The Good Living Guide to Keeping Sheep and Other Fiber Animals: Housing, Feeding, Shearing, Spinning, Dyeing, and More: Raising Fiber Animals and Shearing, Carding, Spinning, and Dyeing Wool

Print Length : 160 pages Publisher : Good Books Publication Date : February 19, 2019 ISBN : 978-1-68099-404-9 Print ISBN : 978-1-68099-405-6 Ebook Request # (/tor/viewRequest.php/1578303252.44758) 1578303252.44758 A comprehensive and inspiring full-color guide to small-scale fiber farming and wool crafting—from selecting and raising sheep and alpacas to shearing, sorting, combing and spinning. Fiber crafts—such as knitting, weaving, and crocheting—continue to surge in popularity, with sites like Ravelry (a social media community for the wool obsessed) gaining more than six million members. Artists are seeking quality raw materials in greater numbers. The cottage industry of supplying not only raw fleece, but handcrafted yarns, is strong. Janet Garman has a small fiber flock (including Pygora fiber goats) and shares her expertise, as well as interviews, tips, and advice from fiber farmers and craftspeople across the country. She offers the basics of properly raising sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, and rabbits, with tips on selecting animals, feeding, housing, breeding, and healthcare. From there, instructions are provided for shearing, sorting, skirting, washing, picking, carding, combing, and spinning the wool. Enthusiasts will also find recipes and instructions for natural, plant-based dyes and advice for selling your finished yarn. The proper care of fiber animals leads to a superior yarn product. Lapses in good care can show up in the fleece. As the demand for quality yarn and fiber grows, more people are becoming concerned with the animals’ treatment and care. Give your animals a good home and a happy life and enjoy superior fleece and yarn products for your own homestead or to sell. “This is such an amazing resource and can be enjoyably read from cover to cover. As someone with some livestock experience who is preparing to branch out to fiber animals, I found answers to most of my questions. I highly recommend this book!” —Jess Lane, The 104 Homestead, 104homestead.com 'If you are considering a fiber flock, this would be a great addition to your library! Covers a wide variety of topics from purchasing your sheep all the way to marketing your wool.' --Sandra Morris, Mitten State Sheep & Wool "A must read for any homesteader or fledgling fiber animal enthusiast. In my earliest homesteading days, I bought a fiber flock with best of intentions and not-so-perfect outcomes. If I had a copy of The Good Living Guide to Keeping Sheep and Other Fiber Animals back then I surely would have saved myself from stress and heartache, as well as avoided the embarrassment of poorly invested homesteading dollars. This practical guide has everything that you need to keep a happy, healthy, and productive fiber flock!" —Devon Young, blogger at NittyGrittyLife.com and author of The Backyard Herbal Apothecary "As a long-time fiber enthusiast, I am so pleased with The Good Living Guide to Keeping Sheep and Other Fiber Animals! For a textile nerd, there's just nothing finer than raising your own fleeces, and this book can easily empower you to begin with just a few, well-chosen animals. There is a lot of inspiration and experience in these pages, along with plenty of tips and tricks to make fiber animals a reality for any homesteader. Just think of running your hands through the fibers you grew on your own land!" —Tessa Zundel, author of The Do It Yourself Homestead “This comprehensive guide to raising a backyard flock of fiber animals guides the fiber artist to true self-reliance. It covers everything the artist-shepherd needs to raise her own medium including growing the fiber animals, preparing the fiber, natural dyeing, basic fiber arts techniques, and marketing the finished products. This can-do guide points the way to successful fiber farming.” —Christine Dalziel, author of The Beeswax Workshop “This is such an amazing resource and can be enjoyably read from cover to cover. As someone with some livestock experience who is preparing to branch out to fiber animals, I found answers to most of my questions. I highly recommend this book!” —Jess Lane, The 104 Homestead, 104homestead.com **Print Length****Publisher****Publication Date****ISBN****ISBN****Request #****A comprehensive and inspiring full-color guide to small-scale fiber farming and wool crafting—from selecting and raising sheep and alpacas to shearing, sorting, combing and spinning.**Fiber crafts—such as knitting, weaving, and crocheting—continue to surge in popularity, with sites like Ravelry (a social media community for the wool obsessed) gaining more than six million members. Artists are seeking quality raw materials in greater numbers. The cottage industry of supplying not only raw fleece, but handcrafted yarns, is strong.Janet Garman has a small fiber flock (including Pygora fiber goats) and shares her expertise, as well as interviews, tips, and advice from fiber farmers and craftspeople across the country.She offers the basics of properly raising sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, and rabbits, with tips on selecting animals, feeding, housing, breeding, and healthcare. From there, instructions are provided for shearing, sorting, skirting, washing, picking, carding, combing, and spinning the wool. Enthusiasts will also find recipes and instructions for natural, plant-based dyes and advice for selling your finished yarn.The proper care of fiber animals leads to a superior yarn product. Lapses in good care can show up in the fleece. As the demand for quality yarn and fiber grows, more people are becoming concerned with the animals’ treatment and care. Give your animals a good home and a happy life and enjoy superior fleece and yarn products for your own homestead or to sell.__“This is such an amazing resource and can be enjoyably read from cover to cover. As someone with some livestock experience who is preparing to branch out to fiber animals, I found answers to most of my questions. I highly recommend this book!”____'If you are considering a fiber flock, this would be a great addition to your library! Covers a wide variety of topics from purchasing your sheep all the way to marketing your wool.'____"A must read for any homesteader or fledgling fiber animal enthusiast. In my earliest homesteading days, I bought a fiber flock with best of intentions and not-so-perfect outcomes. If I had a copy of The Good Living Guide to Keeping Sheep and Other Fiber Animals back then I surely would have saved myself from stress and heartache, as well as avoided the embarrassment of poorly invested homesteading dollars. This practical guide has everything that you need to keep a happy, healthy, and productive fiber flock!"____"As a long-time fiber enthusiast, I am so pleased with The Good Living Guide to Keeping Sheep and Other Fiber Animals! For a textile nerd, there's just nothing finer than raising your own fleeces, and this book can easily empower you to begin with just a few, well-chosen animals. There is a lot of inspiration and experience in these pages, along with plenty of tips and tricks to make fiber animals a reality for any homesteader. Just think of running your hands through the fibers you grew on your own land!"____“This comprehensive guide to raising a backyard flock of fiber animals guides the fiber artist to true self-reliance. It covers everything the artist-shepherd needs to raise her own medium including growing the fiber animals, preparing the fiber, natural dyeing, basic fiber arts techniques, and marketing the finished products. This can-do guide points the way to successful fiber farming.”____“This is such an amazing resource and can be enjoyably read from cover to cover. As someone with some livestock experience who is preparing to branch out to fiber animals, I found answers to most of my questions. I highly recommend this book!”__ Introduction Choosing Animals and Making a Plan Part I: All About Sheep Acquiring Sheep and Basic Care Choosing and Buying Sheep Preparing to Bring Home Sheep Housing Fending Feeding Sheep Health Care and Concerns Vaccinations Common Diseases Sheep Management Breeding Sheep Keeping Health Records and Care Instructions Part II: Goats, Llamas, and Alpacas, and Rabbits Fiber Goats What is Cashmere? Choosing and Buying Goats Horns or No Horns? Feeding Fiber Goats Housing and Fencing for Fiber Goats Shearing a Fiber Goat Preparing the Goat Fiber for Processing Llamas and Alpacas Llamas versus Alpacas Housing and Feeding Llama and Alpaca Health Rabbits Housing Feeding Part III: Shearing and Processing Fibers Shearing and Preparing the Fleece Shearing Day Skirting Scouring/Washing the Fleece Carding and Combing Hiring a Fiber Mill to Process Your Fleeces Natural Dyes for Wool Tools for Naturally Dyeing Homestead Wool Mordants and Modifiers Color Modifiers Dye Recipes Other Common Plant Dyes Powdered Natural Dyes Part IV: Working with Yarn Spinning Woolen versus Worsted Spinning Plying or Plied Yarn Yarn Weights Yarn Tools Knitting Knitting Abbreviations Crocheting Crocheting Abbreviations Weaving Embroidery, Tapestry, and Crewelwork Rug Making Felting Selling Your Farm-Raised Fleeces and Handmade Yarns and Products Selling a Raw Fleece Can Raising a Fiber Flock Be Profitable? Selling on the Internet Wool Pools Sheep and Wool Festivals Acknowledgments Recommended Resources Index A comprehensive and inspiring guide small-scale fiber farming and wool crafting. Fiber crafts—such as knitting, weaving, and crocheting—continue to surge in popularity, with sites like Ravelry (a social media community for the wool obsessed) gaining more than six million members. Artists are seeking quality raw materials in greater numbers. The cottage industry of supplying not only raw fleece, but handcrafted yarns, is strong. Janet Garman has a small fiber flock (including Pygora fiber goats) and shares her expertise, as well as interviews, tips, and advice from fiber farmers and craftspeople across the country. In these pages, readers will learn the basics of properly raising sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, and rabbits, with tips on selecting animals, feeding, housing, breeding, and healthcare. From there, instructions are provided for shearing, sorting, skirting, washing, picking, carding, combing, and spinning the wool. Enthusiasts will also find recipes and instructions for natural, plant-based dyes and advice for selling your finished yarn. The proper care of fiber animals leads to a superior yarn product. Lapses in good care can show up in the fleece. As the demand for quality yarn and fiber grows, more people are becoming concerned with the animals’ treatment and care. Give your animals a good home and a happy life and enjoy superior fleece and yarn products for your own homestead or to sell. Janet Garman, author of the popular blog Timber Creek Farm, shares her expertise on raising sheep and other fiber animals, as well as interview, tips, and advice from fiber farmers and craftspeople across the country. In these pages, readers will learn the basics of properly raising sheep, with additional information on goats, llamas, alpacas, and rabbits. Find tips on selecting animals, feeding, housing, breeding, and healthcare. From there, instruction are provided for shearing, sorting, skirting, washing, picking, carding, combing, and spinning the wool. Enthusiasts will also find recipes and instructions for natural, plant-based dyes and advice for selling their finished yarn.--COVER Author's Timber Creek Farm Facebook page has 30,000 likes and Instagram account has 5,000 followers. Fiber crafts are hugely popular. The website Ravelry, an online community for the wool-obsessed, has more than 6 million members. Covers the whole process, from raising fiber animals to shearing to spinning to dyeing to selling. Perfect for self-sufficiency crowd, backyard farmers, crafters, and preppers