the connecticut blanket

The Connecticut Blanket is a 100% wool blanket made from the fleeces of sheep owned by members of the Connecticut Sheep Breeders Association, Inc. and is sponsored by the Association to benefit our members by pooling their wool and having a value added product to sell to aid in the sustainability of their farm.

The wool is collected in early June at UCONN where it is inspected for cleanliness, structure, length and more. Once packed away in large wool bags it is trucked to South Carolina where it is scoured (washed) and returned to New England for carding, spinning, weaving, fulling, napping and cutting into blankets. The blankets are available in King, Queen, Full, Twin, Long Throw, Throw, Baby and Scarf. Each year a new pattern is chosen but it is always a light and dark combination as we do not dye the wool.

2020 Connecticut Blanket Update

I need input from any of you that want to participate.

Keep in mind your farm & your sheep must be in Connecticut and you must be a member of CSBA,Inc. when the wool is collected.

When & where to collect are the issues given the virus concerns and the limitations set by it. The first obstacle is that UConn is not available to use, meaning the large scale necessary to weigh the bags, the indoor storage, the crew & its fork loader to load the bags onto the truck when the time comes are not available either.

For trucking purposes RI is not doing a blanket this year but Massachusetts will go with whenever we decide to.

Our blanket committee suggested maybe we should collect in the Fall, maybe November after all the fairs and Fiber Festival of New England are over was mentioned. At this point many of the fairs are already canceled and Fiber Festival of NE is still planning to go on pending restrictions that may be in place at the time.

Since we haven't been getting our blankets in time for the holiday season, my guess is that going with a Fall date and using the 7 month time frame (usually mid June to January) would get blankets back to us around April. It would allow people that usually miss getting their sheep sheared by June to participate as well as those who shear in the fall. It would give people who aren't earning as much, because they are furloughed or otherwise not working, a chance to hopefully be back earning so they feel they can participate without straining their finances.

If you are interested in participating this year PLEASE EMAIL smurray@ctsheep.com BY SATURDAY, MAY 16th with your ideas, thoughts, other solutions, and whether you prefer summer or fall collection.

Thank you!