Sheepish Handspun

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Sheepish Handspun Beautiful hand spun yarns from fleece purchased iocally. I make beautiful handspun yarns for knitters who want "the real thing".

i prepare raw fleece, washing and carding it, and often blending it with dyed fleece to produce lovely colors. I use a drum carder to blend different fibers, like silk, soy silk, bamboo or alpaca fiber with wool. My yarns reflect the joy and respect I have for sheep and the people who care for them. I try to use fleece from sheep I have met, and who live in New England. The adventure of making yarn in the time-honored way includes visiting farms and buying great fleece for your knitted handwork

Shipping tomorrow to California.
10/25/2026

Shipping tomorrow to California.

Sold, and staying right here in Massachusetts. I wrapped a cookie for Sheep #86, producer of the amazing fleece in “Smo...
10/21/2026

Sold, and staying right here in Massachusetts. I wrapped a cookie for Sheep #86, producer of the amazing fleece in “Smoky Sheep”.

Now there are two skeins of”Smoky Sheep”! The new one is on the right. I might be able to manage one more skein from the...
10/20/2026

Now there are two skeins of”Smoky Sheep”! The new one is on the right. I might be able to manage one more skein from the remains of Sheep #86, a Romney/Cormo from Consolati Farms in Lee, MA.
See both: www.etsy.com/shop/sheepishhandspunyarn

Sold!.. and will be going to a return customer in Texas.
10/17/2026

Sold!.. and will be going to a return customer in Texas.

What a good day! Left: That’s the newly skeined Romney / Cormo wool from Consolati Farms (Sheep #86); a pleasant surpr...
10/14/2026

What a good day!
Left: That’s the newly skeined Romney / Cormo wool from Consolati Farms (Sheep #86); a pleasant surprise to find both ends of the skein met, and tied easily, without having to lose yardage.
Right: The new yarn is asking to be held, squeezed, squished - all because: 1. The wool is the best, it’s sturdy and very, very soft. And 2. I used long-draw drafting to produce an airy, bouncy yarn.
Next step is a hot water bath to set the twist, then I’ll hang it to dry.
Happy Wednesday!

I decided to go back to the gray Romney/Cormo fleece from Consolati Farms for the next Sheepish Handspun yarn. The fleec...
10/12/2026

I decided to go back to the gray Romney/Cormo fleece from Consolati Farms for the next Sheepish Handspun yarn. The fleece is smaller now; the gray is darker, and the wool a bit finer.
When I start spinning a new bobbin, I experiment, and allow the wool to “tell me” what it wants to be: thick, juicy worsted? Midsize DK? Or thin, sport weight. Thin, sport weight won.
Without a lot of thinking, I picked up a handful of washed locks, and carded them on a single hand-carder. ( OK, call the spinning police, because this carding technique is uncommon, not acknowledged or blessed. Despite all that, it is amazing not just for carding but also for removing vegetative matter and lumps and bumps).
Then, my hands took over - no brain involved here - and I started to use an old drafting technique some spinners hate: it’s called “long-draw”. Instead of moving fiber forward toward the wheel, when I spin using long-draw technique, I guide the carded wool in my hand off to my right for a distance of a foot or more. This spin creates a thin, airy single. I love the feel of long-draw; I collect a good deal of spin before I draw, and as I release the fiber in my hand, the collected spin follows, and ‘eats” the fiber quickly. I pedal to create an even rhythm for extending my handful of fiber to the right. Spinning, done right, is a dance.
The technique of long-draw results in a yarn that is airy because the fibers are not all parallel and neat. No! The fibers are not that organized, and will trap air, hold heat, and create something cozy and warm.
That is my Majacraft professional wheel, made in New Zealand.

Skeins #3 and #4 - white Galway wool - went into the dyepot today. The color is “Burgundy”, and the water is clear at...
10/07/2026

Skeins #3 and #4 - white Galway wool - went into the dyepot today. The color is “Burgundy”, and the water is clear at the close of the dye process. You can see that in the plastic spoon: not a even a hint of color in the water! That means all the dye was absorbed, and no dye will go down the sink drain.
I calculate the amount of dye I use based on the “weight of goods” - dry weight of both skeins together - because I dyed them together. I use principles of both physics and math in spinning, plying and dyeing. Both are part of the beauty of this world - including the consistent twist count and twist angle in the yarn

The best feeling ever is when the new yarn is plyed, then skeined.. The easier experience is the skeining: winding the p...
10/05/2026

The best feeling ever is when the new yarn is plyed, then skeined.. The easier experience is the skeining: winding the plyed yarn on my niddy-noddy, then tying with plastic strips in preparation for dyeing.
The process isn’t complete until I loosen the k**b on the niddy-noddy, loosening the tension and allowing the tied skein to fall gracefully into my lap in celebration!

Now on Etsy: “Pumpkin Worsted Weight Handspun Yarn”; 152 yards of hand dyed Galway wool. At:www.etsy.com/shop/sheepishha...
09/29/2026

Now on Etsy: “Pumpkin Worsted Weight Handspun Yarn”; 152 yards of hand dyed Galway wool.
At:www.etsy.com/shop/sheepishhandspunyarn

Address

25 Church Street
Hudson, MA
01749

Telephone

(508) 842-9012

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