Icelandic Fleece & Roving for Sale

Currently we have raw fleece available direct from the farm and roving available for order direct from the website, farm, or find us at the Burlington Farmer's Market.

Raw, unwashed fleeces here are shown as samples only. Actual fleeces will be similar, with limited veggie matter. Available in all natural colors shown in our sheep. $35/per fleece.

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Grey Fleece (raw) Creamy White Fleece (raw)

Icelandic Roving for sale. Beautiful natural colored roving for spinning and needle craft. Available in colors shown below in by the ounce or save 5% with an 8 oz bag.

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Grey Roving

1 oz/$1.75

plus applicable tax (VT only)& shipping

  8 oz/$15.00

plus applicable tax (VT only)& shipping

Save!

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 Black Roving with some silver threads

1 oz/$2.25

plus applicable tax (VT only)& shipping

  8 oz / $17.00

plus applicable tax (VT only) & shipping

Save!

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Creamy White Roving

1 oz/$2.25

plus applicable tax (VT only) & shipping

 8 oz / $17.00

plus applicable tax (VT only) & shipping

Save!
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 Creamy Beige Roving

1 oz/$2.00

plus applicable tax (VT only) & shipping

  8 oz/$16.00

plus applicable tax (VT only)& shipping

Save!
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 Moorit (Brown) Roving

1 oz/$2.50

plus applicable tax (VT only) & shipping

 8 oz / $19.00

plus applicable tax (VT only) & shipping

Save!

Natural Colored Sheep

The designation “natural colored” doesn’t refer to a specific breed of sheep, but several breeds. Basically, natural colored sheep are sheep that are not white. Thousands of years ago, all sheep were natural colored. Like many animals, their coats blended in with the colors of their native environment, to help protect them from predators. When the idea to dye wool different colors became popular, breeders began to want white sheep, rather than natural colored ones (white wool is easier to dye a whole variety of colors). Because of this, natural colored sheep became
less common. Today, natural colored wools are desired by craftspeople who do handspinning, weaving and felting. The natural colors – which include black, gray, silver, brown, beige, red and blonde – are considered beautiful without adding dyes.

Gorgeous Colors and Patterns

Icelandic fleeces come in a wide variety of colors and are prized by hand spinners. The 17 colors and patterns these beautiful animals come in include black, silvery black, blue to lavender greys, silvery grey, whites, tans, beige, champagne, moorit (the brown variations), including deep dark mahogany reds, rusty browns, strawberry blondes. The actual color genetics are a bit more complicated, but but these words give you an idea of what to expect from the Icelandic sheep breed.

Superb Fleece

The Icelandic fleece is dual coated, with a fine, soft undercoat called thel and a longer, coarser outer coat called tog. The tog fiber, with a spinning count of 56-60 and a micron count of 27-30, grows to a length of 6-8" in six months. It is lustrous, strong, water- and wear-resistant, and sheds off the rain and weather. Thel is the soft downy undercoat, with a spinning count of 64-70 and a micron count of 19-22, growing to a length of 2-4". The thel provides the loft for the outer coat and insulation for the sheep. Tog grows from the primary hair follicles and the thel from the secondary follicles. Tog is a true wool, and is not a kemp or guard hair. The combination of the two fibers on the sheep gives superb protection from the cold and wet. Icelandic fleeces are open and low in lanolin. The weight loss when washed is significantly less than many other breeds.

 

"The versatility of the wool, the ease of spinning and the wide variation of tones and colors are a true delight to handspinners, and put Icelandic wool into the exotic or premium category. It is also known as one of the best fleeces for felting, which is fast gaining popularity in the craft community."
~ ISBONA - Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America

 

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