sally_in_wales
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Sell or Swap your Fleeces Here!I know a few people have fleece to sell this year, so thought a central thread for passing it onto new homes would make sense.
I have some 'technically organic' Romney from a local farmer available in roughly 1kg sacks at £3 per kilo. This is a long staple breed with good crimp, the sample I spun was a joy and it felted well for me too.
Its unwashed, I'm picking out any really claggy bits but there is a certain amount of normal muck in the fleece (virtually no straw, its all mud/dung). Would suggest soaking in the bath overnight to remove most of this then drying before working with it, but its really very very nice fleece in my opinion.
Pic below deliberately showing one of the muckier bits!
Will amend in a bit with the total amount available.
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sally_in_wales
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Ok, all bagged up. I have 11 kilos as above
Judith wants one
Mochyn maybe up to three
anyone else?
Happy to post- but post is obviously quite pricey, or can put it by until the next round of Downsizer pass the parcel
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toggle
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I'll have some.
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sally_in_wales
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| toggle wrote: | | I'll have some. |
sure thing, just let me know how much and whether you want it posting or putting by for a suitably passing that way downsizer 
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toggle
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| sally_in_wales wrote: | | toggle wrote: | | I'll have some. |
sure thing, just let me know how much and whether you want it posting or putting by for a suitably passing that way downsizer |
the chances of someone passing by me are generally fairly low.
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wellington womble
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Sally! You are such a temptress! Bung a kilo in with my other impulse buys would you? I'm very tempted by a raw wool rug, but I've vowed to master the spinning wheel before I attempt it!
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sally_in_wales
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your stuff went out today, but can parcel you up a kilo easily Want to wait til I've done the stockings or want it now?
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Gervase
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£3 a kilo? 
Sounds rather better than the £4.76 we got from the WMB for 49 kilos this year 
So, next year, who wants fleeces? Probably not as posh as Sally's, but it's got to be a better bet that tying ourselves in to the bastard WMB and their pusillanimous annual apologies for the shite price they negotiate for the wool clip.
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wellington womble
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| sally_in_wales wrote: | | your stuff went out today, but can parcel you up a kilo easily Want to wait til I've done the stockings or want it now? |
Don't mind - now if you want out the way, later if not. I'm unlikely to get round to dealing with it before the clocks go back, so no hurry!
Ooooh goody - parcelses to look forward to!
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sally_in_wales
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| Gervase wrote: | £3 a kilo?
Sounds rather better than the £4.76 we got from the WMB for 49 kilos this year
So, next year, who wants fleeces? Probably not as posh as Sally's, but it's got to be a better bet that tying ourselves in to the bastard WMB and their pusillanimous annual apologies for the shite price they negotiate for the wool clip. |
Absolutely, and this what the whole idea behind me buying from this farmer. He has a very decent breed, raised in excellent conditions, and was effectively rearing them for nowt. So I bought £50 of fleece which was more than he was being offered for the rest of the crop, and it still adds up to a good deal for the end user.
Definately sell yours directly, fairtrade can work in this country as well as abroad if it needs to!
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Frewen Feltmaker
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I would buy some but I can't spin and I don't know how to felt 
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colour it green
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oo i like this idea.... I have Devon closewools.. their coats are lurking in the shed... mind you want to make something for myself first..
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toggle
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| Gervase wrote: | £3 a kilo?
Sounds rather better than the £4.76 we got from the WMB for 49 kilos this year
So, next year, who wants fleeces? Probably not as posh as Sally's, but it's got to be a better bet that tying ourselves in to the bastard WMB and their pusillanimous annual apologies for the shite price they negotiate for the wool clip. |
that's not far off the price I pay retail for 50g of wool yarn.
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thewoollyshepherd
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Go for it folks...............I sent my spare wool to the WMB this year and got £3.57 for 52kgs
Mind you I also produce about 200kgs that I process and stuff the wool board!...............de regulate them I say!
and you really do not have to give wool to them..........!
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Gervase
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| toggle wrote: | | that's not far off the price I pay retail for 50g of wool yarn. |
Hmm - 50g vs nearly 50,000g for the same price. 
Someone, somewhere, is taking the wotsit. Well said folks - time to ditch the WMB!
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toggle
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| Gervase wrote: | | toggle wrote: | | that's not far off the price I pay retail for 50g of wool yarn. |
Hmm - 50g vs nearly 50,000g for the same price.
Someone, somewhere, is taking the wotsit. Well said folks - time to ditch the WMB! |
if more people told them to get lost,then they might have less chance to treat people that badly
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mochyn
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Clearly time to do something about the WMB. No-one round here gets any useful payment for a clip. It's just a way of disposing of the fleeces. And if the fleece is coloured they won't take it anyway.
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thewoollyshepherd
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I know this sounds a bit revolutionary.............but, whilst everyone who has 4 or more sheep is supposed to GIVE their wool to the WMB at their own expense I might add for the WMB to make a profit however small on it.........nothing will change.................what we need is an alternative to the WMB that is fair.
Did you know that a breeder of top class Blue face Leicester sheep that I know is not permitted to sell his wool direct to a guy who is a wool merchant specialising in Blue Face........and he (the merchant) is not permitted to buy direct or he would lose his licence................bizarre or what! he has to buy through the WMB
Insulation wool has to be bought from the WMB and not direct from the producer, hence the high price.............we need direct action and direct marketing 
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tahir
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That sounds like something to talk to your MP about doesn't it?
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Mary-Jane
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| mochyn wrote: | | And if the fleece is coloured they won't take it anyway. |
They take our coloured fleeces, or have done in the past, but we only get 1p or thereabouts for it. I'm all for selling ours to the Downsizer Fleece Gang meself in future...
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mochyn
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It's a ridiculous situation. Costs more to have your sheep shorn than any return on the fleeces: just a welfare issue.
Is this time for a campaign?
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Mary-Jane
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| mochyn wrote: | | Is this time for a campaign? |
Yup - sounds like it to me. First stop Mark Williams?
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mochyn
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What about MPs & AMs in all sheep areas, plus relevant ministers in London & Cardiff (don't know if fleece is sold under different regs. in Scotland), NFU, Breed societies, RWAS and local Ag. societies, guilds of spinners & weavers, mills....
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Mary-Jane
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| mochyn wrote: | | What about MPs & AMs in all sheep areas, plus relevant ministers in London & Cardiff (don't know if fleece is sold under different regs. in Scotland), NFU, Breed societies, RWAS and local Ag. societies, guilds of spinners & weavers, mills.... |
Perhaps we could divide this up between interested parties? I'll take the MPs & AMs in sheep areas and revelant ministers in London and Cardiff if you like...
Any offers on any of the others?
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mochyn
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Do we have members here of any relevant bodies? Might be best to approach from within.
Should we start a new thread?
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tahir
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| mochyn wrote: | | Should we start a new thread? |
Yes
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mochyn
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OK I've got to feed piglets now: would anyone like to start it off?
M-J?
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Mary-Jane
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| mochyn wrote: | OK I've got to feed piglets now: would anyone like to start it off?
M-J? |
Will do...
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thewoollyshepherd
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Well done folks...........I spend lots of time talking in schools, WIs, etc about wool as well as talking to hundreds of general public when out selling my wool and stuff on my stall and almost all spoken to have no idea what is and is not made of wool e.g. they think acrilic (sp?) is wool, that feather yarn is wool etc and have no idea about the great British wool scandal!
I therefore think MPs may find it rather enlightening especially as the speaker of the house sits on the 'woolsack'
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toggle
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i'ts part of our language, anything you knit with is refered to generally as wool.
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crofter
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| toggle wrote: | | i'ts part of our language, anything you knit with is refered to generally as wool. |
Ever wonder where the expression "fleeced" comes from?! Anybody who wants a coloured shetland fleece (or 12) can have it for the price of the postage.
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toggle
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I really, really need to stop reading this thread, otherwise I'll have a house full of fleeces by the end of the month.
How much do i need to save up for a drum carder?
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wellington womble
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A third of what they cost if you share it with me and Sally (and our housefuls of fleeces!)
I'm trying really hard, honest!
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hedgewitch
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| crofter wrote: | | Ever wonder where the expression "fleeced" comes from?! Anybody who wants a coloured shetland fleece (or 12) can have it for the price of the postage. |
I know I shouldn't be asking this, but how much does a fleece weigh, roughly? Just out of academic interest, you understand, so I could work out what the postage might be.... 
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thewoollyshepherd
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Fleeces weight between 1 - 2.5 kg for a Shetland and up to 6kg for a large wensleydale................how long is a piece of string 
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hedgewitch
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| thewoollyshepherd wrote: | | Fleeces weight between 1 - 2.5 kg for a Shetland and up to 6kg for a large wensleydale................how long is a piece of string |
 As mentioned in a previous thread, the standard weight/measure around here is a medium-sized terrier - so if I convert that, it's about the same as a large wensleydale, so he's on the upper-end of the fleece scale
Worryingly, that's lighter than I thought for postage 
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marigold
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Fleece arrived this morning - lovely stuff. I adore that sheepy smell . Thanks very much indeed, Sally, cheque's in the post...
One of the stall holders at the Farmer's Market in Worthing on Saturday had some fleeces for sale. £5 per smallish binlinerfull. I don't know if he sold any, but maybe it's a potential outlet for anyone who does FMs.
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