The Story of Bonnie's Fleece

It was October 2002 and VV Bonnie had just returned from the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival. She was a fluffy ball of sumptuous soft, curly fiber that was showing signs of turning into clumps of mats. Up on the stand Bonnie hopped and, after several swipes with a sharp scissors from front to back, backbone to tummy, Bonnie was "clipped" and her fleece gently laid in a box and placed on a shelf.

About this same time, Janell Casey of Fantasy Fibers purchased a "dehairing" machine and the door was opened for commercially removing prickly guard hair from Pygora fleeces--a major time and energy break-through! Early Summer, 2003 (after Bonnie had had a second haircut and joined her new family in Lake Oswego, OR), her first fleece came off the shelf and all pieces of grass, seeds and shaft were carefully removed from each lock. Then, off to Fantasy Fibers it went where it was washed, dehaired and blended with 10% fine Merino wool into soft, smooth roving.

This very special blended fiber was placed in a colorfully-lined box and taken to the Pygora vendor booth at the 2003 OR Flock & Fiber Festival. A skilled spinner spotted it there and was intrigued by its appearance and "hand". She bought the roving and took it back to Jacksonville, OR, offering to send a sample of the yarn she spun from it. Thus, in a year, Bonnie's fleece had gone from her back and eventually was turned into lovely yarn that could be used to create any number of marvelous things.

A double-plied skein of Bonnie's fiber wound with a Navajo ply.

The Jacksonville spinner wrote: "I really enjoyed spinning your Pygora. What a lovely, soft fiber. I will buy more next time."

Contact Verdant Vistas for your own fabulous Pygora fiber!