The fall fleeces yield 2-4 lbs. (lamb) and 4-7 lbs. (adult) and this of course will be dependent upon the number of months growth, the size of the animal and also what region of the country the sheep live in. Left on for a year, the fleeces cott and matt and and can become un-useable. As long as the sheep have shelter from winds and rains/sleet/snow, they will do fine sheared as late as October (here in the midwest). We shear again sometime in March before lambs arrive. The winter growth is perfect for felting and in Iceland this wool is called "snoth." Shearing in the spring is also important because Icelandic sheep will naturally shed their wool at the end of winter. The thel sheds out first and then the tog comes out. In order to have a new growth that is uniform, shearing cleans off all of the winter growth and starts the sheep on their way to again growing out the glorious wool that they are known for.
Please note: we no longer shear ram lambs in the fall, and only shear select adult rams. We've discovered that the rams, during the rut season, spend most of their energy pacing and don't have the fat reserves the ewes do, to maintain their weight after fall shearing. The more severe the winter is, the harder it is on the rams.
As you can see in the top picture (top left) the locks of wool are quite dramatic. The inner downy thel can easily be separated from the longer tog fiber. The thel alone is soft enough for baby garments. It blends beautifully with angora. The tog spins up into a strong yarn which can be enjoyed by weavers as a weft or even made into embroidery thread. Or the two fibers can be blended to make a strong and soft wool. Icelandic wool cries out to be spun in a soft bulky singles, but spinning it fine yields a gorgeous lace weight yarn, strong and with a lovely halo.
Of course, nutrition and also genetics play a large role in the quality of individual fleeces. Also, the care taken by the shepherd to feed so that there is minimal VM (vegetable matter) and to keep burrs/thistles out of the fleeces is important to producing clean, quality fleeces. There is a very wide range of quality from animal to animal, from bloodline to bloodline, and from farm to farm.
Each of our fleeces is individually evaluated and meticulously hand-skirted and picked through before it is shipped out for washing and processing. Only the best wool will be made into spinners' rovings or yarns. The coarser fleeces are made into felting batts. We specialize in unique blends of our best Icelandic fleeces, blending them with a variety of fibers such as angora, mohair, silk, alpaca, llama and even yak or buffalo on occasion.
