Groovy Goats Farm

05/27/2026

These are my four keepers from this year, two solids and two spotted. They each have their own personalities and of course I couldn’t get them all to look at me at once. The brown with some white spots was has a dam that is a hidden carrier bred to my spotted ram, that’s Leila she bossy and loves cookies and always comes to say hello and lets me pet her everywhere. I gave Leila a bottle her and there to get her more friendly since her mom is very shy.
The white and brown spotted girl, Oaklie is coming around and also loves cookies, it took her awhile to trust me. But now she knows I’m the keeper of cookies, so I must be good.
The white one in the front is Lucky, she was one the smallest of triplets and was supplemented with multiple bottles. She is shy with the other sheep, lowest sheep on the totem pole, but will let me pet her all over and give her kisses and has just discovered cookies and graham crackers are good!
Lastly is Lillac, she is pretty bossy too, I bring a bowl of wet grain and have gradually moved it closer. It is all hers, no one else can have any, she will push them out of the way. But the bowl of grain is right next to me and I can pet her while she is eating.

05/27/2026

Look at the crimp on Blossoms wool, it’s just beautiful!

Crimp is the natural wave or zigzag pattern in wool fibers. Different breeds of sheep produce different amounts of crimp.

Why Some Wool Has More Crimp
Genetics: Breed determines the baseline. Fine wool breeds, like Merino, are famous for their high-frequency, dense crimp. Conversely, long-wool breeds have looser, larger waves.
Fiber Diameter: Crimp is directly linked to fiber thickness. Finer, thinner fibers (measured in lower micron counts) usually have more crimp.
Cell Structure: Finer fibers are made of two different cell types that swell at different rates when exposed to moisture, which causes the fiber to bend and create a tighter wave.

What It Means for the Wool
Softness: High crimp means the fibers are extremely fine and soft against the skin, whereas low-crimp wools can feel coarser.
Elasticity & Resilience: Crimp acts like a tiny microscopic spring. Highly crimped wool has excellent "memory"—meaning garments can stretch out and easily bounce back into shape without sagging.
Warmth: The microscopic waves lock together to trap millions of tiny air pockets. High-crimp wool is incredibly efficient at holding body heat while remaining breathable.
Spinning: Wool with a high amount of crimp is much easier to spin into yarn because the waves "grab" onto each other tightly, resulting in a strong, cohesive thread.

05/26/2026

My roses are looking so good this year. I forgot to trim them back I was so busy with lambing and kidding season. But it didn’t stop them from outdoing themselves!

05/25/2026

Opening another bag of fleece has become like Christmas presents for me, everyday I don’t know what I’m going to get. Well I have to say I opened this one because Sweetie (Iris x Crookshanks ) my spotted keeper who is one now 1 and will be bred this fall had such incredible fleece. So I thought, maybe it’s not just Sweetie, maybe it’s the ram! So I pulled out Blossoms fleece and started skirting it and examining it she is a cross of Astrid x Crookshanks. And guess what, her fleece is just as incredible in the sense that it is very long for a babydoll 3 and 1/2 to 4 inchs and great crimp all over her body and dense which helps to keep out a lot of hay from getting in the fleece and produces more wool. Now I am excited to pull out Crookshanks fleece! And of course excited to see what other breedings will produce!
If I have sold you a Crookshanks ram or ewe, let me know what their fleece looks like!

05/23/2026

Just can’t get enough of this gorgeous spotted ewe lamb, Oaklie, that I retained. And she is finally taking cookies from me!

I think one of the things I like about the white and brown/black spotted is that they still look spotted even as their fleece grows out!

05/22/2026

Still working on picking, washing and cleaning fleeces for them to go to the mill in June at Homespun Mill in Washington!

Today and yesterday I have been working on Finn’s fleece. He is a spotted ram, 1 year old, so this is his first shearing and you can feel it in his fleece, nice and soft.

This one is different in that one needs to separate the brown from the white. But sometimes that is easier said than done since they kind of merge together. So some of the white will have bits of grey/black and some of the browns will have black and white.

But that is what will make it original and special and truly a treat to see when turned into yarn. Who knows how it will turn out?

If you think you might be interested in some of this yarn or anything other wool you have seen me work on let me know! I will have white, black, brown, grey, spotted (white and brown, greyish black -from galaxy spotting, and silvery black also from galaxy spotting) and a few dyed. If have have a particular color you would like dyed let me know!

05/20/2026

Sweetie was a bottle babie last year and she still loves me the best! Comes over for love everyday. Want to be pet everywhere, face, chin, ears, side of face, top of face, rubbed all the way down the back! She’s like a dog! And to top it off, she has the most gorgeous 4 inch wool with silvery and white highlights because she was a black with heavy white spotting. I also heard from another shepherd that the first years wool is often shorter! So here’s to Sweeties long and luscious wool and sweet babydolls!

05/20/2026

More spot carrier wool, this is from my white spot carrier, Willow.

05/11/2026

I have been waiting all year to see this fleece sheared. I saw how it was growing out and couldn’t believe how long and lucious it was. Now it looks even better! It’s 3-4 inches long, everywhere, soft and brown with silvery highlights. This is my heavily spotted bottle baby ewe “Sweetie”. Can’t wait to see the beautiful yarn it makes!

05/02/2026