Breed Study

The Kansas Sheep Council has selected the Guild as recipient of a grant to fund educational activities to promote wool.

Update – the breed study is full!

There are two parts to the grant activities:

  1. Equipment purchase – one spinning wheel and two rigid heddle looms to support our long-term goal of teaching spinning and weaving skills, and
  2. Funding a breed study, using fleece from 10 different breeds of sheep raised by Kansas producers.
Rambouillet
Bluefaced Leicester
Southdown

One in-person introductory session will be held on Saturday, June 25, 10 am – noon. Bi-weekly Zoom sessions will be held on Tuesday evenings, July 12 & 26, August 9 & 23 and September 6.

The breed study is limited to 10 participants, who will receive wool from each fleece to process, spin and produce a sample. Breeds included in this study are:

  • Rambouillet
  • Gotland
  • Bluefaced Leicester
  • Southdown
  • Miniature Cheviot
  • Shetland
  • Romanov
  • Finnsheep
  • Icelandic
  • Montadale

Breed Study includes:

~ Raw wool from 10 different sheep breeds from Kansas producers
~ In-person introductory session to skirt & divide fleeces, assign breeds and set schedule
~ Five Zoom meetings (one every other week over a 10-week period) on Tuesday evenings to discuss two breeds
~ Inclusion of your samples in educational displays for both the Kansas Sheep Council and Wichita Weavers, Spinners & Dyers Guild
~ Access to shared folder with resources for:

  • Breed information 
  • Scouring & processing fiber
  • Examples of breed study comments
  • Producer information (in case you would like to purchase your own fleece)
  • Separate document for each breed to which you can add your own comments

Participation includes:

~ Submit $30 via PayPal at registration to help cover administrative costs
~ Attend in-person introductory session and participate in bi-weekly Zoom discussions to share experience with each breed’s wool
~ Document your experience with different breeds in shared Google Drive folder
~ Accept breed assignment to lead one Zoom discussion on specified date
~ Create two 4” x 4” swatches (knitted, crocheted, woven or felted) and two 2-yard lengths of yarn from assigned breed for inclusion in educational displays 
~ (Optional) Produce and share additional swatches/yarn samples for other breeds or in other techniques
~ Submit yarn and swatch samples on or before deadline date via mail or drop off at studio
~ Notify study coordinator of an inability to complete the project (with the possibility of transferring remaining fiber samples to someone else for completion)

Study coordinator: Sharon Barnes

Register online and submit $30 via PayPal to reserve your spot. The remaining costs are covered by the Kansas Sheep Council grant.

It is important for each person to participate fully in order to fulfill our grant obligations! However, it is understood that not everyone will be available for each meeting, and provisions will be made whenever possible to support asynchronous inclusion.

If you agree to the above stipulations, continue to online registration!