Shetland Sheep

The Shetland breed of sheep has to be one of the UK's oldest breeds of sheep with records dating back as far as the 8th century.  They have been developed over the years by the Shetland Islanders, with the belief that these sheep have genetics from the sheep that the Romans bought with them about 2000 years ago and also genetics from sheep that the Vikings and Scandinavian people would have bought with them about 1500 years ago, and then of course you have the more recent influence of the past couple of hundred years where there have been significant changes made in shepherding with the introduction of selective breeding and "seasonal breeding".

The Shetland sheep, at the time of writing, is in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust category 6: "Other UK Native Breeds" (over 3000) registered breeding ewes.  They are found across the Shetland Islands, obviously and as the name suggests, but are also across the UK.  They are well developed for life in the harsh island environment.

The Shetland sheep is a small, fine boned sheep but when it comes to colour, erm yeah, WOW, there are an amazing 11 defined colours and 30 or so different markings.  Rams usually have two rounded horns but can also be multi-horned or have no horns at all.

So, the 11 defined colours are: 

1. White
2. Light Grey
3. Grey
4. Emsket (dusky blue/grey)
5. Shaela (dark steely grey)
6. Black
7. Musket (grey/brown, light greyish brown mixed light and brown fibres)
8. Mioget (yellow/brown, lightest brown with warm overtones)
9. Fawn
10. Moorit (tan/brown)
11. Dark Brown

In 1994, the 9 rarest colours out of the 11, totalled just 214 sheep.  Upon realising the potential loss of such a great natural resource breeders have since been breeding Shetlands specifically for colour but these colours are still at risk of being lost.

The names for the markings on the sheep are traditional names and not mutually exclusive, a sheep can have more than one of these markings types and therefore more than one name.  This is in addition to the colour name. I have put my old secretarial/PA presentation creating skills to good use and created this table in Powerpoint and then saved it as a picture, as this is better than just a typed list.

They produce a smallish size fleece of usually around 1-2kg in weight.  Depending on the strain of Shetland they either do or do not have the ability to naturally shed their fleece.  There are also three different fleece types: 

• True double coated.  Short, fine undercoat and long hair outercoat. Easy to separate the different fibre types.
• Transitional double coated. Even mix of fine, short fibres and longer, coarser fibres.  Difficult to separate the different fibre types.
• Single coated.  Short stapled, fine, crimpy wool that is fairly even throughout the fleece.

Traditionally, double coated Shetlands would be plucked (or rooed) by hand as the outercoat sheds at a different time to the undercoat and this was the easiest way to separate the different fibre types.  To some extent this does still happen but usually in small non-commercial flocks, small holdings, small specialist flocks, that kind of thing, where they may have the time to do with this with such small numbers of sheep.  Most Shetlands are sheared annually now, whether they have the capability to shed naturally or not.

The staple length will vary depending on the type of fleece that you have.  Generally they are 2-4.5 inches (5-11.5cm).  Spinning counts are usually in the 20-30 micron range but really fine fleece can be 10-20 microns with the coarsest outercoat on a dual coated fleece spinning in at 30-60 microns but most people will assume an average of 23 microns. 

Regardless of the fleece type it will be dense with locks that are usually wider at the base and generally pointed making them like triangles.  Fine fibres are crimped, coarser fibres are more wavy.  Shetland fleece have a tendency to be very greasy and this will affect the colour of the fleece that you think you have.  Washed fleece will be a lot lighter and less yellow in colour so you won't know what you really have until its cleaned.  White fleece is often dyed and the colours are most often used in their natural state but they can be overdyed.

Depending on the fleece type and whether you want to keep both fibre types together in regards to the dual coated fleece you can spin from the lock, flick, card or comb.  Combing will separate the fibre types very nicely and all spinning will be relatively smooth with the finished yarns leaning towards the feel of its coarsest fibres.

There are plenty of "Shetland Wool" yarns available that have been commercially spun and this creates yet another enigma. When yarn is labelled as "Shetland Wool" it does not automatically mean that it comes from the Shetland sheep.  The Shetlanders have the right to label and market ANY wool from ANY sheep breed that has been raised and kept on the Shetland Islands as "Shetland Wool" even those claiming to be 100% Shetland wool might not be from the Shetland breed of sheep.  If you are buying commercially spun Shetland wool you will have to check the labels very carefully and maybe do some research to check exactly what the components are.

Given that there are different types of coats on this breed of sheep and the fact that "Shetland Wool" might not be from a Shetland breed of sheep if you have ever encountered a rough feeling Shetland wool jumper and have written the breed off as horrible, I implore you to have another go with Shetland wool but perhaps research which products are from the soft wool type of Shetland sheep first.

As far as working with pure Shetland wool from the actual Shetland sheep breed it will depend on the type of fleece you've created your yarn from.  It is very versatile and fine yarns are great for lace shawls and the finest yarns are used to make Shetland lace ring shawls, which are so delicate that a large one can be drawn easily through a wedding ring and are ethereal and far sturdier than they look.  Heavier yarns are also great for shawls, sweaters and all sorts of items, including Fair Isle knitting, which is part of the Shetland Islands, and can be knit using the natural colours as well as a range of colours that have been dyed.

I have bought this breed in as 100g of pre-prepared fibre in the natural moorit colour.  I also had a 25g sample that I got with another pack from the same supplier so split the 100g in half to make two shorter lengths and then with the 25g I split it down along the length to make two thinner long lengths and then pulled it out until it was the same length as the 50g half.  I then pre-drafted the fibre together.  This evens out any slight difference in colour between them.

My finished yarn is of medium quality to the touch of the hand, squishy and bouncy and I do like the colour.  I have 114g/227m of sport weight yarn that is perfectly suitable for next to skin wear.  My knitted piece for the project took 19g/36m so I have a decent amount left to do whatever with.