It took almost 9 months to get it back, but our first batch of mill run yarn from our sheep has come back!  We sent in 10 pounds of fiber from our sheep and goats and got back 25 skeins of a beautiful, soft fingerling 2 ply yarn!  It’s fairly thin, not exactly what I normally work with, but I’m working on a little scarf with it and it’s so delicate and beautiful.  

Now, we have sent our fleece off to be made into roving, which is the first step in making actual yarn.  And once that comes back, I’ve been spinning it myself and also selling some of the roving as well.  But just never had a mill finish it all off.  It’s not cheap.  25 skeins cost us $160.  That’s $6.40 a skein before you figure in a lick of feed, care or shearing costs.  Considering it takes a year to grow a fleece, I would say our cost is nearly $11 to $12 a skein!  Wow!  

I know some folks would say that it’s not bad considering all the input and time invested.  I just think that we won’t be going this route again because if we double it again to actually make a little for our efforts, we’re looking at $20 to $24 a skein!  That just sounds a little high to me.  When we do all the processing ourselves, for our small flock, it’s an enjoyable task and we can sit and watch tv and spin or card and thus sell the yarn at a more economical rate and still make us a little coin for our effort as well as the enjoyable task of creating the yarn.  

But, that being said, it was wonderful to see how our flock’s fibers could compete in a commercial market and how lovely the yarn would be!  I can’t wait to dye some and perhaps give it a spin with some other fibers and make 3 or 4 ply yarns!  How lovely!!!  What a cool experience…