A Handful of Woolly Mules and their Cousins

TAUGHT BY Deb Robson

A handful of woolly mules and their cousins

Full Day Class
Thursday, April 20th
9am-5pm with 12pm-2pm break

In the world of sheep and fleeces, mules, mashams, and halfbreds are the offspring of a prolific breed of ram (often, but not always, Bluefaced Leicester or Border Leicester) and a locally adapted ewe. The young are known as mules, mashams, or halfbreds. While not breeds in themselves (some information floating out there to the contrary) and while their raison d’être is the economics around meat production, these groups of sheep grow interesting and useful fleeces.

It’s not yet completely clear which crosses will supply us with fleeces to explore at PLY Away, but this class will offer an opportunity to understand the differences between mules, mashams, and halfbreds; to become aware of their role in the larger world of sheep brreeding; and to discover how nice their fleeces can be.

*In contrast to the mules that come from donkey/horse crosses, which tend to be sterile, ovine mules are fertile.

Material Fee: $35

Level: can spin a single and ply

STUDENTS SHOULD BRING

Tools to bring—essentials:

The essentials are something to spin with (wheel or spindle: a very few techniques work better on a wheel, but everything important can be experienced with a spindle) and a writing utensil (pen or pencil). You may want a notebook.

Things to bring—nice but not essential:

If you have room in your luggage or car, you may also want fiber-prep tools of choice (most likely to use mini-combs or peasant combs, hand carders, flicker, or any other OR dog-grooming combs or slickers).
You may want a means of winding a center-pull ball for plying (nostepinne or the thumb technique), or you can use (and I can teach) the Andean plying technique that uses yarn looped around your fingers.
I always like to make samples with my breed-specific yarns, although only the rare speed-demon has time to do this within the workshop itself. Sampling options for scraps of yarn as well as time include knitting needles, crochet hooks, or Weave-It or similar extra-simple loom.

TAUGHT BY Deb Robson