We have been waiting all year for this (well mainly me) . . . The Canadian Agriculture Museum's Sheep Shearing Festival! Considering how wool, in its many forms, has become such an important and present part of my life and the kids', it was an awesome experience to learn together how a sheep is sheared and what happens to the wool after.
First the sheep get their toe nails clipped and then they're sheared.
The whole process only takes about 2 minutes. Although it may look like the sheep is struggling she was actually quite docile and the sheep are not harmed.
We learnt that Canadian sheep are primarily sheered for the beneficial health reasons for the sheep. The wool from a Canadian sheep only sells for about $2 and it costs $5 to sheer them. Whereas, the wool from a sheep in New Zealand for example would fetch around $30.
Madison and Carter got to try their hands at carding the wool and feeling the lanolin. They both gave me their carded wool to knit something with. There were also spinning, knitting, and weaving demonstrations. I can't wait to learn how to spin wool with a drop spindle which is something I plan on learning next winter.
thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeletei was intimidated by the cables but honestly they are very very easy.
go for it.
have a great weekend