Sheep’s Clothing Charlotte farm owner introduces an ancient breed with prized wool into her flock

loading...

CHARLOTTE – One of the world’s oldest breeds of domestic sheep – the Jacob sheep – once called large estates in England home. It earned a mention in the Bible (Genesis 30). And now, the black-and-white-faced sheep is a working animal in this pastoral community.

Soon they will be producing fleece for Done Roving Farm & Carding Mill, owned by former schoolteacher Paula Farrar and her husband, Stephen. They have owned the 50-acre farm in Charlotte for 15 years.

Recently, Farrar added eight Jacob sheep to her large flock.

Her working farm includes 65 sheep, three llamas and a donkey. The llamas and donkey act as sentries.

“We have never lost one of our sheep to coyote,” she said. “Llamas have very strong jaws, and their natural predators are doglike animals anyhow, so they fend off any domestic dog that seems to want to come in and chase the sheep and all coyote and fox,” she said.

There also are chickens and cattle on the Farrar farm.

Farrar was raised in Baileyville, where she learned to knit at age 5. “I remember skipping school one day and my sister taught me to knit. No one knew I was skipping, of course,” she said with a laugh.

Today, she knits hats, mittens and sweaters, braids rugs, and makes jackets, vests, blankets, wall hangings and quilts from the fleece of her family’s sheep, mohair, alpaca and llama wool.

And she is known throughout the country for her expertise in processing and dyeing fleece for other knitters and artisans.

Farrar said during a recent interview that she leapt at the opportunity to add the Jacob sheep to her farm after she learned they were available from a farm in Lincolnville.

“We’ve been looking for Jacob for a while simply because I want to play around with the fiber, create a new yarn or something that is unique for me,” she said.

The sheep is an ancient breed that is small in stature. Ewes will top out at about 120 pounds, rams at 180 pounds.

“Seen from a distance or after shearing, observers often remark that Jacobs look like goats,” according to the Web site of The Jacob Sheep Conservancy, a group of dedicated breeders.

The sheep have multiple horns, with both males and females sporting two, four or occasionally six horns. It is believed they were first introduced to this country in the 1900s.

“The Jacob fleece, which is properly described as white with black spots, is prized by hand spinners and weavers,” the Breeds of Livestock group wrote on its Web site.

And they have a long history. They were mentioned in the Bible: “The story in Genesis describes how Jacob selectively bred spotted sheep as his wage for working for Laban in Mesopotamia-Syria,” the Conservancy wrote.

One of the farm’s loyal visitors is Paula Farrar’s granddaughter, Sydney Farrar, 5. The youngster, who calls her grandmother “Nanny Booboo,” has her own opinions about the sheep. “They’re pretty nice, but they poop a lot,” she said.

Sydney, who has an interest in her grandmother’s business, has hats and sweaters made from fleece gathered by her grandmother. “She dyes them and she takes them and she might knit out of them or sew and do felt,” the youngster said.

The bulk of Farrar’s business is processing fleece for others all over the country. “Last year we processed about two tons of fiber,” she said. She does most of the work herself.

At her farm, the sheep are shorn once a year.

In her cottage industry workshop, the fleece is skirted out. “It means we’re going to go all around the edges and take any hay chaff that’s there, any dung. Then we roll it up and put it in a bag,” she said.

The fleece is then washed without agitation. “If I agitate it, I am going to make felt,” she said. “I don’t want to do that with someone else’s fleece.”

The fleece is washed in hot water and spun dry. “It gets rid of a lot of the lanolin and dirt stuck in the lanolin,” she said.

The clean fleece is dried on racks, and from there it goes through the picking operation.

“These rollers just turn. It acts like a centrifuge and blows it into this room,” Farrar said. “It opens up the fiber, like you were teasing hair. Then it goes on that belt and it is carded through each of the rollers.”

It can be made into a bat or a continuous rope called a roving. From there it goes to the spinner. Eventually it becomes colorful apparel. The whole process takes about a year.

Farrar’s work is displayed in her nearby gallery – which is next door to her workshop – with other artisans’ creations.

Farrar said she plans to eventually add trails to the farm and use the llamas for packing.

“Rent a llama for the day, take a packed lunch and wander in the woods,” she said.

Farrar’s farm is at 20 Charlotte Road. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Farrar also offers farm and mill tours. She can be reached at 454-8148 or at farrarps@gwi.net.