Two weeks before Stitches West on a beautifully clear, sunny day I headed out to Orland, California to participate in a shearing day at Cormo Sheep & Wool farm.  The weather could not have been more perfect as I zoomed my way up I-5.

When I pulled in this sweet face peering through the gate greeted me and a border collie jumped in my lap as soon as I opened the door to get out.  No question, I was in the right spot!

I've been buying Cormo wool from Sue Reuser, the owner & shepherdess, for a few years now but haven't had a chance to go visit her farm.  This year I decided to change that and go help out at one of her shearing days (you can too if you sign up for her newsletter and get in contact with her).

Here is Sue at the skirting table.  The cowl she's wearing was made for her by one of her customers from skirting table fleece scraps.

Sue has had sheep since 1989.  Her current flock has approximately 125 sheep though it is lambing time so that is sure to change in the near future.  Her flock is a closed flock (no ruminants from outside sources have been added to the flock in the past three plus years) in order to protect its health so she has a variety of rams for breeding.  One fun thing to know is that she keeps breeding lines straight based on the ewe's name.  All ewes with the same mom/grandma have a name starting with the same letter.  While we were there we got to help name some of the unnamed ewes.  I got to name Astrid!

We spent the morning skirting fleeces as the shearer finished them, packing them up in paper and recording their fleece weight and characteristics for listing on her website.

Sue coats her fleece so that they are as clean as possible right from the get go.  This is an added bother and expense for her on the farm but it means very clean fleece at shearing time.  This is part of the reason why people love Sue's fleeces.  She also inspects and skirts the fleeces three times before selling them.

Another reason why people love her fleeces is that when she established her flock Sue cross bred back in some colored Merino genes and she now has colored sheep with Cormo characteristics.  The grays, browns, and black fleeces are divine and not very common.  They may cost a bit more but they are worth it!

After lunch Sue showed us around the farm and we got to meet the pair of La Mancha goats that she keeps for milk production just in case she needs it at lambing time.  We also got to meet another integral part of her farm, the flock guard dogs.  These dogs live full time with the sheep and defend them from predators.  Unlike border collies, these dogs do not have herding instincts.

Here is a close up of one of the white fleeces that were shorn while I was there.  These fleeces are a product of a year's work and many years of breeding.  You can purchase raw directly from Sue on her website or at one of the local events she participates in every year.  They are a delight to work with and are featured in Sincere Sheep's Cormo Sport yarn and rovings in case you don't want to process them yourself.