Falkland Merino - The Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands don't have any native sheep and they have a very complex past both politically and with regards to the different sheep that have been kept on the islands and the quality of the wool.  Its a long post that details this complex journey as best as I can.

The Falkland Islands is a group of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean in the southern hemisphere about 300 miles northeast of the southern tip of South America.  They have been claimed and occupied by several nations over their documented history, all using their own national flags during their occupation of the islands.  The UK has over-seen the self-governing of the Falkland Islands since 1833 as one of its overseas territories and provided military support and oversees foreign affairs, although ownership has long been disputed by Argentina and they have regularly protested Britain's occupation of the islands, their argument based on a papal bull issued by the pope of the Roman Catholic church in 1493 and on the need to end a colonial situation.  Britain have always maintained that they have had an open, continuous, effective possession, occupation and administration of the islands since 1833 and it has always applied the principle of self-determination on the Falklanders and that far from ending a colonial situation Argentine rule and control of the lives of the Falklanders against their wishes would, in fact, create one.  

On 2nd April 1982, Argentina's military government invaded and so began the 10 week long Falklands War, which they lost when British troops forcibly reoccupied the islands.  It cost the lives of over 600 Argentinian troops and over 250 British troops.  Argentina have still continued with the claim of the ownership of the Falkland Islands and to help resolve the issue, the people of the Falklands Islands held a referendum in 2013 to determine who they want to govern them.  The result was that just over 99% of the voters wanted the Falkland Islands to remain as a British overseas territory and keep their UK citizenship. A 2016 UN commission found that the Falklands Islands lie in Argentinian waters and the dispute continues despite the fact that the islands are 300 miles away from Argentina in the South Atlantic Ocean.

The islands got their own flag in 1876 which featured an image of HMS Hebe, a ship that brought many early British settlers to the island, and also a bullock to represent the feral cattle that once roamed the islands.  The flag was updated in 1925 to show a different ship, the Desire, captained by John Davis who discovered the islands in 1592, and also a sea lion.  It was updated again in 1948, keeping the Desire and changing the sea lion for a ram, depicting the main industry of the islands.

Over the years the islands have been used in many different ways.  To begin with they were used mostly as resupply and repair ports by passing ships. Some cattle and sheep were being raised on the islands for food.  In 1851 concerted efforts were made to establish sheep farms that specialised in the production of wool. A charter from Queen Victoria was given to tame the wild cattle that had been left by Spanish settlers who no longer lived there, to open a general store, start a postal system and to develop sheep farms.  Samuel Lafone arrived with Cheviot sheep from the Cheviot Hills from the north of England and they were crossed with other breeds over the years.  Settlers to the islands came from Scotland, Wales, England, France, Scandinavia and South America with many of these settlers descendants still living on the islands today.  

By 1898 there were in the region of 807,000 sheep on the islands and wool became the most valuable and largest export.  More than half of the farms were owned by the Falklands Islands Company and the rest were predominantly owned by wealthy people from London who hired people to tend to their flocks of sheep with the majority of the islanders being farm workers and tenants, not land owners or farm owners.  With the lack of ability to progress upwards in life, islanders started leaving and the population fell until an economic report recommended that large holdings owned by absentee landlords to be broken up and sold to the islanders.  This stopped people leaving and gave a better future with more prospects to the individual people of the Falkland Islands.

The 10 week long Falklands War in 1982 was disastrous to the flocks of sheep on the islands.  Many of the sheep and other livestock were killed by the Argentine soldiers for food and they also looted and caused destruction.  They placed approximately 30,000 land mines in 146 minefields to defend against the UK troops and some sheep fell victim to these too.  At the end of the war some of the landmines were cleared immediately but following a series of accidents that resulted in 6 deaths or serious injuries amongst the British and Argentinian demining teams, fences were placed around the remaining 117 minefields to protect the islanders and their sheep.  These fenced off areas became de facto nature reserves for the Magellanic and Gentoo Penguins, who were not heavy enough to trigger the mines.  Native flora also thrived in the minefields.  Something good coming from something bad.

The British Government ratified the Ottawa Treaty in 1998 that required the removal of all landmines within its territory by 1st March 2009 but many of the Falkland islanders opposed the demining operation stating that the landmines were clearly marked and there was no demand for the land.  It was also feared that it would have a detrimental effect on the nature reserves that would no longer be protected from farmers and tourists.  Some supported the removal of the landmines which would allow access to once popular beaches.  

The removal agreement also required that Argentina helped to remove their land mines but the Falklands Government refused to allow any Argentine presence on the islands.  After much deliberation the British began a landmine removal program alone and this started on the islands in 2009.  The deadline was extended to 2019 and then to 2021 due to the high cost and slow work.  The removal program cost £44 million. The final landmines were removed in November 2020.  The islanders celebrated with the detonation of the last land mine and the cutting down of the last fences which finally give them back access to the beaches.  

Also in November 2020, the Argentine government, still not happy, criticised the British landmine removal operation claiming that it was a violation of the 1976 United National General Assembly resolution 31/49 that called upon the two countries to "refrain from taking decisions that would imply introducing unilateral modifications in the situation" and they had also previously raised complaints about the British operation at the Ottawa Convention.  In November 2023, 3 mines were discovered in an area that proved difficult to clear due to shifting sand dunes which meant that many of the landmines were now buried really deep making many undetectable.  Digging the area deeply would destroy the nature reserves.  They were removed and the area checked again for mines and re-deemed safe in April 2024.  I dare say that many more mines may be discovered over the next century or so as they re-surface.

So, after the complex history lesson lets get back to the wool that is available to buy in present times.  The economy has broadened in recent years to include tourism and commercial fishing but sheep are very much an important part of the economy and the culture so much so that the Falklands Radio daily weather forecast includes a report on the wind chill factor for newly sheared sheep.  They sell the wool and the mutton, along with beef.  

There is spinning fibre, and yarn in fact, that is available to buy that is marketed under the name of "Falkland" but there isn't a Falkland breed of sheep.  The sheep on the Falkland Islands consist mostly of Polwarths, Corriedales, Romney's, Texels and Merino's and various crosses of all of these breeds.  The Falkland Island shepherds manage their flocks well and have achieved heavier fleeces with ever-finer and higher quality fibres.  Figures for 2023 show there to be just under 500,000 sheep on the islands.  Large amounts of the wool is gathered into a "wool pool" and sold for the highest price possible and would most likely contain a variety of breeds and crossbreeds.  It is cleaned and processed together and marketed as "Falklands wool", mostly in the European marketplace where it is well regarded for its texture and whiteness.

Falkland Merino Ewe and lamb

Talking of the whiteness, there are no known sheep diseases on the islands so the sheep do not have to go through the process of being chemically dipped.  The islands climate minimises bacteria and other factors that have an affect on the colour of the wool and these two things combined probably explain why the wool from the Falkland Islands tends to be very white.  Due to the cost of importing chemical fertilizers and herbicides to the islands the farmers have never used them and relied on other methods which means that the wool of the Falkland Islands can be certified as Organic.  43% of farms are accredited in the Responsible Wool Scheme and in addition a small number of farms have organic certification with Australian Certified Organic (AOC), which then further increases the value of their wool.

Since most of the wool is pooled and from a variety of different breeds this means that the fibre can range from 18-32 microns but most of the wool is probably 27-30 microns but all of it would be comfortable to wear next to skin.  There can be a variety of crimps in the spinning fibre, lustre and subtle texture differences between the mill run batches and different years so it is always best to buy enough fibre, or yarn, at the same time, from the source and batch number if it is noted, to ensure consistency.

If you are lucky you may be able to find named breed fleeces for sale that have been imported from the Falkland Islands to the UK that have not gone into the "wool pool" because if a farmer produces exceptionally fine fleece and can prove they are organic they can demand a higher price than a "wool pool price" and so often sell these to "wool traders".

I brought this breed in back in June 2015 as a whole fleece via Ebay from a company, that was at that time trading on Ebay as AshfordFibres.co.uk and they were selling from a little village called Atwick, which is in Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire.  It confused me at the time because of the similarity with Ashford who sell spinning wheels and spinning fibre, who are a completely different company.  Anyway, AshfordFibres.co.uk seem to have disappeared now, no such company. However, having found the receipt for this fleece there appears to be another trading name of www.wooltops.co.uk and they appear to still be trading, or at least there is an online shop with a limited amount of stock in it.  

Sold to me as a Superfine Falklands Islands Merino fleece that comes from a small flock on the Falkland Islands with a count of 18/19 microns and staple length of  3½ to 4½ inches.  Just look at the beautiful crimp in these photos that I took right before I washed it.

On arrival this weighed approx 1493g.  I removed 113g of second cuts and really short locks that really were too short to be processed and then got on with washing the fleece.

Once it was all dry I was left with a clean fleece weight of 1010g and apart from using a small amount of it for a single spinning project this fleece has remained untouched in a clean pillowcase for all of those years, until now.  I was thinking of using this fleece to make the yarn that will join this entire project together because it does need to used up but since combing and spinning some of it for this project I have changed my mind and I will buy in something that is sturdier of holding all the heavy wool pieces together for that job.  I will keep this Falkland Merino to make some beautiful lace shawls with at a later date.  

I have put off working with the fleece for so long because it is exceptionally fine and I feared that my Valkyrie Extra Fine wool combs would not be able to cope with the fineness of it.  I persevered and combed 146g of the fleece that I have left and was able to produce 103g of lovely, buttery soft hand combed top, but it took me over 8 and a half hours over 7th and 8th July to get that much.  

Unfortunately, I forgot to take good photos of the hand combed top but I do have a couple that I took with my phone as I was combing.

This fleece is absolutely beautiful, even after all of these years.  It then took me 3 days, 9th, 10th and 11th July to spin the singles really finely, as this is another breed that will bounce up after spinning and washing.  

I started to ply the singles late evening of 11th July but had to park it for the night and finish the ply on the morning of 12th July.

When I washed the skein after spinning, a lot of grease washed out of it, the water became quite milky.  This is probably due to being overly careful during the initial washing process of the fleece all those years ago.  Handling it very gingerly so as not to turn it to felt. This has spun up to 16wpi and it feels so lightweight and so so so soft.  There is 99g/626m of 2ply yarn.  I have no idea how I have so many metres for the weight of the skein in comparison to what I have achieved for the other breeds so far and yet they are in the same yarn weight bracket of 16wpi.

It took me a few days to complete the knitted piece, starting on 24th and ending on 27th July 2025 and the piece and the sample has only used 12g/76m.

Whilst I was knitting this up I was finally able to secure myself a pair of Valkyrie Super Fine wool combs, which I have been looking for for a number of years but as they are precision made by hand by one man they are very hard to get hold of as as soon as he puts them up for sale they are snapped up.