Connecticut Sheep Breeders Association, Inc.

The Connecticut Blanket Project

The purpose of the Connecticut Blanket project is to educate members of CSBA, Inc. about wool handling and to assist them in marketing quality wool from their sheep for a reasonable price.

The Connecticut Blanket was manufactured originally by Charles House in Unionville, Connecticut. The wool for the blanket was collected from Connecticut farms, mostly from members of the Connecticut Sheep Breeders Association. When the company went out of business in 2001, Charles House suggested that CSBA might be interested in continuing the blanket.

The CSBA Connecticut Blanket Project began with wool collected in the fall of 2002, producing the first blankets in the winter of 2003 and has continued each year to the present day. Over 2000 blankets have been produced since 2003. The Connecticut Blanket Project has helped Sheep Associations in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to start producing blankets in their states from their wool.

To produce the blankets, the fleeces from each sheep are sheared, skirted, and cleaned individually at each farm which may take about 1 hour per fleece. All the wool is inspected at the University of Connecticut livestock barn, and if the wool is acceptable, it is weighed and packed into tall plastic bags for shipping by a dedicated group of volunteers. Approximately 200 pounds of wool fill each bag. The wool is then shipped out for scouring (cleaning) and then yarn is spun, the blankets are woven, fulled, napped, and cut in seven sizes from baby blankets to king size. Finally, these blankets are distributed to the participants so they can be sold by the shepherds at their farms. The complete list of farms is below.

The blankets are available in baby 45”x 45”, throw 45” x 60”, long throw 45”x 72”, twin 72” x 90”, full 80” x 90”, queen 90” x 90”, and king 106”x 90”. Each blanket comes with a Connecticut Blanket label and is packed in a zippered plastic bag with a numbered certificate listing the farms. A different balanced pattern of dark and light natural colored wool is chosen each year. Customers not only buy blankets for their own beds, but also buy them for gifts for weddings, birthdays, graduations, showers, retirement, boats, cottages, housewarmings, or stadium. Many blankets are bought for friends or relatives who no longer live in Connecticut.

The state-wide project allows sheep producers of both small and large flocks to contribute to the project. So even a shepherd with just a few sheep may be able to get one of these special blankets made for the cost of making the blanket. But each shepherd must know about how to care for wool throughout the year and how to clean the fleece before bringing their wool to the University of Connecticut. There are Wool Quality Workshops scheduled each year for this purpose. Please contact Jo Judd via email if you are interested in participating in the 2010 blanket, or call her at 860-684-2124.

The following farms currently have blankets for sale:

New London County
Kindred Crossings LLC, c/o Lisa Kowalyshyn

www.kindredcrossingsfarm.com
860-642-4243
Baby, Long Throw, Twin, Full, Queens & Kings

Tolland County

Winterbrook Farm, c/o Jo Judd

860-684-2124

2009 Participating Farms

 Series #7 CT Blanket

Series #6 CT Blanket

Series #8 CT Blanket

shading may vary slightly