I am currently out of yarn, but still selling knit goods through my Etsy page at https://suzytheshepherdess.etsy.com .
The Short Answer
Fall or winter of 2026.
The Longer Answer
I've been saying for a while that I planned to have yarn ready-to-sell in Octoberm 2025. My wool that was sheared in 2023 and 2024 was sent to two different mills to be washed, carded and spun,
and I did receive my finished yarn in October 2025. Unfortunately, I wasn’t happy with the quality of either batch and have decided not to sell it. The owners of my favorite mill,
Blackberry Ridge of Mt. Horeb, have officially retired and closed their mill, but they have agreed to do one more run for me, so they are spinning my wool sheared in 2025. I will continue to
sell my knit goods hand-knit from historic patterns on my Etsy page, but no yarn until late 2026.
ALL of the Tea . . .
In 2022 I got divorced. For anyone, it’s a difficult decision. For me, it was especially difficult because I knew I would have to sell my farm as part of the divorce. I had owned my
Stockton farm for 19 years (long before I had met ex-husband), plus my Winslow farm for three years before that, so I had a total of 22 years raising sheep. I did not want to stop raising
sheep. But when it got to the point where I felt my children and I were no longer safe in our home the decision was suddenly very obvious, and I chose to sell my farm to keep my family
safe.
The divorce started in January of 2022 and took a grueling nine months. That August my sheep were moved to the farm of my friend Kathy of Frivolous Ewe, and in September the divorce was final and my children and I moved off the farm and into a cozy house in town. I miss the daily interaction of tending to my sheep,
but it has been wonderful to watch my children thrive and stretch their wings in a quiet, peaceful, and safe home.
My sheep were sheared before they moved off my farm in 2022. In 2023, 2024 and 2025 they were sheared at Frivolous Ewe. The owners of Blackberry Ridge, the mill I had been using for over
20 years to wash, card and spin my wool into yarn, were in the process of retiring and ran their last batch of my wool in 2022. In 2023 and 2024 I sent my raw wool to two different mills.
One had such a backlog that I received both batches of completed yarn at about the same time (October 2025), but unfortunately I wasn’t happy with the quality of either batch and have decided not to
sell it. Blackberry Ridge is going to do one more batch of my yarn (the 2025 shearing), and I am looking forward to that yarn being the high quality I am used to. I expect to receive that
yarn in late 2026.
And that, my friends, will be the very last batch of yarn that I will sell. The truth is that tending the sheep is more fun than selling the yarn, so I am retiring from yarn selling after this
last batch is sold. I’ve asked Kathy to keep the shearings from 2026 and going forward for herself. After my last batch of yarn is sold, you will still be able to buy wool from my sheep
by contacting Frivolous Ewe through Facebook at www.facebook.com/FrivolousEwe and asking for wool from “Suzy’s Flock” (although she
doesn’t sell finished yarn, just raw wool, roving and top). You can also see photos of my sheep anytime on her Facebook page – she has MANY sheep, but only my sheep wear blue ear
tags. My sheep are thriving at Frivolous Ewe, where they are very well loved and spoiled with regular chin scratches, so while I miss them I am happy with my decision to move them to Frivolous
Ewe.
As for me, it turns out I am thriving, too. My divorce was so awful that I never even considered dating again. But I started hanging out more often with Todd, a long-time friend I have
known for almost 30 years. We decided to start dating, and after dating for a little over a year, we got engaged. We are planning a wedding in April of 2026.
I’ll make an announcement at the end of 2026 when my last batch of yarn is back from the mill and ready to sell (If you aren't already on my email list, sign up here). I will continue to sell my knit goods hand-knit from my personal stash of yarn on my Etsy
page. Thank you for supporting me and purchasing yarn from me for the past 20 years!
My yarn is spun in a medium (worsted) weight and fingering weight. All of my yarn is 100% wool, and all of the wool is from my own sheep. The color of the yarn is the natural color of the sheep. All of my yarn is sold in 50 gram skeins and the price is $9.00 per skein.
Medium Weight
The medium yarn is a two-ply and 50 grams equals approximately 100 yards. Do make your own gague swtach, but as for me, I knit:
6 Stitches per inch with US #5
5.5 Stitches per inch with US #7
4.5 Stitches per inch with US #8
Fingering Weight
The fingering yarn is also two-ply and 50 grams equals approximately 235 yards. I knit nine stitches per inch with this yarn using #1 needles. Currently only Slate Gray is available in fingering weight.
Dyed Yarn
I don't sell any dyed yarn. All of my yarn is the natural color of the sheep.
Lot Numbers
The lot number is the year the sheep was sheared. I sell yarn by color, but if you are trying to match a specific lot number please put the lot number you want in the comment area of your order, or send me an e-mail to ask if I have any skeins of a specific lot in stock. Once a lot is sold out it is truly sold out. Your hair changes a bit each year, and so does the sheep's!
International Shipments
Orders shipped within the United States and Canada can be ordered on this page. I don't do international orders here.
To order, visit my Etsy page at https://suzytheshepherdess.etsy.com
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