Not quite sure where to put this, but I guess it's most likely audience is the spinners amongst us...
We have friends who have a few Ryeland sheep - not sure how many or how long they've had them, but they have a quantity of fleeces stored which they would like to be put to use.
They're keener to barter than sell, ideally they'd like to give the fleeces to a spinner and take a proportion of it back as yarn in exchange for the rest.
This is really just putting out feelers to see what people think...the fleeces are, I believe, pretty much as they come off the sheep, so not beautifully cleaned/carded etc. On the plus side, I believe that Ryeland wool is supposed to be pretty good for hand spinning...?
So what d'you think people? What proportion would be a suitable amount to ask for back as yarn? And is anyone interested?
Bovey Belle
One fleece takes about 28 hours to card and spin up (according to Alice, whose spinning course I went on in 2006). The actual commercial value of a fleece is dependent on its breed and quality. I paid £2 for a Herdwick fleece (for a rug) at the Smallholders' Show at Builth. Prices were between that and about £10 I think, but I don't know if Ryeland would qualify for a premium, but even so, difficult to work on the spun yarn in return for fleece, as the spinning is so labour-intensive. You'd end up paying the spinner AND giving the fleece!
mogs
i pay on average about £5 a fleece. if and when i need one ( i do keep sheep for the fleece but sometimes run out ) i go to the wool marketing board.
i have seen them on ebay tho at around £8 for jacobs plus at least £8 p+p. now that is a lot to pay for a fleece IMHO.
to take a raw fleece and make it into a garment can take as much as 60 hours !
