The California Red Sheep breed was developed in the 1970s in the Davis, California area. Dr. Glen Sperlock bred together Tunis sheep and Barbados Blackbelly sheep. The resulting breed, known as California Red Sheep, are still fairly rare. As you can see from the close-up photo, they have a soft fiber that also includes soft hairs of a cinnamon color (not stiff guard hairs) that add texture and interest.
This item includes 29 ounces (just over 1.75 pounds) of raw California Red Sheep fiber from our ewes, "Gala" and "Pippin." Just look at the huge pile of wool! It will be shipped in a light-weight (clean) feed sack that weighs about 3 ounces -- keeping the total shipping weight at 2 pounds!
The staple length of the fiber is 2.5 - 3.5". The sheep are not covered (it's too hot here in Northern California!), so there is some dirt and vegetable matter. I do go through it all and try to pick out the worst bits.
After washing, the fiber spins up into a lovely variegated oatmeal/cream color, though burnt umber to gray tones may also occur. The fiber would also be suitable for many fiber projects such as felting or other fiber arts.
These are some of the variations in color found, when spinning 100% California Red Sheep's wool!
Is this still available (the raw wool)? Thanks in advance!
Hi! Yes, I still have raw California Red Sheep wool available. Please see my Fibercrafty.com listing at: https://starviewfiber.fibercrafty.com/4779-california-red-sheep-wool-raw.html. Thanks for your interest!