers out here! No one seemed bothered. Most were fully aware what to expect from the weather. Some learned their water resistant clothing wasn’t as water proof as they thought!. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves! Everyone understood I couldn’t ‘warm’ it up or move the puddles.

We sheared, we ate, we got wet and shivered a bit together and somehow, in the midst of all the rain and mud I so enjoyed the day with way more folks then I’d anticipated. In many ways, I didn’t realize it was raining until I removed my wet clothes!

I had several memorable interactions.

The interaction I most wanted to share is the young girl and her parents who together had been discovering the world of knitting. They had decided, to buy some wool and take it through the process of washing, carding, spinning and finally knitting. They were picking a freshly shorn fleece to buy and I encouraged them while here to pick a sheep and really connect the wool to the source. The family was able to deliberately pick a sheep that attracted her. They were able to pet the sheep and watch the sheep get shorn. With a tear in she and her mother’s eye they shared with me how that experience touched them! They will always connect with that finished handmade piece in a way that cannot be matched! I learned of the girls grandmother in Switzerland that would be so happy to hear their experience.

I will never forget that experience and I will never forget them!

Win, loose or draw with the days finance report…it doesn’t seem to matter after a day like this!

Sustainability & Our Precious Soil

As farmers, we've been told over and over, your #1 asset is your soil.

 It makes sense, the soil is the foundation of everything on this farm.  For us and most sustainable livestock farmers the pastures feed our sheep by daily spring, summer, and fall gnashing and in the winter its fed as hay.  That's all pretty straight forward, right.? 

 Prior to my farming life my familiarity with grass was only my own "city" lawn.  The lawn that framed my house and defined my space....the lawn I had to mow.  Almost every week-end in the summer I knew I'd be rolling out the self propelled grass eating machine to "manicure" my lawn. Just like everyone else in the neighborhood I kept my 9 to 5 schedule  during the week knowing yard work, long moments with coffee and the religious newspaper experiences were all part of my upcoming, predictable, always looked  forward to week-end.  I don't recall ever worrying about the grass other then it's color or the number of dandelions that emerged.  I probably could have done more to beautify my lawn but that wasn't my thing.  I was all about my garden beds and the pots that adorned my entrance or patio. As long as my grass was "groomed" I didn't do much else to my lawn.  My next door neighbor, now he was into it.  Every evening after work he was ready to work some more... in his yard.  His week-ends were spent fertilizing or amending something.  He had the lawn!  You know, the kind you imagine running barefoot through. Everyone knows the lawn I'm describing, like a green carpet with perfectly shaped edges.

I drove in and out of that neighborhood with all the perfectly manicured and aspiring to be lawns and never thought twice...it was all I'd ever known.

.....

if I knew then what I know now.

As a farmer working directly with mother nature I see so much I never realized.  

She speaks in so many visible ways.  

Naturally, as grasses grow then die back with the seasons, the soil is replenished with decomposing nutrients and a layer of "mulch" for protection.  If we mow the grass or take the grass for our livestock or "manicured" lawns we've robbed the soil of it's natural sources for replenishment .  

Simply put, "taking" the grass

 impacts the soil's fertility. Whether we mow a lawn or graze a pasture we are interrupting the natural process.

Because we depend on the grasses on our farm we learned very quickly the choices we had available to keep that grass healthy and growing!    If we we're going to take her natural source of nutrient we had to give something back.  

Our choices?  Natural or Synthetic. The nutrients in both types of fertilizer are much the same. The differences lie in their source, quantity, availability to plants and long term effects on the micro life of the soil.

Natural fertilizers sources come from plants, animal waste and natural minerals.  They also provide micro nutrients such as boron, copper, iron and manganese. Synthetic fertilizers contain nutrients made from fossil fuels.  

 See this beautiful pasture?  Just as green and lush as you can imagine.  It's kept that way at a tremendous expense.  Every year the farmer applies synthetic fertilizers and every year it looks like this.  What could be wrong with this?  Just like my "city" neighbor applying all those synthetic fertilizers on his lawn, the results are gorgeous and we're conditioned to want them that way.

So golly, why not?  

The synthetic fertilizers are like steroids, they feed the plant but interrupt the symbiotic relationship between the plant and the soil.  The plant can no longer depend on the soil to feed it.  

Eventually, the grass, without another application of those same synthetic fertilizers won't even green.  The natural flora of the soil is gone.  Believe me, I've seen it, even on this same pasture not far from our farm.

 Our other option and the only sustainable solution... we rebuild and/or replenish the soil with natural sources of nutrients.

Why isn't the natural solution the most chosen method?

First, we've been conditioned (brainwashed) to dependency on the commercially available options.  Second, it takes an investment of time and effort.

 It takes years of applying natural sources of nutrients back to your soil for the perfect balance to be achieved.  It takes testing your soil to know what's absent.  It takes sourcing the nutrients or in our case creating them from sources here on the farm.  We collect the leaves and gather our kitchen scraps.  We trek our barn waste to our collection areas along with all the other valuable waste materials and layer them together to age. In this way we build our own dark rich compost that we refer to as gold. We apply that "gold" to our pastures and our soil has what it needs to do what mother nature intended...GROW GOOD STUFF!

So, it takes first admitting the need to do it for the health of our soils and ourselves and second the commitment to the investment of time and labor.

Are we willing to make that investment?

Can we afford not to?

Come out to our farm and see first hand how my immediate boss,

Mother Nature

, whispers in my ear, pokes me in the arm and sometimes slaps me upside the head...

As I write this post I feel proud that we've taken the time and ever prouder of that dark, rich, healthy soil we give back to our soils........