Shearing Winnie the Ewe

As some of you may know, I was given a ewe lamb last year.  She had been sheared a short time before being given to me, but her wool, after growing all summer, fall and winter, was about 3" or 4" long, and she was getting very hot.  So, last week, with Farrah's assistance, I set about shearing her.  On Wednesday we washed her so that the wool wouldn't be quite so dirty.  Of course, she disliked washing, so it was definitely a two person job...

     After the washing came the shearing.  Since we didn't have proper electric shears, we simply used a pair of sharp scissors.  Also, this was our first time.  We had never even seen anyone shear a sheep before, so it was entirely new to us.  Of course, we had read a fair amount about sheep shearing.  Farrah held Winnie's head while I used the scissors.

Before shearing...

After about fifteen minutes of work...

The fleece is supposed to stay together in one piece, but I pulled on it rather too hard, so it pulled apart a bit.

Half- way through.

Finished!!!

    We ended up with about 2 1/2 pounds of wool- enough to fill a pillowcase.  We would have gotten more, but since we were so inexperienced I had to "double cut", and thus wasted some of the wool.  I'm hoping to wash it thoroughly, spin it into yarn with the drop spindle method, and then dye it and use it for knitting and crocheting.
     Hope you enjoyed hearing about this experience of ours!