A Little Fall Shearing

Yesterday the opportunity to shear Fiona presented itself, so I grabbed it.

I thought that it might be a good idea to reduce her bulk a bit, and it will be a while yet before the temps are freezing-ish. Thankfully, she was onboard with the the idea. She was exceptionally cooperative, right up until I got to about her hips. Then she started getting a little antsy. But we pushed through, and have a bin of lovely fleece to show for it.

While you can see some of her taupe-y color in the photo above, this one captures the texture a little better, I think.

I was so pleased to see that her wool had grown in a lot softer and finer over the spring/summer, as her previous fleece was quite coarse. So this is a big improvement, texture-wise. Locks are about 4-5 inches long. Should be nice to play with.

And in sweater news, the body is done! Finished it off with corrugated ribbing this morning and set it out for a quick block

Here’s a little closer look at the fabric- I love how the Dottie yarn fuzzes up a bit when washed. Feels so nice 🙂

And out in the garden, pumpkins are coming into their own. Just pulled a couple of pretty Jarrahdales out in order to get at the potatoes, whose patch they had invaded

And starting to think about overwintering some hoophouse plants. Lemon verbena will be coming in the house, as well as a few pepper plants. Watched a video the other day about overwintering tomatoes, and so I thought I’d give it a go while I’ve still got some viable shoots to clip and get rooted.