British Wool - Blue Faced Leicester

Blue Faced Leicester's (BFL) are the descendants of a breeding program established in the 1700's to create a tasty meat, long wool sheep which resulted in the Dishley Longwool, commonly known as the English/Leicester Longwool today. The Leicester Longwool was created by Robert Bakewell who used modern agricultural practices of selective breeding to create a sheep that provided more meat, grew faster, longer wool, etc to make a great all-rounder sheep.  Bakewell's innovative agricultural practices actually influenced Charles Darwin regarding natural selection and evolution.Over the next 200 years the breed was developed into what it is today - the Blue Faced Leicester. While the BFL breed has been improved and gaining popularity, its ancestor the Leicester Longwool is now endangered. According to the Oklahoma State University, there is an estimated 2000 Leicester Longwools globally which is sad considering the breed was the foundation for the BFL.

Pic from www.diamondyarn.com

Now that I've depressed anyone who is reading this.. onto my experience of spinning and knitting with it!

BFL is becoming more popular due to its similarity to merino, which is good for the demand of the breed, thus increasing its sustainability. It isnt as soft as merino but is very close, it also drafts somewhat like merino but definitely easier than merino (thank god!).I've never been able to draft merino enjoyably as I find that the fibre clings to itself a fair bit and runs a higher chance of creating slubs that I then have to try and correct. Some people seem to find it easy to draft but I can find it a challenge. Anyway, the BFL is a bit similar to that as it is a fairly fine fibre.

The micron count of BFL is 24-28 and its staple reaches 6 inches.

For my samples I had 2 x Oatmeal BFL and 1 x Brown BFL;

Oatmeal BFL roving and 2 plied yarn on spindle.
Brown BFL mini skein at front.

 The yarn that the BFL made was really nice. Unfortunately this photo is the best I could do and doesn't show the sheen on the yarn.

Knitting it up was really easy and the fabric is makes is really soft and lovely. Something you could definitely wear next to the skin. Even though I only have small squares to go by, I think it would make a nice drapey knitted fabric.

I'm not sure what it is about this wool exactly, but I did like working with this more than merino (aside from the contentious relationship merino and I have when it comes to drafting) and I think that I would even pick BFL as a preference over merino. It spins easier, feels nearly as soft (if not as soft as some merino) and knits up nicely.


Stay spun!

- Mokosh

British Wool - Black Welsh Mountain

Well, I have started on my own British Wool spinning marathon to spin through my samples and have decided to go through the wool alphabetically, thus starting with the breed of Black Welsh Mountain sheep.

Picture from Life With Sheep blog.

The Black Welsh Mountain sheep, not surprisingly, come from the Black Mountains in Wales which is situated in the southeast end of Wales. Apparently this breed was bred by Benedictine Monks in the Black Mountains specifically for their black wool.

I have also been informed by my mother who has done the genealogy of the family, that my Great Grandmother came from the Black Mountains. Perhaps she spun her own Black Welsh Mountain wool from local sheep - who knows!

This breed of sheep are  the only completely black sheep amongst the British breeds. They are also catagorised as a primitive breed, which means these breeds have been untouched by recent breeding programs and can be traced back hundreds/thousands of years. A feature of primitive breeds is their coat which consists of two coats - the soft fibres further in and the harder fibres, or guard hairs, on the outside. Considering the weather these guys endure (rain, hail and snow) they need that sturdy coat.

It is noted that the meat from the Black Welsh Mountain sheep was prized in the Middle Ages for its richness and excellence. I wonder why it is not so today, considering that the breed's status is endangered you would think that if these sheep provided a tasty meat that it would then be in demand. I will have to do some further research on that. 

Pic from mutinybayfarm.com

Due to the small amount of wool I have, I decided to spin this on my Russian support spindle so that I could make a finer yarn for more yardage, as well as allow more control over the wool so I didnt mess it up as I am not too confident on my wheel yet.

 It is a lovely deep colour and has some white fibres speckled through the wool:

The roving I have, the staple was from a couple inches and hitting past 8 inches! Long staple! So a bit of a mixture of inner and outer coat. Hopefully you can make out the staple length in this pic:

Yes, yes. My photo skills aren't the greatest - but you get the point.

I wasn't sure if I would enjoy spinning wool with such a long staple. Instead, I found it so easy to draft and spin! The fibres slipped past each other very easily and I was able to make a fairly thin yarn.
Although, the micron count of this wool is between 28-35. It is fairly course when you are used to dealing with the finer fibres such as merino.

This yarn would definitely suit outerwear, and even though I have not yet attempted weaving (one day soon!) I could imagine this as a good thread for weaving.

I had two samples of this fibre, and the first sample I spun up I found that it didn't produce a particularly bouncy yarn even though the roving felt fairly airy. The first sample I spun it fairly thin so I think that has squeezed out any air in the twist. On the second sample I tried to not spin it as thin (still fairly thin though) and found that it made the yarn a bit bouncier and softer. So, I am guessing that this fibre would suite a thicker yarn weight perhaps.

Here are the final products. Two smalls samples, both 2 ply;
The mini skein on the bottom is the first sample which I spun thinner. Its WPI is 15 and 39 yards.
2nd mini skein on the top I spun a wee bit thicker. Its WPI is 12 - 13 and 32 yards. You can see the difference in the two below.

Well, I decided to knit up the sample from the yarn and was pleasantly surprised. Its not as harsh as I thought it would be and I like the fabric it knits up. I did two 4 inch by 4 inch (approx) squares, used garter stitch which is a simple way to showcase the wool and used 3.15mm needles.

I'd like to try this wool again as it was fun to spin with, easy to spin, was an interesting texture and knits up well. I did see some roving on Etsy and it was blended with baby alpaca fibre. I think that would be very nice, interesting and add extra softness.

If you have spun with Black Welsh Mountain fibre, what has been your experience?

Stay spun!

- Mokosh

British Wool Samples

I fell into temptation with some woolie fibres from Etsy again. This time I've acquired a couple of sample packs of British fibre from a store called The Double Ewe. I have previously played with some Dorset Horn and small amounts of North Ronaldsay, Merino/Shetland and Merino/BFL blends, but mainly merino or merino/silk mix.

My interest in the British breeds stems from my awareness of the conservation efforts to promote breeds aside from merino to help with biodiversity. Since merino has become the main 'cash crop' of the wool world and thus monopolising the wool market, the more historic and traditional breeds have fell to the wayside. This is has not only been the case with sheep, but with other animals and crops - known as the decline in agrobiodiversity. When one breed or food variety is capitalised upon and globalised, the biodiversity of agriculture drops when farmers don't see any point sticking with lesser wanted/known animal breeds or crops as they won't turn a profit. I won't go into why biodiversity and conservation is important because its a no-brainer... but if you don't think its important then I doubt we would get along.

Anyway, on with the wool - with less demand for the wool from traditional breeds, the number in these sheep have dropped and to the point were some are now considered 'rare' and 'at risk'. However, interest in these traditional breeds is growing somewhat, especially since awareness of the issue is growing. Mind you, this does not mean these sheep breeds are out of the woods yet. So naturally, with my interest in history, 'ye old ways' of the ancestors, social issues and social movements, I wanted to check out the other wool breeds out there and that's when I tracked down the British wool sample packs online. Hooray!

So I bought the two British Breed Wool sample packs, each with 15g of 10 samples.

British Breed Wool Sampler pack #1 consists of 15g of 10 natural shades from 4 breeds:

4 x Shetland - white, grey, moorit and black

3 x North Ronaldsay - grey, light brown, dark brown

2 x BFL - oatmeal, brown

1 natural Black Welsh Mountain - obviously black

British Breed Wool Sampler pack #2 consists of 15g of 10 different wool breeds:

Wensleydale - white

Suffolk - white

Herdwick - grey

Manx Loaghtan - brown

BFL - oatmeal

Shetland - white

Masham - brown

Black Welsh Mountain

Jacob - black

Swaledale - grey

Sure, some are double ups but that doesn't matter. At the end of spinning it all up I'll have to come up with a crochet/knitting project to use them up. Considering the Macedon Ranges can be a chilly part of Victoria, a simple scarf showcasing the wool could be nice. Also, I'll need to consider if I want the yarn in singles or plied since there are small amounts of each. Plying would reduce yardage by half. Hmmmm... things to think about. Also, to spin these samples on the spindle (for thinner thread as I am more practised on a spindle than the wheel) or the wheel (my talent on the wheel is still somewhat inconsistent)?

The owner of The Double Ewe, Jo, also threw in a wee sample of her Yorkshire blend which consists of 50% Wensleydale, 33% Baby Alpaca and 17% BFL. Oh my, its so nice! Very lustress and shiny.. I might just have to get some of that blend next (but I must remind myself - one thing at a time!). For those interested in buying the sample packs or buying from this store in general - purchasing was easy, Jo was very easy going and accommodated me wanting to update my order, and super fast shipping (arrived from the UK within the week). I know I will be a returning customer to try her other blends and batts.

As I go through spinning each sample up Ill leave a little write up a description of the fibre, how I went about spinning it, etc. So stay tuned!

Thanks again for reading!

Stay spun!

- Mokosh