What do you do with fiber dregs? Since my early spinning days, I’ve been saving these bits and pieces for drumcarding into batts.
Super Cute Baby Giraffe Felting Kit. Easy and truly adorable :) This kit is designed specially for beginners. No prior knowledge of felting is required. Discover the joyful art of needle felting with this fun, easy, step-by-step needle felted toy kit! In the event that you've never gotten a felting needle, let our nitty gritty bit by bit directions guide you, telling you the best way to transform the spinning wool into a creation you will be proud of. Let me warn you - It is adictive :) This kit will take aproxmately 1-3 hours to make, offering a superb method to unwind following a difficult or boring day. Whenever you've finished one of our needle felting kits, you will have all the essential strategies and aptitudes expected to proceed with this quieting creations. Gift the complete kit to a craft-loving friend, or wrap up your own finished piece as a lovingly handmade present. We recommend adult supervision for anyone under the age of 12 due to the sharp needles included. You can buy separately leather finger protectors to avoid pinching yourself with the needle. Every kit contains: - Spinning wool : yellow/brown or yellow/black - Eyes - Wire - Instructions in English Optional: Felting mat + 2 needles Hanging string and wire Wooden needle holder + 1 needle (random color) Leather finger protectors Gift wrap Finished design: Approximately 7-8 cm tall Please note, if you buy quite a few items and postage adds up too much I will refund the excess
Do you find yourself with a lot of wool but you don't know how to use it? We provide you with plenty of alternative uses for wool around the homestead.
Beginning Spinning: Tips and tricks for the beginner I started spinning a few months ago and thought I would share with you my progress and a few things I have learned. Hopefully, this will encoura…
Border Leicester roving that has been hand dyed in a lovely red and carded with white . This is a silky open fiber with a lovely luster. It has been picked of any large vm before washing and dyeing and carding. This fiber comes from uncoated sheep. The Border Leicester is a dual purpose breed, producing both meat and wool. Border Leicester wool falls in long, shining locks that are popular with hand spinners. Perfect for adding texture to spinning, weaving, or felting! They have a regal, alert appearance. The head and legs are free of wool, and its arched Roman nose and long ears give the Border Leicester a stylish, distinctive look. The Border Leicester breed is descended from the longwool breeds of Leicestershire England. The rest of the lineage is a bit unresolved as far as which other breeds were introduced to create today’s Border Leicester. The breed was established in 1767.
This title sounds very 'Fifty Shades of Sheep'. Anyone reading in the hope of a bit of sheep porn will be disappointed. When we were first going out, while out on a romantic country walk, my beloved did once push me into a ditch and hurdle a wall in pursuit of a sheep, crying 'Flossie, come back, she means nothing to me!' Reader, I married him. I dithered for a week after my spinning day course with Claire Boley, then bit the bullet and bought an Ashford Traveller Wheel. This is not so big as to clutter the sitting room and it has a double treadle, which I found easier than the single I tried at Claire's. I also bought standard cloth, curved hand carders and a jumbo flywheel and bobbin. The latter two were intended for the thick yarn I expected to spin and I am very glad I got them, as the jumbo flyer is much more forgiving than the regular size and you can use it with standard bobbins. The picture shows two standard bobbins with singles about to be plied onto the jumbo bobbin. The wheel comes as a flat pack with an alarming array of parts, enough to scare an IKEA veteran. However, the instructions are very clear, it took a couple of hours, but I only had to redo a couple of steps along the way and the process did give me a fair understanding of how it works. Claire had taught us using a raw fleece and explained they only cost a few pounds each from the Wool Marketing Board. No luck working out who or where to go to in South Wales and I learned that shearing the local sheep won't happen til May. Despondent, I searched eBay and found there are quite a few people selling anything from small amounts of fleece to whole sheep's worth from their own flocks, shorn last summer. The starting price seems to be £5-£10, but watching from the background, I see gorgeously desirable whole fleeces might go for £50. I bought two, both weighing 2kg for £7 each from Jacob X Texel sheep at Huxtable Farm, which is in Devon and has a website www.huxtablefarm.co.uk The fleeces arrived very quickly. When I got them out of the bags, they felt slightly damp and smelled sheepy, but after being laid out on old duvets, they quickly dried and no longer smelled and I gather this is all normal when you have to post fleece in plastic bags. You are supposed to sort a fleece, dividing it up into the best wool from the shoulders, the weathered, longer wool from the back and the shorter stuff from the legs and belly. I couldn't make head nor tail of either of my new purchases, but I was thrilled to bits with them and decided to get going with carding and spinning whatever parts came to hand. The picture is of about half a fleece, all I have left now. The wool falls into locks, which you pull out,trying not to disturb the others too much. The teaspoon is just to give an idea of scale, not a necessary bit of kit. It is also unnecessary to wash the wool first, in fact, as I found at Claire's, it is easier to spin 'in the grease' than with prepared clean roving. The lanolin the sheep produce is soothing on dry hands and you can pick out the odd bit of grass or dead insect as you go. These were nice fleeces with hardly any debris. I have read instructions on washing fleeces first, but unless you want to dye 'in the wool' or are especially squeamish, I can't see why you would bother. I think people are born with a particular level of squeamishness, my husband throws up if he smells the waste food recycling bucket, winces when he opens the dishwasher door and back in the day, needed rubber gloves, a clothes peg and tongs to change a nappy. I listened to a Radio 4 broadcast in which a researcher said that a person's levels of disgust equated to many other traits, including their politics. People who are easily disgusted are more right wing than those who are not. Certainly holds true in my family. Anyway, first the wool fibres are aligned by carding into rolags. My first fleece was spun into thick, uneven singles, but oh, the lovely varied browns and greys! Once I had plied two singles into rather uneven, very chunky wool, I wound it into a skein and secured it in four places with cotton ties. The picture is of a skein I made today, it is much better than my first attempts, but still very amateur. The wool mustn't go into hot water or be stirred around or the fibres all fix together as felt. Ordinary washing up liquid will wash out the dirt and grease, put it all in a big pot with hand hot water and bring it up to 80-90 degrees centigrade over the course of an hour. As you see, the water is a brown soup with all the grub that comes off raw fleece and the actual wool changes colour. Let the water cool back down to about 40 degrees, hand hot, before rinsing in three changes of hand hot tap water, squeeze out the wool and hang up to dry. It is important to know how fast the water is heating up and how hot it has got. I started with a kitchen thermometer, but this is really meant for sugar cookery at much higher temperatures, so the bit I needed to see was way down the bottom and with repeated scrubbing, the writing wore away. By chance I saw a glass rod thermometer with the numbers inside the glass, so they won't wear off and a temperature range just up to 110 degrees. It is perfect, good for giving things a gentle stir too. It is from a brewing company called Young's U Brew, I can't see the thermometer on their website www.youngshomebrew.co.uk but no doubt you could get one if you emailed. It only cost £3.99 on the market where I got mine. Once the skein of wool has dried, it will have shrunk a bit in length and may have felted slightly. However it is all clean and soft and ready to roll into a ball and start knitting. Since I have used up most of my first two fleeces, I would really like to buy a fleece from a South Wales sheep, if you have one to spare. Short of that, I feel quite at liberty to go back to eBay and ogle some handsome rams. Cor, look at the fleece on that! Afterword Raw sheep fleece may carry germs. If you are pregnant or in a poor state of health, I understand you are advised not to handle it. If you are in good health, I suppose you can take your chances. Dogs and cats also carry germs, but I still stroke them. Children are the worst disease vectors, mine have even given me nits. Final note - this is not actually 'spinning in the grease' - see post of 5 July 2013 when I had learnt more.
25 Scrap Yarn Projects to use up all those bits of Leftover Yarn
Spin-Off’s Summer 2007 issue had an article on what’s been called, among other things, fractal spinning. Multicoloured rovings/tops, while beautiful, often come out looking muddied or b…
Just added it to 'you know where'! It's super wash merino, coiled around a commercial yarn with added bits of silk throwsters waste every here and there :)
Allowing the front garden to grow wild looked delightful earlier this Spring, a succession of bulbs bloomed in the lawn to the admiration of at least some of my neighbours. Now things are getting that bit too shaggy, crossing the line between naturalised and neglected. Ivy has grown over the wall and nobody appreciates walking into a wet slap of leaves. After I cut back the worst, it occurred to me that I had read somewhere you can make dye from ivy leaves. Taking a tea break, I found a page all about ivy in Jenny Dean's book, Wild Colours. Jenny writes that ivy leaves and berries will dye an equal weight of material and are best suited to animal fibres. There were few berries left on the pruned branches, though easily enough leaves to fill my dye pot. They weighed about 300g. Adding water, I put the pot on the stove to simmer and went looking for some test fibres to soak ready for dyeing. Lifting the lid an hour or so later, the leaves had softened and the rising steam had a tang of rhubarb about it, so something was being extracted, although the water in the pot had no apparent colour at all. Testing a sample with pH indicator paper showed the ivy had at least made the clear fluid acidic. Adding dissolved soda ash to another sample worked like magic, a lucent yellow green instantly appeared in the jar. A teaspoonful of soda ash brought the pH of the dye pot up to neutral, green colour appeared and convinced me there was dye in there, so I added my trial fibres in with the ivy leaves and turned the heat back on. Giving the pot a stir ten minutes later, the green glow in the water had all disappeared again and the fibres hadn't taken on any colour at all. That rhubarb smell in the steam must mean acid release, because indicator paper showed the pH had already dropped back down to acid. I added another teaspoon of soda ash, completed the hour of simmering and left the pot overnight. Next morning, the fibres had gone green and the dye bath fluid looked brown, though when I retested it, once again, its pH had become acidic. I suspect that my two teaspoonsfuls of soda ash provided far too little alkali to counterbalance the acidity from stewed ivy leaves and that my attempt to alkanise the bath had had little effect on the overall ivy dye process. Here is how the fibres looked straight from the dye bath - from the left, two skeins of alum mordanted wool yarn, next, one iron premordanted skein and one copper premordanted skein and the piece of linen mordanted with alum acetate. The unmordanted cotton fabric had not taken up significant colour. I divided one of the alum mordanted skeins into two smaller skeins and one short length. The short length was soaked for 20 minutes in an alkali solution. One small skein was briefly reheated with an iron solution to modify its colour and the other was modified with a little copper solution. Here is the final result of ivy leaf dye using twice as much weight of leaves as wool. On the left, alum premordanted skein with a bit on top that was modified with alkali after dyeing - far from improving the colour, it diminished it. Bottom row, a brownish version on the iron premordanted wool and a good green from the copper premordant, then just to mix things up, the two small skeins on top show a bright green from alum premordant and copper modifier and a dull green from alum mordant and iron modifier. Ivy leaves are plentiful, more are coming over the wall already, it's good to know I can make green dye all year round. In future, I shall not be adding any soda ash, just trusting that the colour will develop once the wool is in with the softened leaves. I would certainly consider copper a useful premordant. As a modifier, copper took effect much more quickly than usual - I am only just realising that to modify dyes well with copper, you really need to add it in an acidic bath. Here's a green wool heart for the Green Man as he dies and lives in the force of Spring.
N° 1 : "Introduction" I admit it. I love wool. It’s true that I have a bit of a preference for Ouessant wool. But, it must be s...
handspun mitties
What do a rug, a sweater, and a pair of mittens all have in common? They can all be made from wool, or the hair of a sheep. Don’t let your children be ignorant about where things come from.
The Lazy Milliner tips us off to these colorful felted balls Turvid whipped up for her kids using bits and pieces of wool yarn. I love the marbleized look
I was going to put this up last Thursday but somehow it’s already Monday. Not quite sure how that happened! The nice part is it’s now perfectly timed so that you can cast on a fun thrummed project — I just released Cadeautje, the third pattern in the Knitworthy collection. Use a non-superwash wool that feels nice and
A gorgeous marled 2-ply yarn made from a blend of 100% American non-superwashed wool from finer breeds like Merino, Targhee and Corriedale. Hand-dyed by Peg & Amanda in small batches and spun at their mill in White River Junction, VT. Each skein is unique. Multiple skeins are pictured to show color differentiation, this listing is for a single skein of yarn.
This colorway is a Babette: every skein and every batch is a bit different, but Babs has a method of recreating these artistic colorways. The photograph is an example of representative skeins from this colorway; the skein you receive may differ somewhat. If you have any questions about the color, please give us a call or email to ask for a photo - we are always happy to describe our current batch for you to make sure it meets your needs!Yowza You'll be saying "Yowza! These skeins are BIG!" when you see this yarn. Plied from soft superwash Merino wool, Yowza is excellent for sweaters, accessories, and baby items. Yowza has a smooth hand that works well for textured stitching. Size: 560 yd / 8 oz (512m / 227g) skeins Content: 100% superwash Merino wool Gauge: DK weight. 5.25-6 stitches per inch knit on US 5-7, 3-4 stitches per inch crocheted on US 7-I. Care Instructions: Machine wash gentle. This yarn should be dried flat for best results.
Border Leicester roving that has been hand dyed in a lovely turquoise and carded with white . This is a silky open fiber with a lovely luster. It has been picked of any large vm before washing and dyeing and carding. This fiber comes from uncoated sheep. The Border Leicester is a dual purpose breed, producing both meat and wool. Border Leicester wool falls in long, shining locks that are popular with hand spinners. Perfect for adding texture to spinning, weaving, or felting! They have a regal, alert appearance. The head and legs are free of wool, and its arched Roman nose and long ears give the Border Leicester a stylish, distinctive look. The Border Leicester breed is descended from the longwool breeds of Leicestershire England. The rest of the lineage is a bit unresolved as far as which other breeds were introduced to create today’s Border Leicester. The breed was established in 1767.
Choosing a new spinning wheel is an investment. This list of Great Spinning Wheels for Beginners will help you narrow it down!
If you like to learn how to dye with nettles, this blogpost is for you. You can use nettles as a dyestuff for both wool and fabric...
There's going to be a quiz. I thought that a diagram of parts with labels was appropriate for this time of year when teenagers all over ...
Making felted fleece rugs from our happy sheep's wool by a wet felting technique using hot water, hard work and love means we can offer them for sale in our shop
Optical Illusion Discs What is reality? Do our eyes see the world accurately? Our vision interprets the world for us but it doesn't always perceive what is really there. Optical illusions prove this fact. Our eyes trick our brain to see things that are not there. In this blog posting, I have included 20 different discs that can be spun to create different optical illusions. I have also included four discs that can be colored to create your own optical illusions. Try coloring different sections of the circle with different colors. Increase and decrease the section sizes. Experiment to find interesting color combinations and ask others to view your optical illusions to find out if they perceive things differently. Here is the PDF. I cut the platform from 65 lb. cardstock (110 lb. cardstock can also be used). The optical illusion images were printed on ordinary copy paper. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RqrS8kvLokH_JHAl_LVqc7Bok-bAEC2M/view?usp=sharing Here is the .Studio file. I cut the optical illusion platform with the Silhouette software. I used scissors to cut out the discs from the PDF file. It is not necessary to have a perfect circle as it is time consuming to print and cut each page individually. If you do want a perfect circle, use registration marks on each page, print the page and then cut that page with the Silhouette software. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KQteNTqb_OLQkU59engtZCGUGsmSUXT8/view?usp=sharing Here is the SVG. https://drive.google.com/file/d/18FmY1ZK8WOoMdvpBA5eYxQzeHxt1PW2F/view?usp=sharing To make the optical illusion platform: Cut out the platform pieces. Apply glue to the axle tab as shown above. Fold the tab flat to adhere the glue and then make it into a tube. Insert the tube into the large circle and glue down the tabs. Allow the glue to dry before proceeding. Insert the other end of the tube into the small circle circle as shown. Apply glue to the tabs. Adhere the tabs down with tweezers. Completed platform. Allow the glue to dry before using the platform. Apply some Glue Dots to the platform. Adhere one of the optical illusion platform. Insert the pointed end of a pencil into the tube. Spin the optical illusion disc by rotating the edge of the circle. Here are some observations about the optical illusion discs. Spinning Spirals Rotate in one direction and the spirals seem to expand. Rotate in the opposite direction and the spirals seem to contract. If you shift your gaze to another object, it will appear to expand if your spiral was shrinking or shrink if your spiral was expanding. This phenomenon is known as the aftereffect. Your brain and eyes can not react quickly enough to stop the action. Spinning Spirals Spirals spin in opposite directions. When you stop the disc, the spirals appear to pulsate. Colors will appear in spinning bands. In 1838, a scientist named G.T. Fechner discovered that when a circular disc with black and white lines were spun, imaginary colors appeared. He initially thought he would just see shades of gray. These effects are called Fechner lines. Scientists believe that your brain can not process the black and white images quickly enough. Your brain gets mixed up and believes that colors are present. As the disc spins, the colors may not appear if the disc is not spinning fast enough or the light in the room is not sufficient or too bright. There are many factors which effect your eyesight and different people may see it differently because of the way their eyes focus. Benham's Top Colors will appear as bands. When spun clockwise, the inner band is red, the next is green, yellow and the outer band is blue. Spun counter clockwise, starting from the center, blue, yellow green and red may be seen. Newton's Disc Colors will fade to grayish white when the disc is spun. Colors will fade to yellow when the disc is spun. Stereokinetic Effect The rings rotate around a different axis resulting in spatial depth. Try all of the optical illusions because "seeing is not always believing."
Scribble batt #4 65% 21 micron Merino wool 20% tussah silk, mulberry silk, milk protein, and bamboo fibre mix 15% Rambouillet wool 100g (3.5oz) A gradient of pink, peach, yellow, and green 21-micron Merino wool, mixed in with white Rambouillet wool, with plenty of dyed mulberry silk, tussah silk, and bamboo fibre Carded twice. Made in batches of ten. These are limited runs with no notes kept by me, so I won't be able to recreate them. Made with leftover bits of wool fluff and silk. You will receive a batt similar to the one pictured. Contains a mix of commercially dyed and hand-dyed fibres. Avoid very hot water as this may make some dyes bleed (this is normal) - Make sure you soak your projects and spun yarn separately to avoid and colour transfer. Designed and made by Spin Jones. Please be aware that colours can look different between computer screens and phone screens, and under different lighting conditions.
Fall 2018 issue 1 September 1st is the release date of the Fine Shetland Lace Magazine. You can find it online here (you don't need to have Dropbox, just click on the link to continue) LINK Content: The Knitter Page 3 MoniqueB Shetland Wool Week Page 6 Information and Links The Swatch Page 7 Screaming Silence... Page 9 A little story on Unst The Yarn Page 11 Jamieson & Smith The Designer Page 14 This year’s Shetland Wool Week patron: Elizabeth Johnston The Pattern Page 18 The Second One The Lace... Page 19 A bit of information A word Page 20 This is my gift to the Facebook group: Fine Shetland Lace and Shetland Stars Shawl. Also for anyone interested in Fine Shetland Lace. In this issue, there is a lot of 'me'. But, the next issue will be more diverse! Enjoy! Idea and Publisher, Editor, Art Direction, Layout, Photography unless otherwise mentioned: Monique Boonstra. Cover image: The Second One ©2018 by MoniqueB. Image on this page: Shetland Bound ©2012 by MoniqueB. This is a free of ads publication. You’re NOT allowed to copy this magazine for distribution, handouts, free gifting or ANY commercial purposes. Every part of this magazine is subject to copyright by those mentioned in this magazine and cannot be used without permission. For possible contributions, questions and remarks, please mail to [email protected]
N° 1 : "Introduction" I admit it. I love wool. It’s true that I have a bit of a preference for Ouessant wool. But, it must be said that I love wool in all its many forms : from the unbelievable fineness of a Merino to the beautiful luster of a Lincoln Longwool. And let’s not forget Shetlands and Corriedales. Yes, I love them all! That being said, my passion for wool is not without reason. Wool is a noble fiber whose textile properties have been appreciated for more than 12,000 years. For example, among its many qualities : Wool is insulating. It insulates against the cold as well as heat, thanks to the quantity of air that is trapped in its fibers. Wool keeps us warm during the winter and is pleasant to wear during the summer. Wool is an excellent regulator of humidity : it can absorb up to 30% of its weight in humidity without feeling damp. This hydrophilic property of wool allows it to breathe. Wool has excellent elasticity and memory. Thanks to these properties, garments made from wool keep their shape and resist wrinkling. Wool has a natural affinity for dye : it is a textile fiber that is easy to dye. Wool is naturally fire retardant. Wool is an all-purpose textile fiber. Wool is available in a variety of forms because every breed of sheep produces a particular type of wool that is characteristic of that breed. As a result we can find a wool to make a layette for a new born baby, a wool to make rugs, and yet another wool to make sweaters and hats. Additionally, wool is a natural resource : renewable and ecological. The special properties of sheep’s wool ensures it a place of honor among textile fibers. But what exactly is sheep’s wool? As John Bernard D’Arcy* has explained in Sheep Management and Wool Technology, “ In general, the fibers forming the covering or fleece of sheep are similar to those of other hairy-coated mammals. (...) In a general sense they are all hair fibers, but those grown by the sheep are referred to as ‘wool’.” Like hair fibers from the coats of all mammals, wool is produced from keratin and is made up of two and sometimes three distinct parts : the cuticle, the cortex, and sometime (but not always) the medulla. Cross Section of a Wool Fiber (After Fournier & Fournier, 1995 ) ** The cuticle or outer layer of the fiber is made up of scales. The scales, or rather the size of the scales, determine the luster of the fiber : as the size of the scales decrease and the number of scales increase, the luster of the wool decreases. Essentially, the size and number of the scales determine the reflective properties of the wool. For example, merino, which is known for its fineness, is a relatively mat wool : merino wool has over 2,000 scales per inch . On the other hand, the wool from a Lincoln Longwool, a breed that is know for its luster, only has 700 scales per inch.§ The cortex takes up approximately 90% of the volume of each fiber. The cortical cells are in the form of long tubes : every cortical cell contains macrofibrils, which contain microfibrils, which contain alpha-helical protein chains. This complex structure, which can make one think of a set of nested boxes, gives wool its strength and elasticity. From time to time, albeit rarely, wool can also have a medulla. The medulla is the result of incomplete keratinization which produces a more or less continuous hollow canal in the middle of the fiber. A fiber with a medulla is called a medullated fiber. It is often said that wool is not medullated and that hair is. This is not always the case. Wool can be medullated and quite often hair is not medullated. At the same time, it is often said that only coarse fibers are medullated. This statement is also not true. So, be careful about received wisdom! That being said, we should keep in mind that the presence of a medulla produces a fiber that is stiff and brittle. * D'Arcy, J. B. Sheep Management and Wool Technology. Kensington : New South Wales University Press, 1981. (p.69) § Parkes, Clara. The Knitter’s Book of Wool. New York : Potter Craft, 2009. (p.13) ** Fournier, Nola, and Jane Fournier. In Sheep's Clothing : A Handspinner's Guide to Wool. Loveland, CO : Interweave Press, 1995. (p.15) ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ N° 2 : "Primary & Secondary Fibers" Like hair fibers from all mammals, every fiber in a sheep’s fleece comes from a follicle. But it’s important to keep in mind that there are two different types of fiber producing follicles on a sheep : primary follicles and secondary follicles. The fibers produced by these two types of follicles are know as primary fibers and secondary fibers. The primary follicles develop between the 35th and 40th day of gestation : in other words, quite early in the life of the fetus. As for the secondary follicles, they don’t develop until the end of the gestation period and sometimes after birth. You can tell these two types of follicles apart not only by when they develop, but also by the types of fibers that they produce. Primary follicles that produce primary fibers, are grouped into clusters of three. The primary follicles are bigger than secondary follicles, which means that the primary fibers are thicker than the secondary fibers. The secondary follicles, which are smaller and produce finer fiber, cluster around individual primary follicles. The ratio between the number of secondary fibers to the number of primary fibers varies quite a bit between different breeds of sheep : between 3 to 50 secondary fibers for 1 primary fiber. For example, in merino sheep, the ratio is very high, with 50 secondary fibers to every primary fiber. Whereas this ratio is much lower with primitive breeds of sheep. In order to appreciate the fundamental role played by primary and secondary follicles in the construction of an Ouessant fleece, it’s very important to understand the evolution of sheep’s wool during domestication. In his study on this very subject, A. R. Bray* traces the evolution of sheep’s wool starting with the wild mouflon sheep, the ancestor of modern domesticated sheep. As Bray has said, the wild mouflon has a double coat with a very soft down coat made up of extremely fine crimped hairs that grow from the secondary follicles. These fine fibers (quite a bit finer than merino wool) are clusters around the long, thick, medullated hair fibers the grow from the primary follicles. (After Bray, 2004) * During the evolution of sheep’s fleece, a number of changes take place. First, all of the types of fibers in the fleece grow more : both longer in length and over a greater period of time. When looking at the coat of the wild mouflon, we notice that the fibers grow for a few months, then they stop growing during the winter months. In the spring, the animal molts, and then the cycle starts again. But at this stage in development all of the fibers in the sheep’s fleece grows without stopping and normally the sheep no longer sheds its fleece. At the same time there is an evolution in the follicles : the primary follicles become smaller while the secondary fibers become bigger. There is still a definite difference between the two, but it’s not as marked as it is with the mouflon. This change in the size of the follicles influences the size of the fibers produced by the respective follicles : the primary follicles produce a couple of different types of garde hair, including a fiber called a heterotype ; on the other hand, the secondary fibers produce a fine wool. It must be stressed that this type of fleece is not at all uniform : it contains a number of different types of fibers with differing diameters. This intermediate stage in the evolution of sheep’s wool corresponds with the fleece of primitive breeds of sheep. (After Bray, 2004) * Finally, if we look at a modern sheep like the merino that has been “improved” and selected to produce a very fine and uniform fleece, we will see yet again another evolutionary change of the sheep’s follicles. At this point, the primary follicles and the secondary follicles are the same size and both produce a very uniform wool. At the same time, the ratio between primary and secondary follicles changes : there’s an increased number of secondary follicles for each primary follicle. (After Bray, 2004) * And so where does all this leave our little Ouessant sheep? 'TitBijou with her amazing primitive fleece. The Ouessant sheep is neither a wild mouflon or a merino : the Ouessant sheep is a little rustic sheep with a beautiful primitive fleece. * Bray, A. R. “Fleece Types Developed During Domestication.” In The World of Coloured Sheep, The Proceedings of the 6th World Congress on Coloured Sheep, Christchurch, New Zealand, November 2004, edited by Roger S. Lundie and Elspeth J. Wilkinson, 34-37. New Zealand : The Black and Coloured Sheep Breeders’ Association of New Zealand, 2004. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ N° 3 : " The 4 Fiber Types Found in an Ouessant Fleece " As a primitive sheep, the Ouessant produces a fleece that is quite distinctive : the primary fibers form a type of outer coat and the secondary fibers make up the inner coat of wool. As I have already said in a previous article, the primary follicles produce several different types of fiber and the secondary follicles produce relatively fine wool. But what exactly are these different types of fiber that we can find in an Ouessant fleece? In general, we can identify 3 different types of fiber in an Ouessant fleece. Let’s look at the fleece of Dagobert, a castrated grey Ouessant ram. His fleece is altogether typical of an Ouessant fleece. Please note that I have chosen to look at grey Ouessant wool because it is easier to see the different types of fiber when looking at this type of fleece. That being said, we see that exact same thing in a white or black Ouessant fleece ; but it’s more difficult to show with the camera. In the following photo, I’ve tried to dissect a lock of Dagobert’s grey wool to show you the different types of fiber that can be found in an Ouessant fleece. Please click on the photo to enlarge. On the left we see a lovely lock of wool, exactly as it grows on the sheep. On the right, we see the 3 types of fibers that are found in the lock of wool. As we have already seen, the two different types of hair follicles on a sheep produce different types of fiber. In Ouessant sheep, guard hairs come from the primary follicles and wool comes from the secondary follicles. The guard hairs come in two distinct forms : heterotype fiber and hair fiber. These two types of fiber both come from primary follicles and as a result the diameter of these fibers is greater than that of the secondary fiber (wool). At the same time, these two types of guard hairs are quite a bit longer than the wool fibers, which creates a lock of Ouessant wool that has a tapered or feathered tip. To begin with, we see the long guard hairs in the fleece. These hairs, not as numerous as the heterotypes, are supple and relatively fine. The scales on these guard hairs are smooth and flat, which results in a fiber that has a certain amount of luster. The number of guard hairs varies quite a bit from animal to animal, keeping in mind that rams generally have more hair than ewes. Additionally, hair fibers tend to be found in specific parts of the fleece. For example, there are more hair fibers along the backbone, on the front of the chest, and on the sides. These hairs, which are longer and often darker than the wool can give the sheep a rather shaggy look. Marcus, a young ram born in 2010 is a good example of this. Marcus, black ouessant ram born 2010, grey and brown carrier Nevertheless, there are more heterotype fibers than hair fibers. Like the hair fiber, the heterotypes are also longer than the wool. The heterotypes are, as their name suggests, a hybrid type of fiber : the tip of the fiber looks like a hair fiber while the end that is closest to the sheep resembles a wool fiber. Heterotype fibers in Jasper's fleece It is often said that heterotype fibers as well as guard hairs, are medullated fibers. This is not true. I have had a number of laboratory tests done to determine the percentage of medullated fiber in an ouessant fleece. To be honest, I was quite surprised by the results : on average there was only 0.8 % medullated fiber in these fleeces (4 tested), which is quite low. So remember to always be wary of received wisdom! Of course, now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Knowing that medullated fibers are usually very stiff, brittle, and straight, if an Ouessant fleece contained lots of medullated fiber, the hand of the spinner would have felt them. But what this spinner has felt in an Ouessant fleece is the polar opposite of medullated fiber : I have discovered a relatively fine wool mixed with lustrous, supple fibers that look and feel oddly like mohair, a hair type fiber that is not medullated! In the following photo we can see just how much ouessant wool looks like a mixture of wool and mohair. Please click on the photo to enlarge. These two types of guard hair – heterotypes and hair – make up the outer coat of the fleece which protects the wool fibers. Ouessant wool fibers are generally quite fine and grow from the secondary follicles. This wool has prominent scales covering each fiber which causes Ouessant wool to be rather matt. Normally, we only find these 3 types of fiber in an Ouessant fleece : wool, heterotypes, and hair. Nonetheless, please be warned that there is a 4th type of fiber that sometimes can be found in an Ouessant fleece. Fortunately, this 4th type of fiber is quite rare in Ouessant wool : after having worked with over 100 different Ouessant fleeces, I have only ever found this type of fiber in one ewe’s fleece ; also, from time to time (but again very rarely) one can find this type of fiber in small quantities on the back legs of some rams. So then, what is this infamous fiber ? It’s kemp. Kemp is the vestige of the mouflon, distant ancestor of the Ouessant sheep. Kemp fibers are medullated : thick, short, brittle, stiff, and rigid. Kemp is produced by the primary follicles and they have a very short period of growth, after which they molt and mix into the wool fiber. Kemp is not at all appreciated by spinners. Without a doubt, this is one of the reasons why kemp is so seldom seen in Ouessant Sheep or for that matter in other breeds of sheep. That being said, from time to time ... they are seen in an Ouessant fleece. Much to my horror (yes, horror!), that’s exactly what I found when I sheared Chloé. Please click on the photo to enlarge. In the following photo, we can see the kemp or short hairs (that look like goat hair) that have not yet fallen out from around Chloé's neck where the wool has started to molt. Please click on the photo to enlarge. This was the first time that I removed a sheep from my flock due to an incorrect fleece. Fortunately, kemp is rarely found in an Ouessant fleece. Nonetheless, in my opinion, the presence of kemp is a serious fault in a fleece, and a conscientious breeder should not use such animals for breeding. Yes, as we have seen, the Ouessant sheep produces a fleece that is quite distinctive . And as for me I proclaim the beauty and the distinctive character of Ouessant wool. What a joy and privilege to be able to work with such amazing wool. ........................................................................................................................................ n̊ 4 : "Uniformity" As we have already seen, an ouessant fleece is quite distinctive : it consists of several different types of fiber of varying lengths and of varying fineness. The variation that is found in an ouessant fleece is the exact opposite of the uniformity that is so sought after by the textile industry. Brown and White Merino Fleece The Merino, an improved breed of sheep, is known for its fine uniform fleece. In all of the so called modern or improved breeds of sheep, uniformity has been one of the most important criteria of selection. Yet, our little ouessant sheep have never been improved. The ouessant sheep has a primitive fleece that exhibits a lack of uniformity on a number of different levels. Most notably, it has fibers of various length. It also has fibers of varying fineness. And let’s not forget the general lack of uniformity over the fleece as a whole. The lack of uniformity in fiber length is particularly striking in an Ouessant fleece. The variable fibre length of an Ouessant fleece results in the typical tapered tips of the locks. This same thing is seen in the fleeces of other primitive sheep. For example, in the following photo there is a lock of Ouessant wool with a lock of Icelandic wool on the left and a lock of Shetland wool on the right. Icelandic and Shetlands are both primitive sheep and are considered to be “cousins” of Ouessant sheep because all three of these breeds are members of the Northern European Short-Tailed group of sheep. Please click on the photo to enlarge. The tapered tips of an Ouessant fleece are the result of different types of fiber that have differing lengths. On the other hand, in a fleece from an improved or modern breed of sheep, the shape of the lock is rectangular and does not have tapering tips. These “square”, blunt tips tell us that the fleece has only one type of fibre in the lock. For example, in the following photo, there is a lock of Ouessant wool and 3 locks of wool from modern, improved breeds of sheep. Please click on the photo to enlarge. As we have already seen, an Ouessant fleece contains several different types of fiber, each having various fiber diameters. Sometimes the various fiber diameters are easy to see with the naked eye, but often they are hard to see. On the other had, in a fleece from an improved breed, the diameter of the wool varies very little : the wool can be very fine, like a Merino ; or stronger and more robust, like a Romney. In either case, the fiber diameter is homogeneous. Yet, when we look at an Ouessant fleece, we will find a mix of fibers, some being very fine and others being more robust. For example, I had some of Dagobert’s fleece tested in a laboratory. Essentially, his fleece consists of fibers that are as fine as merino wool and fibres that are as robust as Romney wool. Please click on the photo to enlarge. We can also talk about the uniformity of the fleece in general. In other words : wool from the neck will look just like wool from the side which will look just like the wool from the britch or back legs. This is exactly what we see in improved breeds of sheep : these sheep have been breed to produce a very uniform fleece so that the wool over the whole body of the sheep will be of the same quality. The Ouessant is a primitive breed of sheep, and as such there is a lot of variation in an Ouessant fleece, it is anything but uniform. For example, this year I used two rams for breeding : Chit (des Lutins du Montana) ... and Caramel... These two rams are from different lines and each one has his own particular look : Chti’s fleece is quite a bit shorter than Caramel’s ; additionally, Caramel’s fleece seems to be a lot more primitive than Chti’s. But careful! Don’t jump to any conclusions. Appearances can be deceptive! It is true the Chti’s fleece is on the whole finer and shorter than Caramel’s. That being said, we see the same thing happening in both of these fleeces. I took three fleece samples from each of these rams : one from the neck (excluding the mane), one from the side, and one from the thigh. Here are the samples taken from Caramel’s fleece : Please click on the photo to enlarge. The difference between the three samples is quite striking ! It speaks volumes ! Nonetheless, I would like to add just one comment : the wool is quite a bit finer around the neck and coarser around the thigh, without taking into account the heterotypes and the gard hair. As for Chti : Please click on the photo to enlarge. We actually see the same thing happening in Chti’s fleece that we saw in Caramel’s fleece. The sample taken from around the neck (excluding the mane) is shorter than the other samples and is in the form of a rectangle. What this means is that there is very little variation in the types of fibers in this sample. The wool is also very fine and soft. The sample taken from the side is longer than the one taken from around the neck and it has tapered tips. What this means is that there are a couple of different types of fiber in this lock of wool : in this instance, there is wool (that is the same length as the neck wool) along with quite a number of heterotypes. The sample taken from the thigh is even more outstanding than the side sample, with its length, tapering tips and multiple fiber types. Again, the wool is essentially the same length as that found on the side, but not as fine. It’s true that uniformity is not to be found in an Ouessant fleece ... Mira, Praline & Chti ... but incredible beauty ... that you will find ! ...................................................................................................................................... n̊ 5 : "Of Locks, Style, and Character" Sheep’s wool naturally grows in the form of locks. A lock of wool has a very distinctive look and to a certain extent it is the lock formation that makes for a beautiful fleece. In general, when wool is growing on the sheep, the individual fibers tend to organize themselves into small clusters of wool. These clusters or locks of wool can be seen when you spread open the fleece of a sheep. They can also be seen after shearing, when the fleece seems to naturally break apart into small clumps or clusters of fibers. Please click on the photo to enlarge. In particular, Merino wool is noted for its very distinctive, beautiful locks. But all of the so-called modern and improved breeds of sheep also have their own characteristic lock structure. Please click on the photo to enlarge. Unlike the improved breeds of modern sheep, the Ouessant sheep and his primitive cousins don’t have a distinctive lock structure. Please click on the photo to enlarge. Primitive sheep lack distinctive, well formed-locks, which makes the fleece look like a solid mass of wool. The Ouessant fleece is no exception to this rule. Jasper’s fleece is an excellent example of this lack of lock structure : Please click on the photo to enlarge. In order to separate a “lock” of ouessant wool from the fleece, you need to pull the lock out of the fleece by its long tapered tips. Even then, although the lock of wool is separated from the fleece, we can see that a lock of Ouessant wool lacks structure. Please click on the photo to enlarge. So what exactly is this structure? And why does the merino have so much of it and our little Ouessant sheep so little and so rarely? Lock structure is dependant on one thing : uniformity! For a beautiful, well structured lock, all of the fibers must line up perfectly. And in order to do this all of the fibers must be very uniform. When there are several different types of fibers of varying lengths and diameters the fibers cannot line up with each other. Additionally, the presence of these different types of fiber makes it almost impossible to see the wool’s crimp. As we have already seen, uniformity is not one of the qualities of an Ouessant fleece. So the lack of well structured locks of wool in an Ouessant fleece should not be at all surprising. That being said, from time to time we do find locks of Ouessant wool that almost have a distinctive structure. But this is relatively rare and generally only found in certain areas of the fleece, notably around the neck. For example, in the following photo, we can see a few more or less distinctive locks of wool around the neck of Chti des Lutins du Montana. Please click on the photo to enlarge. In the world of textiles, when we see well structured locks of wool that have a distinctive crimp pattern, we talk about a fleece that has style. On the other hand, we talk about a fleece’s “character” when we want to describe the overall look of a fleece : the style of the locks, the crimp pattern, and the color & feel of the wool. So even if an Ouessant fleece doesn’t have a lot a style, in my opinion, it does have a distinctive character : both soft and rustic, in a range of exquisite colors ... ...................................................................................................................................... n̊ 6 : "The Beauty of Crimp" As we have already seen, a fleece with well structured locks and a distinct crimp pattern has style. But what exactly is this wavey crimp that we can see in a lock of wool? Merino wool, renowned for its fine even crimp pattern Please click on the photo to enlarge Crimp is the term used to describe the waves or curls found in the lock of wool ; and to a large extent, crimp influences the overall look of a fleece. At the same time, the most valued qualities of wool are directly links to crimp. It’s thanks to crimp that wool is • insulating, • light, • airy, • and elastic. Generally speaking, fine wool has more crimp than coarser wool. For example, fine wool can have between 14 to 30 crimps per inch ; a medium grade wool will have between 8 to 14 ; and for coarser wools, the number of crimps per inch can vary from 1 to 8. The waves in the crimp pattern are the result of two types of cells that are at the same time similar and antagonistic : the orthocortex and the paracortex. (After Fournier & Fournier, 1995) * The orthocortex is found on the “outside” of the curve while the paracortex is found on the inside. When there are more orthocortex cells than paracortex cells, the wool has less crimp. On the other hand, when there are more paracortex cells than orthocortex cells, the wool has more crimp. The look of crimp does vary quite a bit among the different breeds of sheep. Each breed of sheep has a particular style of crimp : from the fine even crimp of the merino to the big, open curls of the gotland. Please click on the photo to enlarge. And what about the Ouessant sheep ? As we have already seen, The lack of uniformity in an ouessant fleece tends to hide the crimp. If a fleece is uniform, whether it’s a fine fleece like the merino or a medium fleece like the romney, the crimp pattern is quite distinct and easy to see. However, this is rarely the case in an Ouessant fleece. The following photo is an excellent example of this phenomenon. Please click on the photo to enlarge. Nonetheless, from time to time we can see crimp in an Ouessant fleece. Normally, we will only see crimp around the neck, where the fleece is more uniform. In the following photo, we can see 4 locks of Ouessant wool, all with a fine crimp pattern. Please note that it is more difficult to see in Caramel and Isard’s wool, even if it is easy to see with the naked eye. (It must be said that it is rather difficult to photograph crimp!) Please click on the photo to enlarge. Still more crimp, again from around the neck. This time from a white Ouessant ewe. Please click on the photo to enlarge. ... and from Chti, black Ouessant ram. Please click on the photo to enlarge. But be careful! Even if we can’t see any crimp, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t any! First, a little warning ! Crimp is quite variable in an Ouessant fleece : some sheep have more than others. But when an Ouessant fleece does have crimp, it is usually hidden in the heterogenous locks. For example, let’s look at this lock of wool from ‘TitBijou : Please click on the photo to enlarge. Basically, one would say the there isn’t any crimp in this lock. Yet, if we separate the long guard hairs from the wool, we find a very fine wool (average fiber diameter of 18 microns) that has crimp! These beautiful fibers are both very soft and elastic. Please click on the photo to enlarge. Of course, some Ouessant sheep have very little crimp. Nonetheless, generally speaking, there is crimp in an Ouessant fleece, even if it is difficult to see. * Fournier, Nola, and Jane Fournier. In Sheep's Clothing : A Handspinner's Guide to Wool. Loveland, CO : Interweave Press, 1995. (p.15)
Maori is a blend of carded wools from New Zealand made by DHG. Approximately 27 microns. This wool has a short staple length making it a great, bulky carded wool well suited to 3D needle felting projects. Equally good for wet felting & spinning. Ivy is a pale green colour. Closest and a bit darker to shade #77 olive in Carded NZ. This wool is MULESING FREE. The dyeing complies with Oeko-Tex Standard 100 and is done in DHG dyeing house which is GOTS 5.0 and GRS certified. IMPORTANT note, while every effort is made to represent colours accurately, your screen/monitor settings will affect how it appears to you. *These wools are carefully washed before carding, however grass bits cannot always be completely removed. This is perfectly acceptable for a natural product.
