To the left is the Polypay fleece I was gifted from a friend this spring.  Because I was very busy with little ones this summer I did not have time to spin 😦 ,  so I decided to let The Shepherd’s Mill go ahead and spin it into yarn for me this year instead of just processing it into fiber to spin.  I do heavily skirt the fleeces because they do not put coats on them and the fleeces are pretty dirty and loaded with vm (they are raised as meat sheep rather than for their fleeces, tho because the ewes are Polypay they have a softer fleece.)  I take off the really ugly stuff and pull out all the vm that I can and send in the fleece to the mill, they wash it (usually twice) and process it.  I sent in about 4 lbs of skirted fleece and received 2.55 lbs of yarn (picture on the right) and a little left over roving that I will spin.

I will knit a hat for my friend’s husband and son from their own sheep as a thank you :).  I’m sure they will appreciate the extra warmth this winter :).  Now to pick a pattern to knit and colors for the yarn :).