Sheep, Wool & Wool Craft

Meet Our Ewes

Left Fields Ewes Matilda

Matilda (our matriarch)

 Shetland/BFL cross – shiny, long wavy fleece

Left Fields Ewes Mary

Mary

CVM/BFL – white/grey fine and long fleece

Germaine

Germaine

CVM – rich grey/brown fleece

Left Fields Ewes Magpie

Magpie

CVM – brown/grey fleece very fine very crimpy

Revlon

Revlon

CVM/Dorset cross – creamy long fleece; daughter of Maybelline

Left Fields Ewes Priscilla

Priscilla

CVM/BFL cross – pale grey/white fleece, longer, fine

Left Fields Ewes Princess Prunella Party Pants

Princess Prunella Party Pants

CVM/BFL cross – Brown/grey fleece, fine and lofty

Left Fields Ewes Maybelline

Maybelline

Dorset/CVM – dense very fine and white fleece (yes, she was born with it)

Ms Grumpy Cat

Ms G. Cat

CVM – dark brown crimpy fleece

Claudia at 10 months

Claudia

CVM – dark brown fleece, daughter
of Carma, named after Claudia
Jones, Sufragette

Carolyn at 10 months

Carolyn

CVM – daughter of Ms G Cat,
named after Carolyn Merchant,
eco-feminist

Charlotte

Charlotte

CVM – dark brown fleece, daughter
of Carma, named after Claudia
Jones, Sufragette

9 ewes are the basis of our sheep flock. They are not purebred, but an evolving mix of breeds determined primarily by fleece quality. Our primary breed is CVM, California Variegated Mutant, which is a relatively modern breed selected from Romeldale for a wide variety of natural fleece colour as well as fineness and length of staple. We have a bit of Shetland and BFL in our ewes as well, adding shine and length. Our ladies are beautiful! The CVM fleece is very fine with a tight crimp, making them soft and perfect for fine garments next to the skin.

After spring shearing, fleeces are skirted and brought to a local mill for processing. This mill turns our raw fleeces into rovings and semi-worsted yarn. Each fleece is processed separately, so you can buy yarn or rovings from one particular animal year after year. As the sheep age, their colour shifts and the quality of their fleece changes, so we also blend some of the fleeces to create more exciting yarns.

Rebecca also hand dyes some of the yarn, making one of a kind handpainted skeins. These skeins will self-stripe or create bands and spots of colour, depending on the knitting pattern.

Pin-drafted rovings are dense and lofty, with the fibres semi-aligned. This can be hand spun into semi-worsed yarns with increased strength and shine, less loft and warmth – fantastic for lace work or harder wearing garments. It can also be spun long draw for more woolen characteristics of loft, bounce and warmth – suitable for light, warm garments. They can also be felted, and the crimp and fineness of the fleece allows for lightweight felt with great strength.

Rebecca turns her hands to spinning (though these yarns are for personal use, not for sale), dyeing, felting and knitting. Dyed skeins, knitted hats and felted cushions are all available for sale. Check out our Farm Shop for more details on what’s currently available!