Might you be interested in some Bowmont x Shetland fibre?

 Here is Shade, my last remaining Bowmont x Shetland sheep.  

At 15 years old, Shade is now quite an old lady.  She was originally one of three - Whiter, Shade and Pale - and, though I use their fleeces extensively, I still do have rather a lot to get through. Much is already processed to carded sliver (for use by me!), some is currently at the mill, some is in my workshop waiting to be washed, and some has had the thick of the dirt and lanolin rinsed out of it.

It’s this last lot of fibre I’m hoping might be of interest to you.  Shade is the daughter of one of the original Bowmont sheep, developed by the Macaulay Institute at Sourhope Farm in the Bowmont Valley.  Her mother was crossed with a Shetland tup, in an attempt to introduce some colour.  The colour didn’t really happen, so the fibre is white.  It is beautifully fine, despite being crossed back with a Shetland.

Below is a photograph of the Bowmont Shetland fibre alongside some black Bluefaced Leicester, just to give you an idea of how fine it really is.

It isn’t perfectly washed.  The fibre is so fine that the tips get very dirty.  However, even without further washing,  just teasing the tips apart is sufficient to overcome this. The tips are sound. 

Anyway, I’m placing some of it in my online shop, so if you are interested in spinning or making felt from this completely unique fibre, just head over there.