Thursday, December 4, 2014

BREEDING GROUPS FOR 2015 LAMBING

Wintertime BoB--Two year old scurred true black sired by Winter Sky Khan and out of Wintertime Alanis
                            22.1/4.0/18.0/6.8/98.2

     Winter Sky Mandalay(True black three year old)--Show wins for fleece and conformation.
                 25.2/4.7/18.6/7.7/88.9

     Winter Sky Marrakech(Ag five year old)--RGCH Show win as a mature ewe.
                 20.0/4.4/22.2/8.0/98.5

     Sheltrgpines Lien(White yearling)--GCH fleece MSSBA 2014.
                  21.0/3.5/16.9/6.5/98.9

      Wintertime Blurred Lines(Grey gul/kat two year old)--Very nice type and fiber.
                   22.9/4.9/21.2/8.8/93.3

       Sheltrgpines Mustang Sally(Grey kat five year old)--Typey with fleece that roos.
                   25.1/3.8/15.1/6.7/91.4

       Whistlestop 0427(Black ten year old Drum Ram daughter)--Typey and small.  Not recently
                    tested.

       Ramble N Chiquita(Fawn Wintertime Blake daughter)--Lovely yearling.  Blake is BoB's full
                    brother.  20.7/3.8/18.3/7.0/99.1

       Wintertime Milano(Moorit flecket ewe lamb)--Large enough to breed.  Lovely build.  Fourth
                   in large MSSBA class.  Not tested yet.

        Rose(Bond X Cormo)light moorit two year old--20.7/4.4/21.4/97.6

        Maire(Dohne bred spotted Merino yearling--21.7/3.3/15.2/98.6

        Lourre(Cormo X Shetland black spotted yearling)--21.9/3.9/17.3/7.0/98.5

        China(Cormo six year old)Not recently tested.

     
Wintertime Moose--Best Fleece on Hoof MSSBA 2014 as a yearling--moorit with no mixed fibers.
         19.6/3.3/16.9/5.9/99.9

       Wintertime Alanis--True black four year old GCH MSSBA 2014.
                   26.1/4.7/18.1/7.9/81.2

        Wintertime Cinnamon Sugar--Fawn katmoget yearling with very fine fiber.
                    19.6/3.6/18.5/6.4/99.6

         Wintertime Kerry Hill--Grey ilget yearling BoB daughter with very soft, dense fiber.
                     21.6/4.3/19.3/7.6/97.7

         Wintertime Ruby--Eight year old matriarch with some exceptional offspring in various flocks.
                      24.5 last rib AFD.

       
Wintertime Skylark--Modified black yearling third place MSSBA 2014.  He will be covering some ewes at other farms this winter as well.  20.4/3.6/17.6/6.4/99.3

          Spinners End Mousa--Emsket spotted gulmoget yearling BoB daughter.
                      20.7/4.2/20.1/7.7/97.7

          Sheltrgpines Blue Danube--Dark grey katmoget two year old ewe with good wool coverage.
                       23.8/4.4/18.6/7.6/91.8






       




Thursday, October 23, 2014

GROWING YOUR OWN FIBER

Wintertime Samarkand(emsket ewe lamb--behind hip)
At the Farmer's Market I am often asked if my yarns are alpaca....I think because they come in a wide range of natural colors and are soft which most people do not associate with wool.  I then have the opportunity to educate my customers as to what makes wool "itchy" and how one can breed away from those traits to create very beautiful, soft-wooled sheep.  I couldn't find the quality of fiber I use in my products, if I were not breeding it myself.  Below are some examples of this year's fiber crop:

Wintertime Skylark(Yearling polled ram)




Wintertime Moose--Best Fleece on Hoof 2014 MSSBA Show(Yearling scurred
 ram--britch wool)
Wintertime BVD(Spotted fawn katmoget scurred ram lamb)


Thursday, August 21, 2014

WINTERTIME MOROCCO'S FLEECE WINS GCH AGAIN

 Meghan made the final fleece selections for WI Sheep & Wool Festival this year and chose Morocco's sister's fleece over hers to take along with another two year old we have on the farm.  So I took Morocco's fleece down to Michigan Fiber Fest this past weekend to see what the judge would think of it down there.  Bottom line is she thought it was a bit of heaven and once again Morocco's fiber brought ooh's and aah's from the crowd.  I also took our yearling black ewe Camisole's fleece down and it placed second, so a good weekend overall for our Shetlands.(Photo courtesy of Kim Nikolai)
 This was Morocco's first fleece at Jefferson in 2013 when the audience was invited to touch it.  Meghan said they all gasped when it was unrolled.  She took GCH overall at this show and our other fleeces placed 2nd and third with a RGCH win for her sister Madrid's fleece.(Photo courtesy of Dave Lewis)

And this is Morocco pre-shearing this May basically saying, "Would you please get this thing off of me asap!"  Next year we hope to get a lovely ewe lamb from her with another generation of prize-winning fleece. 

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

2014 LAMBS

Wintertime Alanis with her twin ram lambs. 

Mustang Sally with one of her twin ram lambs(other twin is solid black).

Winter Sky Mandalay with her twin ewe lambs.
 




Blue Danube's twin ram lambs--spotted fawn katmoget is polled.  Dark grey katmoget ram is horned. 

Winter Sky Marrakech with her surviving twin ewe lamb.  Suspect she is modified.


Sunday, March 16, 2014

LADIES IN WAITING--LAMBS START ARRIVING IN 21 DAYS

Ruby who is eight and the dam to many notable Shetlands including Wintertime Fudge.Danube who had a lovely single ram lamb last year...repeated the breeding for a ewe this year...PLEASE.
 Alanis--four-- who has twinned for three years in a row.  Think she will twin again for us.  She is the dam of our flock sire B.o.B.
 Cherish who is a very sweet yearling from another flock for some different lines.  Hoping for a lovely gullie girl from her and then she is for sale.  Her sire has correct horns as a mature ram.
 Madrid who is our character in the mature ewe flock.  A coming two year old this will be her first lambing.  She is a full sister to Winter Sky Mandalay--Reserve Supreme CH MSSBA Show 2013.  She may be for sale this summer.
 Morocco--Madrid's full sister--her musket fleece wowed the judges at the MSSBA show in September and won GCH overall Shetland fleece.  This will be her first lambing.  She is bred to B.o.B. whose fleece was GCH rooed Shetland fleece. 
 Mustang Sally who is turning five and still has a lovely fine fleece that roos completely(grey kat)and Mandalay(very fine true black ewe who is turning three).

Saturday, March 1, 2014

HANDSPINNING OUR FINE SHETLAND

These are skeins of fawn katmoget lamb fleeces.  The upper two were plied with a lovely suri roving I found at Michigan Fiber Fest this August. 
 These are skeins of our blue-grey katmoget fleeces that are awaiting plying with some locally grown grey alpaca.  The luster is there despite it being a very fine wool. 
Some of my other handspun yarns from this winter.  The colored skeins are all hand-dyed using Kool-Aid and food grade dyes.  I have many yarns and even some lovely handpainted rovings for sale at winterskywoolcompany.blogspot.com

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

2014 MICRON TEST RESULTS ARE IN!

Winter Sky Mandalay(Three year old black ewe)--25.2 AFD/4.7 SD/18.6 CV/88.9 CF/24.0 SF

Winter Sky Marrakech(Ag five year old ewe with health issues)--20 AFD/4.4 SD/22.2 CV/98.5 CF/19.6 SF

Wintertime Morocco(Musket two year old ewe--GCH fleece 2013 Jefferson Show)--24.4 AFD/4.3 SD/17.5 CV/92.7 CF/23.1 SF

Wintertime Blurred Lines(Grey gul/kat two year old ewe)--22.9 AFD/4.9 SD/21.2 CV/93.3 CF/22.4 SF

Ramble N Cherish(Spotted moorit gulmoget yearling ewe)--24 AFD/5.3 SD/22.1 CV/ 88.1 CF/23.6 SF--FOR SALE after lambing. Typey, growthy, calm...sire has very correct type and great horns.

Ramble N Chiquita(Ag fawn yearling ewe)--20.7 AFD/3.8 SD/18.3 CV/99.4 CF/19.7 SF

Spinners End Barra(Spotted black scurred yearling ram)--19.5 AFD/3.7 SD/18.9 CV/99.4 CF/18.7 SF

Spinners End Mousa(Modified black gulmoget yearling ewe)--20.7 AFD/4.2 SD/20.1 CV/97.7 CF/20 SF

Sheltrgpines Blue Danube(Dark grey katmoget two year old ewe)--23.8 AFD/ 4.4 SD/ 18.6 CV/94.3 CF/22.7 SF

Sheltrgpines Lien(White yearlind ewe)--21 AFD/3.5 SD/16.9 CV/98.9 CF/19.8 SF

Sheltrgpines Mustang Sally(Dark grey katmoget five year old ewe)25.1 AFD/ 3.8 SD/ 15.1 CV/ 91.4 CF/ 23.3 SF

Wintertime Alanis(Black four year old ewe)26.1 AFD/ 4.7 SD/ 18.1 CV/ 81.2 CF/ 24.8 SF

Wintertime B.o.B.(Two year old black ram)22.1 AFD/ 4 SD/ 18 CV/98.2 CF/21 SF(Sire of all this spring's coming lambs & GCH rooed fleece Jefferson 2013)

Wintertime Camisole(Black yearling ewe)24.1 AFD/ 5 SD/ 20.7 CV/ 89.7 CF/23.4 SF

Wintertime Evie(Moorit yearling ewe)20.9 AFD/4.1 SD/19.9 CV/98.1 CF/20.1 SF

Wintertime Florence(Moorit smirslet yearling ewe)24.3 AFD/4.7 SD/ 19.2 CV/ 91.3 CF/23.3 SF--FOR SALE.  CAN BE BRED BEFORE LEAVING FARM.

Wintertime Kerry Hill(Grey Ilget? yearling ewe)21.6 AFD/4.2 SD/19.3 CV/97.6 CF/20.9 SF

Wintertime Licorice(Black yearling ewe)22.8 AFD/ 5.4 SD/ 23.6 CV/ 92.3 CF/22.7 SF

Wintertime Moose(Moorit yearling polled ram)19.6 AFD/3.3 SD/16.9 CV/99.7 CF/18.5 SF(Second ram lamb, second pair of rams and second Best Fleece On Hoof Jefferson 2013)

Wintertime Ruby(Eight year old light moorit ewe)24.8 AFD/5.6 SD/ 22.7 CV/ 83.1 CF/ 24.5 SF.  FOR SALE TO APPROVED HOME ONLY.

Wintertime Sicily(Moorit krunet yearling ewe)22.5 AFD/ 4.3 SD/ 19.1 CV/ 96.8 CF/ 21.5 SF

Wintertime Skylark(Black polled yearling ram)20.4 AFD/ 3.6 SD/ 17.6 CV/ 99.3 CF/ 19.3 SF

Wintertime Posh Spice(Spotted fawn kat yearling ewe) 21.4 AFD/ 4.4 SD/ 20.5 CV/ 97.9 CF/20.7 SF

Wintertime Cinnamon Sugar(Spotted fawn kat yearling ewe)19.6 AFD/ 3.6 SD/ 18.5 CV/ 99.6 CF/
18.7 SF

Wintertime Wren(Moorit yearling ewe)23.4 AFD/4.6 SD/ 19.6 CV/ 93.5 CF/ 22.6 SF

Wintertime Madrid(Ag two year old ewe)25.3 AFD/3.7 SD/14.5 CV/92.8 CF/23.4 SF


 Some of the animals above will be for sale, as we are hoping to cut down to less than 20 before next winter including lambs we retain.  If you see an animal that isn't listed for sale that appeals to you do let us know and we will let you know if it comes up on the sales list.  We send last rib samples and multiple photos to prospective buyers quickly and try to help with delivery as much as is humanly possible.  Farm visits are encouraged.