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the connecticut blanket



2024 blanket




If you have any interest in the blanket or other products you might like to your wool used for please join us on February 1, 2025 at the Blue Ribbon Forum & 4-H Sheep Day. There will be a Wool Quality Workshop and a break-out session/Q&A about the blankets and how we can proceed in the future. The current group of dedicated organizers are getting old and no longer capable of climbing up in the towers to stuff the wool bags so we need some younger helpers.


Plan NOW as 2025 wool collection will be Sunday, June 1st


Things to keep in mind for the 2025 wool collection
  • The area we have to work in is very small so please be prepared plus we have to be done & out of there by 2pm so don't show up at 12:30 with a boat load of wool. Done & out means wool bags sewn up, labeled, stacked on the upper level of the barn, equipment put away and floor swept, list of bags by color, pounds, how many bags total and a picture taken of all of them.
  • We will need you to let us know how many fleeces you have and approximately how many pounds so we can allot the proper amount of time for you. White or Natural Color will be helpful as well.
  • YOUR WOOL ABSOLUTELY MUST BE SKIRTED AHEAD OF TIME. We spent way to much time again in 2024 inspecting fleeces and your fleeces should be skirted well enough to dump from the bag, we give it a yes or a no and off the the scale to be packed it goes. We rejected alot of wool again this year because producers didn’t do a good job skirting.
  • Make sure it is at least 2.5" long with a maximum 6". Wool from dual coated breeds must be separated so as only to have the softer undercoat, NO guard hairs, no kempy wool. We do not accept wool classified as Carpet wool. Check it for wool break.
  • We are still working diligently to find options for larger sizes.
  • In order to process custom orders mill requires a minimum of 1800 lbs so please we barely squeaked by this year.
  • Email smurray@ctsheep.com with your poundage, and any other questions.
  • The 2024 pattern will be a lighter version of the 2023 Natural with the white stripes. The sizes available will be Queen, Full and Long Throw. The Lap Throw is now done out of house and cannot be guaranteed to be finished to ship with the rest of the order so to make things simple we will not be ordering them.


future of the blanket



The original big problem....I hear it all the time. It is a long story but it began when the mill, Wheelock Textiles, that had been producing our blankets for a very long time received a rent increase that was high enough that they could no longer afford to stay in business. We found this out 2 weeks before the scheduled 2022 wool collection date and the search began in earnest to find another mill to work with. Our search led us across the country and even to Prince Edward Island in Canada but there were stumbling blocks. Wheelock managed to make a deal with American Woolen Company in Stafford Springs to weave blankets for us but their looms are only wide enough to produce Long Throws. We gave in, knowing that customers were going to be looking for the blankets and in December of 2023 we received the blankets along with scarves which made full use of the fabric. Knowing we had wool coming in 2023 we kept looking and ended up sending the wool to MacAusland’s Woollen Mills on Prince Edward Island in Canada who can at least make us Queens, Fulls and Throws in addition to the Long Throws. There is a mill in Manchester, New Hampshire that purchased Wheelock's king size loom and would love to work with all of us (CT Blanket, Rhody Warm & MA Baaay Blanket) and another company that has been doing the washing and drying of the fabric, so what's the problem???? There is another machine required called a Napper which brushes the fabric to give it that fuzzy appearance and the one that Wheelock had was destroyed by the landlord when Wheelock couldn't get it out of the building by the landlord's deadline. What it boils down to is someone in New England needs to buy a wide Napper and hire an experienced operator for it.​



The wool is usually collected at UConn in late May to early June where it is inspected for cleanliness, structure, length and more and then packed away in large wool bags. The bags, each weighing over 100 pounds up to about 200 pounds are shipped out to begin the processes of washing, drying, carding, spinning and weaving. We will re-evaluate the 2024 offerings once the 2023 edition is completed and we get feedback from the farms.



The Connecticut Blanket is a cooperative project open to members of the Connecticut Sheep Breeders Association, Inc. which adds to the sustainability of member shepherds' farms by obtaining a value-added product from the wool of their sheep. Based on the amount of wool contributed the shepherds create an order for the sizes they want and when finished the blankets are sorted out into those orders and delivered to them to do with as they please. There is a list of farms that participated in the most recent blanket as well as information from farms that have asked to have their contact information for selling their Connecticut Blankets at the bottom of this page and also on the Marketplace Classifieds page If more information is needed please contact the Blanket Inventory Coordinator via email at smurray@ctsheep.com.


See the slide show below for a few parts of the process.



6 bags of wool ready to go



the burnham hill on the loom



a bag of wool not quite full



nbc Connecticut crew with peter sepe, vivienne mc garry and a freshly shorn fleece



a wool quality workshop for 4-h members



Yes sir, yes sir more than 3 bags full



quality control at the skirting table



inspecting the wool



the following farms contributed their wool to
the 2024 Connecticut Blanket



Sue & Dale DeCarli, Higganum River Homestead Farm, Higgamnum

Mark, Janet, Evan Dudley, Dudlely Family Farm, Guilford

Jessica Glass & Dave Raymond, Hildred's Farm, South Windsor

Susan & Chris Hermonot, North Franklin

Melissa Higgins, Birds of a Feather, Coventry

Sherri Holmberg, Epona Farm, Bethel

IndianRock Nature Preserve, Bristol

Karen Kalenauskas, Karen's Lambs LLC, Watertown

Alan Lovejoy & Jennifer Law, Wetawanchu Brook Farm, Falls Village

Regina Malsbary, Turtle Creek Farm, Coventry

Robert & Vivienne McGarry, Cold Goats Farm, Haddam Neck

Montessori School of Greater Hartford, Millstream Farm, New Hartford

Raine Pedersen, Hilltop Meadow Farm, East Hartland

Nick Pouder, Mayapple Hill Farm, New Milford

Peter & Carol Sepe, Sepe Farm LLC, Sandy Hook

Sara Tomis, SapStone Farm, LLC, Preston

University of Connecticut, Storrs



more blanket information



BLANKET CARE

To clean your blanket DO NOT put it in your washing machine. Agitation, soap & water temperature changes make felt. You can take it to the dry cleaners or you can dry clean it at home in your dryer using dry cleaning sheets from brands such as Dryell, Woolite and others. Some people put a sheet over it to help keep it clean and then on a nice sunny day hang it outdoors on a clothesline, over a railing, several lawn chairs, etc.


THE FOLLOWING FARMS HAVE BLANKETS FOR SALE

* has Facebook page


FAIRFIELD COUNTY


SEPE FARM, LLC *

Sandy Hook

www.sepefarm.com

pasepe@juno.com


HARTFORD COUNTY


HILDRED'S FARM

South Windsor

hildreds.farm@gmail.com


MELHURST FARM

Broad Brook

albert_grant@sbcglobal.net


LITCHFIELD COUNTY


WETAWANCHU BROOK FARM

Falls Village

lawlovejoy@comcast.net

860-824-0620


MIDDLESEX COUNTY


COLD GOATS FARM *

Haddam Neck

www.coldgoatsfarm.com

vivmcgarry@gmail.com


NEW LONDON COUNTY


COUTRY CLUB FARM *


Stonington

horsesnhockey@sbcglobal.net


TOLLAND COUNTY


TURTLE CREEK FARM

Coventry

rmalsbary@comcast.net


WHITE BIRCH FARM

Coventry

rferguson03@snet.net


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Connecticut Sheep Breeders Association



Webmaster - smurray@ctsheep.com