This is the peak of the fleece buying season for me. Shearing is mainly over and if I don’t snap up the best fleeces now, they’ll be gone. Sorting and blending the fleece happens throughout the year, so it helps that I’ve got plenty of cold, dark old barns to store it all.
I’ve bought a lot of Suri alpaca fleece this year which I’m going to blend with Blue faced Leicester wool. The first batch of Blue Faced Leicester from my neighbour’s sister has been delivered, but we don’t collect the majority until later in the year.
Unlike most yarn producers, I buy my fleeces directly from the farmers and sort it myself. The only exception to this is my Alpaca with Falklands Merino and Silk. I just can’t source enough top quality British alpaca so I buy Peruvian alpaca tops (fibre which has been washed and combed into long untwisted, fat ropes ready for spinning).
