Monterey wool auction 2009

So now that I know you're reading, how to start?

The obvious... yesterday I attended the Monterey Wool Auction with Heather and Ayse. I really shouldn't have gone... I have several (seriously, several) fleeces I've purchased here at home in the past months, and even though I already dedicated a whole month to washing many, I still have more unscoured wool than I can reasonably handle scouring before the year is over. But really, after seeing all of the fleeces being judged and then all lined up in the lovely sun, who can blame me?



I blame myself. I know what I'm doing. :)

It always is a good time though, and I really really enjoy the setting-- so many spinners and fiber artists with their own criteria and sense of the perfect fleece, live bidding, the thrill of the hunt. Bumping into long losts. Even when not bidding I would get caught up in the back and forth, trying to guess where the bidding would end up at. Compared to last year, this year had many more high bids-- my $29/lb win for Henna last year was eclipsed several times over, with a $30 and a $32/lb bid for 2 of Sue Reuser's cormos (and a $28/lb for Kathy Varian's cormo as well). I love the breed-- long and soft... and I do love being able to positively support shepherds raising local sheep that grow excellent fleeces. My bids weren't as extravagant this time, even though I did manage to wrestle the Champion Market (white) Wool fleece I had been obsessing over since my trip with Heather to the judging...



...from "Chloe" the sheep :) I had a BLAST dyeing the white merino locks for my etsy shop and plan on dyeing many more... the the bright white of Chloe is just inspiring to me. She was also significantly less greasy to the touch than many of the other cormos there, so I'm guessing the fleece will be more productive in terms of weight/lanolin loss than others (we'll see if I'm right when I wash her up.)

One last peek at the crimp to come...



I also was the high bidder for her flockmate, "Hollyberry," a true mutt (cormo/corrie dad and corrie/romney x finn/dorset/targhee mom... sounds like me and mine :)) with a 5" staple and a nice bold medium crimp. I'm thinking it will be a good match for Ysolda's new Vine Yoke cardigan? I saw the new twist collective before going to the auction and immediately thought the color was spot on to the sample.



I didn't notice "Hollyberry" at the judging (she did not place highly in her category, solid other than black, 3/8 blood combing 56s-58s)... but her color glowed in the sun as I blushed, pretending to take a second look at fleeces recovering from the surprise. She imprinted on me while we talked, my souvenir of your words and the day.

I always enjoy the "surprise" of banded/multicolored staples once washed and combed... will it be greybrown or browngrey? Purple?



Aside from Chloe, I only had one other YES PLEASE! fleece on my judging notes-- a heavy steel grey corriexrambo from Nancy Burns at Marble Peaks Ranch. She is the shepherd who raised Kali, the true black I purchased last year at the auction and featured in my English combs post. Nancy raises true black to fading grey corriedale and corriedale x rambouillet crosses that have excellent crimp and retain that lock formation I love. This year her black-black fleece won the Champion Natural Colored category, beating out Sue Reuser's cormo. I passed on the grey since it was on Jasmin's bidding list (save me if I came up against her bidding card ;))... and because I've already reserved a grey from Nancy for 2010.

I usually write to the shepherds after buying their fleeces from shows-- they usually appreciate reactions to the day (they don't know how well their fleeces place, what judges had to say about them, etc.) and the more I talk to them, the more I feel like I want to buy from them directly as opposed to at auction. I know Nancy via email and we'd been talking about me buying a 2010 fleece-- so I was able to secure one and didn't feel pressured to bid. (Goodness knows I didn't need to bring another home RIGHT AWAY.) Merry Meadows said the same when I wrote to them, reminding me their fleeces are generally priced at $16/lb (I paid over that for both) and to contact them when I want more. On the flip side, I know that shepherds send their best to auction since they will receive the highest price the market will bear (as well as a coveted ribbon with premium monies), while only paying the entry fee ($2 + 4.5% of sales price) and shipping there... as someone who truly wants to support their industry I want to contribute to getting the best prices for their fleeces so they continue to offer them.

So of course I'll go again, how else will I see you and flirt with such loves?

Judging fleece at the wool show

I succumbed to a lot of distractions during the Tour de Fleece... hands down the best was attending the fleece judging prior to the Monterey Wool Show with Heather. She has a great writeup about the day as well. We met in person recently at Verb's Natural Dyeing 101 class, even tho I'd been reading her blog (I feel like I know so many people without ever meeting them in person, so it's always neat to get to do so.) She was kind enough to drive and we trekked it down early Saturday, coming into a room full of fleeces and a small clutch of attendees listening to (married) judges Wes and Jane Patton going over each.



This was the second time I had attended a wool judging, the first was at Lambtown last year with about a third to half of the number of fleeces that were at Monterey this year. In addition to blood classes (market/white and colored wool, ranging from fine combing/64-80s down to common/40s) Monterey has judging categories for breed as well (cormo, merino, cvm, etc.). For me, I prefer the finer end of the spectrum and am lucky that there were so many excellent cormo, rambouillet and merino cross flocks in Northern California represented for me to lose it over.



Goodness. Save me.

The thing is, I went to the judging because I had NO intention of buying more fleece and probably wouldn't attend the auction this year. (I can hear you laughing from here.) I went because I wanted to learn, and did... but fell in love left and right with color and hand while my brain was being stuffed with information. (too familiar, too soon)

Attending the judging does give a different perspective on buying the fleeces at auction later; I can also see a difference in the fleeces entered this year from last. Last year I fell for one of only three true black fleeces (not the dark brown tinted black, but honest to goodness black)-- color queens like me will flip seeing several up for bid this year. There were many more entries from fewer shepherds, and there seemed to be a lot of not for sale fleeces as well (several ribbon winners were shipped on back home and won't be at the auction.)

The thinking on this doesn't make sense to me, as the auction setting would provide the highest per pound price most shepherds could likely get (and they're able to provide the starting price per pound, so it could be returned later). I also didn't understand why several fleeces that were tender/had breaks were entered into the competition at all...



The up side of buying at a wool show that is judged is that these were culled and will not be available for sale-- the buyer knows that each fleece has been gone over and most likely will be sound. It's promising since you don't always know the shepherd or don't know someone who can vouch for them and you're not able to check the soundness of the fleece for yourself. For the seller who sends in a tender fleece though-- I just can't understand the thinking of sending them (unless they don't know they had breaks). There were a lot too-- maybe 8 rejected total? Out of 150+ fleeces that's ~5%, a HUGE number to me! Especially assuming shepherds intentionally sent the best of the best.

The judging was not the place to see messy, gross, mulch-pile fleeces, but the coordinators were awesome enough to set out several samples of flawed fleeces for the attendees to check out.



I'd seen some of these flaws before (mineral banding, vegetable matter/VM, breaks, center back weathering, cotting, leg/belly hair, breeding crayon) but had never seen bacterial staining, keds or a double coated fleece that had felted on the sheep in person before, so very very cool. They also had several excellent informational posters, my favorite being "notes on skirting":


(click for big, you can read the whole thing on my flickr stream)

Others were "Notes on Belly Wool," "Notes on Preparing Short Wools," and "Notes on Preparing Sheep for Shearing."

Overall, the judging was awesome. There was a bit of a disconnect for me though, attending this as a handspinner and not as someone buying large bales of wool for commercial spinning into commercial yarn. There were several items considered for each fleece during the judging:

1. Cleanliness
2. Fiber Length
3. Fiber Strength
4. Weight
5. Uniformity of Grade (fiber diameter)
6. Adherence to breed standard (for breed category, not market/colored wool)
7. Condition, including staining, VM/2nd cuts, etc.
8. Overall character

First, I was shocked to discover that fleeces entered in the Breed judging were not discounted for cleanliness (poor shearing jobs, excessive VM, or breaks/tenderness in fleece). There were some that were rejected for sale b/c of breaks, but the idea behind not excluding external factors when judging a fleece in the breed category is that it is not the fault of the sheep and that they do not affect its adherence to the breed standard. I can't remember a VM'y fleece earning a high ribbon in the breed category judging, but still-- interesting. And you know how I love interesting :)

There was also the issue of weight... It makes sense to judge a fleece more highly if it will have less loss (vm, lanolin) if you are a handspinner or a commercial buyer paying a set price per pound and one will leave you with more clean fleece than another. However, all things being equal (including assumed loss), several times Heather and I saw fleeces that were judged to be equal with one another in all other aspects and the fleece that was heavier would place higher than the lighter one. I understand needing a "tiebreaker" but being a wool show where most fleeces will end up in a handspinner's hand and not in industry's, I think many of us would prefer a 6# fleece to a 10# one :)

Thinking on it more, it does make sense in Breed-- you could skirt down a 6# fleece to 2# and have the nicest one in the bunch with only shoulder wool. In that instance weight would help keep judging apples to apples, offering the most fleece for judging. For market/colored though-- some breeds are just larger than others and produce a heavier fleece, and would have a leg up in this category even if all were equally skirted just by fleece proportion. I don't really find it bothersome, but just interesting when you think of the higher perceived value of ribbon winners.

Any disconnect with the above in judging was more than reconciled with the last judging factor... character.


selecting grand champion from all first place finishers

I'm happy that my internal barometer of awesome is actually a valid facet of judging fleeces. Jane Patton said something to the effect that a "champion should look like a champion." I'm a sucker for the look, the touch, the way I get excited over something even though I never meant to. And goodness knows there were a lot to get excited over :)

If you're interested in attending the auction this year and haven't before, you can check out my writeup about last year's auction and what to expect. Auction attendees do not have to pay admission (it's held during the Monterey County Fair), but they are going to have a guard at gate 4 with names (if you've attended in the past, you should be on it.) If you're new, you can email Claudia Ward and she'll add you. Even if you can't attend this year but want updates about future years (or about spinning in demonstration at the fair this year), drop her a letter and let her know to add you to their mailing list. Next year they're going all electronic, no more envelopes laden with awesome stamps :)

So see you there, and don't bid against me! ;)

Monterey wool auction 2008

So I've had this crazy plan brewing for months now, and I didn't really want to talk about it since it really shines a light on the nut inside my head, but... so. After Retzlaff, I knew I loved the Cormo fleeces Sue grows and that I'm pretty much only buying colored fleeces... all of the colored 2008 fleeces were reserved or sold, except for three that were going to the Monterey wool auction at their county fair.

I didn't really think I'd go, looking for *one* fleece of those three that I had worked up in my mind that I was in true love with, but Tika said she and Jasmin were planning to go and I should hitch a ride...

Backing up forward though... Krista (yeah, Pigeonroofstudios' dyer extraordinaire ;) who will groan when she reads that I write it but I believe to be true) and I headed down from Oakland straight to Monterey, and what did our wondering eyes see when we got there?



Closer...



Yeah. Tables of fleeces.

Now, I know for some of you local to big wool shows and fests this is like, not a big deal but for me-- dude. I've never seen over a hundred fleeces in one place before, and I was floored. Unfortunately the wool judging was the weekend prior, and I'd liked to have seen it as much as I liked watching at Lambtown. Although, every fleece was gorgeous-- really. Lots of entries from growers I'd bought from (Sue Reuser of Cormo Sheep and Wool, Janet Heppler of Nebo Rock Textiles-- no website), and others I hope to know in the future ;)

Amidst it all, I found The One I had trekked all this way for...


left: Henna, reserve champion for solid color other than black
right: Aly, champion for solid color other than black
both Cormos from Cormo Sheep and Wool

So after pawing, pinging, and digging thru these bags of wool, Tika, Krista and I settled in to our seats with our bidding cards and waited... The fleece is auctioned off, and you bid on the price per pound you're willing to pay-- some fleeces were monsters at 13#, most were less than that. I mapped out my fleece's actual cost before the bidding began...



...you know, so in the heat of the moment I'd know exactly what I was paying in total. And it really is heat of the moment-- I took two short videos on my camera of the auctioneer here and here so you can get a sense of how awesome she was. It's been years since hearing my heart in my ears with such anticipation, but still staying within the budget I've been saving up for months I can call "Henna" mine.


(most accurate color)



Caramel, 4.5" locks I can't wait to lash onto my combs... man.

And, a serendipitious love came home with me too...


Corriedale x Rambouillet true black, "Kali"

I'd told myself that if I couldn't bring the caramel fleece home, it would be a true black-- and goodness, both are sitting on my floor begging to be washed right now :) The black-black also has a nice length for combing...



Really hard to see the fineness of crimp in such a dark fleece, you can kinda see it towards the edges.

After the fleece rampage, I headed back to Krista's car to drop these off and pick up the two bags I brought in for Morro Fleece Works to process...



I bought three partial Cormo fleeces from Nancy Ortmann in MT, and while they are gorgeous, they were uncovered and I've made a pact with myself only to wash covered fleeces at home. (Excepting a colored Polwarth, if I can find one next year.) They really weren't dirty though...



...just minor chaff. I also wanted prep done I really didn't want to do here at home-- I am having the middle and left fleeces (dark grey + dark brown black) blended together, and the right cormo (that had the softest hand of the three after I washed up samples at home) blended with about a pound and a half of baby alpaca for maybe a 50/50 blend.

Dark brown baby alpaca...



Both blends should be nicely heathered and evenly blended, something I can't do reliably here at home. I've also decided to only use mills when I can't do something at home now, so pretty much for picking and blending on a poundage scale. I can hang with my drumcarder for a few ounces worth, but more is really not something I enjoy much lately.

I love the job Morro does, and I'm anxiously awaiting the grey Cormo I dropped off there at Retzlaff, but I really do enjoy prep at home and the mill cost adds onto the cost of the fleece in an exponential way (that I can avoid, with as many tools I have here myself.)

We'll see ;) I have a feeling that with ALL the natural colored wool I have out being pindrafted all mills right now (4 batches of at least 3# each), I may be destashing some since I live in a shoebox and fiber is... big. Another we'll see. ;)

Meanwhile, back on the farm... the wool auction was great! A really fun time, and some fleeces went for a steal (getting only one minimum bid), even some of the champions. It seems that the naturally colored wools were what were sought this year-- there were some breathtaking whites that the three of us almost felt sorry for when they didn't get bid on at all. I didn't even look at whites myself in the preview... but then again see above, I'm nuts and went for ONE. With a plan of attack ;)


(pic just cos i can't get enough of this color!)

Just for those thinking about going to the Monterey wool auction sometime in the future (this is all stuff I wondered about the weeks prior)-- they open the furthest right gate (Gate 4) for the wool auction and you don't have to pay admission. They were open for the preview by 10:30am when Krista and I arrived, and behind was the handspun competition with gorgeous skeins and textiles, along with interesting displays of grist across wool breeds.

The fleeces are judged earlier in the week, either in their breed class (merino, romney, cvm, etc.) or by blood class (fine combing, 1/2 blood combing, 3/8 combing, etc.) The blood class fleeces generally don't list the breed of fleece, though some growers include cards with info like that in the bags holding the fleece. At the auction, the breed classes are auctioned off first, then the champions, market wool (all whites), then colors-- solid black, solid other than black, variegated. At the end is the mohair auction. Sometimes the fleeces you're interested in most don't come up til last, hard choices to make ;) The preview tables were set up in the same order as the bidding so you could see which order they were going in by your bidder's book-- a little confusing for me at first but worked out okay in the end :) Once the auction's done, you can pay and they take everything-- cash, checks and cc; I was worried they wouldn't take cash but yay :)

And once the auction's really all done and you've dropped all the fleeces off at Morro that you aren't packing home...


Jasmin lost in wool, Tika taking a picture I hope doesn't go up anywhere

...you get to see the rest of the fair. Which was a lot of people, attractions, and food...


(officially a blogger. pictures of food.)

I don't think I've ever turned down a funnel cake in my life, not about to start now! :)

This was the best county fair I've ever been to... lots of animals (alpaca, cows, goats, sheep, chickens, pigs, etc.) and if you're lucky, they love you back.



Awesome time!

Til then, and next year's auction too ;)