Winter Sky Vogue

This moorit ewe is probably my favorite non-Whispering Pines ewe. She's fine-boned with a beautiful, soft moorit fleece. She also has a very nice Shetland head.

What she brings to the table for us is a bloodline that we really don't have. She's an F3 Orion, which is a bloodline that we do have, but she is also one of the few ewes out of Winter Sky Tennyson, who I never saw in person, but hear great things about. I don't generally bring in ewes unless I've seen both parents, but in this case, I made an exception because I thought Vogue was that nice.

I will post a fleece picture when I have one. I was lucky to get this picture. I know a picture is worth a thousand words, but her yearling fleece took second place at the 2011 WSWF, which was judged by certified SSS judges (have I mentioned that once or twice, as if I thought that was significant or something?). Having seen some of the fleece judging in other fiber events, I have gained an appreciation for the skill of Alan Hill and Kate Sharp at that event. I realize that everyone likes the judges who think like we do, and we despise those who don't, but in this case, we are talking about two people with credentials that most of the U.S. judges don't have, as well as the profound experience with the breed that people like me look for when trying to deepen our understanding of the Shetland sheep. That event meant something to me even though I had no sheep entered in anything. It was as important to me as the 2005 AGM at the Dailley farm in Ontario. That event had nothing to do with UK judges, but it was an eye opener for me in terms of what the breed could be (or was supposed to be before Americans intervened). If the 2005 AGM was a turning point for our farm, the 2011 WSWF was a reality check showing we are progressing on the correct path. It is important to me that we breed for Shetlands like you would find in their native land, and not merely something that we personally like. Having bred for all Shetland types, I feel like we can't have enough ewes in our flock like Vogue.

Sommarang Isla

I brought this ewe in from Wisconsin last year for several reasons. First, I liked her fleece and conformation. Really, that doesn’t mean much because I wouldn’t bring in a ewe unless that was true. But I also liked her mother and father a great deal, which is a must with all sheep that we have in our flock.

Her mother was reserve champion ewe at the 2010 WSWF, which means very little to me except that I really liked her. Her father was grand champion ram and reserve champion Shetland (finishing 2^nd to Salicional) at the 2011 WSWF. Plus, I felt he was one of the better Shetland rams I have seen. Isla’s yearling fleece tested out at 22.5 microns, which is right in the area we target for yearlings, but it also has nice uniformity and crimp.

Overall, she’s just a nice ewe and is maturing just as I had hoped. She doesn’t have all of the attributes that Constantinople has, but her fleece is nicer. Plus, she's modified!

Whispering Pines Siena

Whispering Pines Sienna is another Pompey daughter is has a pretty special fleece. It is denser than Genoa’s but not quite as fine, but it is one of our best. She produced an excellent polled ram this year who we are using in a small breeding group. There really isn’t much to criticize with this ewe. I don’t like her as much as Genoa, but the differences aren’t enormous, and are most likely a matter of personal preference. Siena is shown here being harassed by Khan.

 

What I will say is that she combines impressive bloodlines that I admire. I know I say that a lot, but we have spent the better part of four years collecting different bloodlines that I like, and she is a good example of that. They haven't all panned out, but some of them have done well.

We sold Siena's yearling fleece for $100, which is a good sign. We haven’t traditionally priced our fleeces that high, but we really didn’t want to sell these two (and quite a few others). But I think it's a good buy for the discriminating fiber person.

Whispering Pines Genoa

Whispering Pines Genoa is probably my favorite Shetland ewe. She is a beautiful, dark grey katmoget with an exquisite fleece. How exquisite? Jen and I both thought it was our best, but we were surprised when someone offered us $150 for it at a fiber event. That’s not bad for a 3 pound fleece. She is out of Whispering Pines Shiovan (an F1 Orion daughter) and Pompey Magnus, who is one of the finest polled rams in the country (he's six years old and still microns in the mid 25's - just missing superfine status).

We hope for nice lambs from her, but this is a ewe that will be difficult to improve. I would love to have a ram like her, however. Just saying. She has my ideal Shetland fleece. It’s just buttery soft with a wonderful lock structure. I can’t wait to see what she produces.

 

My only complaint is that I don't have more ewes like her. I'll post more pictures of some of these ewes at some point, but I just haven't had time to get good ones. This picture really doesn't show off her fantastic facial markings.

Whispering Pines Blue Diamond

Several years ago, we were wondering why we didn't have any fine fleece moorit ewes in our flock and we set out to change that. We had a few nice brown-based ewes, but they weren't as fine and uniform as we had seen elsewhere. That summer, I brought in Blue's Clues, and F2 Jericho ram, which really made no sense since he was a grey katmoget. Not only was he a grey katmoget, I had no reason to think he even carried moorit (or even spots for that matter). But his fleece was so gorgeous, I figured, it made sense, in spite of our goal of adding moorit.

Well, this was the first lamb (if I recall correctly) that we got out of him. Although she is a katmoget, she is both brown-based and moorit. More importantly, up to that point in our Shetland journey, I hadn't seen another spotted ewe with a fleece like this. She is superfine, with a two year micron test of 24.9, with great density, softness, and crimp. Her mother is Constantinople. For some reason, this ewe ended up finer than both of her parents. So, it works both ways with Shetlands. They tend to throw back to coarse and primitive, but once in a while they throw back to finer offspring several generations past (although, I haven't seen that happen very often). In this case, you've got Salicional and Blues in the pedigree, which is about as good as it gets.

Any hoo, this is a really nice ewe that has produced really nice offspring. Kiyah is hers, for example. She hasn't produced her fleece type yet in her lambs, but all of them have had nice fleeces, with outstanding conformations.

Whispering Pines Blue Sapphire

This wonderful spotted ewe is actually a grey katmoget. She's been one of our favorites for a long time for a lot of reasons, but her fleece is quite lovely and probably her best feature. Her two year old micron was 25.0 with a really low CV. The handle and luster are outstanding as is the density. She is one of two Sheltering Pines Blues Clues daughters that we own. I've always said that Blues Clues had one of the nicest Shetland fleeces I've personally seen. It wasn't the finest, but it just had a lacey quality that best resembles my ideal. Sapphire's fleece has similar properties and so far, it has held its fineness nicely. Her yearling and two year old micron tests were nearly identical (certainly within the measurement error of the test).

Blue Sapphire has had two really nice rams for us - both with really nice fleeces. As much as I like her, it would be nice if she had a ewe with the same qualities or better. She carries moorit as well, which is a nice bonus.

Wintertime Itasca

Our only black ewe, and one that we like a lot for many reasons. She has a very fine, dense fleece that is very uniform from front-to-back, and wool on the cheeks and poll.

 

She has a nice Shetland conformation, and I would say she’s of average size. She is one of our top producers as well. I like most things about her. I also like the bloodline a great deal because it’s different than others that we have. She is out of Wintertime Landslide, who is out of Winter Sky Sandstone. Nice ewe.