Newsletter - Fall 2017, Volume 22, Issue 2 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Calendar 4 News in Brief 6 Color & Pattern Coding 7 Q & A Sheep Production 8 From the Archives 11 Sheepskin Tanning 12 Fiber Artists in Iceland 16 Washing Fleece 24 26 27 28 1 Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America - Fall 2017, Volume 22, Issue 2 BOARD OF DIRECTORS PROGRAM COORDINATORS President: Webmaster: Elaine Clark 207-793-4640 Marjorie Jackson 573-294-7088 [email protected] [email protected] Vice-President: Librarian: Kathy Taft Boyden 802-244-5679 Connie Millard 573-294-7088 [email protected] [email protected] Secretary: E-list Moderator: Melissa Erlund 318-820-6643 Sondra Gibson 406-777-2334 [email protected] [email protected] Treasurer: Advertising Representative Marge Jackson Kathy Taft Boyden 802-244-5679 [email protected] [email protected] Members at Large: Historian: Terri Carlson 815-288-5886 Vanessa Riva 802-434-3953 [email protected] [email protected] Margaret Flowers 315-246-1178 Breed Promotion [email protected] Elaine Clark 207-793-4640 [email protected] Cassie Petrocelli 207-740-5110 [email protected] Membership Secretary: Rosemary Brown [email protected] NEWSLETTER Editor: Laura Walsh 517-513-1520 [email protected] Assistant Editor: Claire Moxon-Waltz [email protected] Layout Editor: Terri Carlson 815-288-5886 [email protected] Publisher: Natasha Paris 920-767-1108 [email protected] Cover photo: Submitted by Kathy Taft Boyden of Kind Horn Farm Kind Horn Farm is a certified organic farm located in the mountains of Central Vermont. They are in their 11th Interested in attending the board meetings as a read-only breeding season using traditional and AI to breed top-quality member? ISBONA members in good standing are welcome to do so. Please contact the President and ask to be added animals with excellent meat conformation, above-average to the meeting list for the ISBONA Board of Directors. fertility, superb milking qualities in the ewes, and, of course, Thanks for your interest! amazing fleeces. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this issue of the ISBONA newsletter are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of ISBONA, its Board of Directors, or the editor. No endorsement of these views is implied by publication. The editor welcomes submissions of alternate viewpoints. 2 Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America - Fall 2017 Volume 22, Issue 2 Message from the President reetings fellow ISBONA members, new and old. This past 6 months has been a very busy time for your board of directors, having completed the revision of the by-laws for your review and vote, to hopefully approve the changes. We will be conducting this year's Annual General Meeting (AGM) in a live online webinar format on November 1st . This will allow participation for all members, regardless of where they are located. The webinar meeting will also be available in a recorded version for those unable to join the live version. Your attendance is important for several reasons. Access to these revisions has been sent via email to each member prior to the webinar. They will be reviewed and questions will be answered at the AGM and in chat rooms before the voting. One of the most important revisions would be to change the voting procedure from paper mail-in ballot voting to a secure online voting in the future. This would certainly make elections and other business matters far more efficient, and less costly for the organization. So we will need you to send in this last (hopefully) paper ballot, before November 15th. Each and every vote is important. Summer has flown by and we are nearly into fall: the breeding season. Plans and pedigrees, patterns and colors, filling our daydreams and lists and spreadsheets, with hopes for a wonderful lambing season to come. With your help and the continued efforts of your board of directors, I believe we will bring new life to this organization in the coming year as well. We are looking at ideas for changing how we register our sheep, not with a different registry, but with a method that will help our membership organization financially. We are implementing your idea for chat room forums for communicating with each other to share ideas and questions/ answers. Ensuring the continued success, growth, and improvement of the North American Icelandic sheep flock continues to be our focus. Helping new shepherds and supporting experienced ones is a priority. As many of you know, this will be my 23rd lambing season coming up. It is still as exciting planning those matings now as it was when I began. My commitment to ISBONA is also as firm as when it began. I hope that by bringing the ISBONA organization into a more current and pertinent format, it will, in turn, bring you along in your dedication to these wonderful sheep, their shepherds, and ISBONA as well. Best wishes for a great breeding season. As winter eventually comes along, may you have sweet dreams of new lambs to fill your barns and pastures. Be well, Elaine Newsletter Ad Rates Submission Guidelines Size Price Send articles/illustrations/photographs to Laura Walsh, [email protected] Full Page Color $200 Ads: Send camera-ready ad, all photos grayscale to: Terri Carlson, [email protected] 1/2 Page Color $100 —AND— Send payment (see chart) in US or Canadian funds to: Full Page B/W $35 Marge Jackson, Eight Pond Farm P.O. Box 194, Hermann MO 65041 2/3 Page B/W $30 1/2 Page B/W $25 Upcoming Newsletter Deadlines 1/3 Page Ad $20 Spring 2018 January 15, 2018 1/4 Page Ad $15 Fall 2018 July 15, 2018 1/8 Page Ad $10 3 Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America - Fall 2017, Volume 22, Issue 2 ISBONA CALENDAR WINTER January January 15 - Deadline for article and ad submissions for the spring newsletter. February Stay warm & enjoy your sheep! March Prepare for lambing. Look for the handy tear-out guide in the spring newsletter! SPRING April April showers bring lush pastures! May May 30 - Tentative date for the spring board meeting. June Enjoy your sheep! SUMMER July July 15 - Deadline for article and ad submissions for the fall newsletter. Keep your sheep cool and happy! August August 1 - MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL DEADLINE September Take photos of your sheep in their full fleeces. AUTUMN October October 15 - FINAL REMINDER FOR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL. November Stay warm & enjoy your sheep! December Enjoy the holiday season! 4 Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America - Fall 2017 Volume 22, Issue 2 —-Membership Form—- 2017-2018 ISBONA Membership Fees Memberships run from August 1 through July 31. Junior Membership * ISBONA newsletter subscription * access to all ISBONA activities * member-only discussion group * no voting privileges * restricted to under age 18 Newsletter Membership * ISBONA newsletter subscription * access to all ISBONA activities * member-only discussion group * no voting privileges Full/Web Membership * ISBONA newsletter subscription * access to all ISBONA activities * member-only discussion group * listing in online breeders directory * one vote per membership * requires CLRC flock code Please check one: From the Editor ___ New Membership ___ Renewal Name _____________________________________ It's fall! Here in Michigan that means autumn color drives, apple orchards, cider mills... and knowing Address ___________________________________ that snow could appear any minute. On the farm, Phone_____________________________________ it means shearing is done and my wool room is stuffed with fleeces to sort. Some will be headed to Email _____________________________________ the local fleece fair, others to a mill for processing, Website (if applicable)_________________________ and a select few will stay with me for my own use. Farm Name (if applicable) ______________________ I'll be honest... if I had my way I would keep each and every one! But then there would be no room Flock Code (if applicable) ______________________ for the spinning wheel, loom, baskets of half- Please check one: completed projects… ___ Junior Membership $5/1 year (no multi-year memberships) Speaking of projects, what a fantastic newsletter we ___ Newsletter Membership have put together! We have step-by-step tutorials $20/1 year, $57/3 years, $95/5 years on washing fleece and tanning pelts at home, and ___ Full Membership profiles of three fiber artists in Iceland and the $30/1 year, $81/3 years, $135/5 years beautiful things they create with wool. And, if you Payments can be made online through our website, login to the ISBONA website, you'll find even more www.ISBONA.com, or by mail (checks payable to love for your fiber in past issues. Check out Winter ISBONA) to: 2007 for instructions on some lovely Swedish ISBONA mittens, and Winter 2006 for sock-making! c/o Rosemary Brown 4500 County Rd 115 Whatever your woolly goals, I hope you will enjoy Meeker, CO 81641 this issue, and as always, enjoy your sheep! Laura Walsh Jolly Jumbuck Farm 5 Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America - Fall 2017, Volume 22, Issue 2 ISBONA Welcome! to our new members! Sheila Beard Sonya Hoie Beau Bibeau Susan Hmurciakova Jared Bushey Thomas & Sue Hunter Thomas Cheney & Kyla Durham Andrew Imbrunnone Debra Coyle Patricia Kim Dennis & Robyn Crowningshield Germaine Krysiewicz Lori Cumming Kim Lafolette Jose deLeon Kate Lunde Elizabeth Gamble Susan Maley Carrie Gault & Donna Cole Jeannette Many Horses Wayne Gentry Tanya Sanders Jayna Graham David Templeman Ellen Guttormson John & Sarah Scott Jeffery Hanavan Christina Taylor Sheila Hannesson & Connor Stama Nick Toyn Alicia Herman Babette Turk Please Note: The tattoo letter for the year 2017 is E. If you have sheep from previous years that you wish to tattoo/register, the letters from the last few years are: 2013 (A), 2014 (B), 2015 (C) 2016 (D).