Svenskt Finullsfår, otherwise known as Swedish Fine Wool Sheep are descended from the Nordic short-tailed sheep. They are a friendly breed whose individuals are easily tamed. They are commonly used in production, as the breed has a high fertility, produces good meat carcases, wool and sheepskins. They have high milk production, good maternal qualities and that the ewes can go into heat all year round. This makes the Svenskt Finullsfår the sheep breed in Sweden that produces the highest total lamb weight per ewe and year.
During the 1930s, all landrace sheep were recorded as one and the same breed. A division into wool types was made in 1935 and from 1936, landrace sheep were recorded in the studbook under three wool types; fur, rya and fine wool. The fur type was separated into its own breed in 1971 and other landrace sheep were combined into "white landrace". In 1976, the Sheep Control Authority took over the pedigree registration of sheep. During the 1930s and 1940s, repeated imports of Finnish Fine Wool were made and the Svenskt Finullsfår were then considered by many to be Finnish.
From the 1950s, landrace sheep have been used for crossing with meat-breed sheep to increase their productivity. The number of landrace sheep fell sharply again. In the 1980s, interest in the Svenskt Finullsfår picked up again. New imports were made from Finland. The Swedish Fine Wool Association, which was formed in 1988, was however able to show that the Svenskt Finullsfår had been genetically very little affected by the imports and in 1995 the Swedish Board of Agriculture included the Svenskt Finullsfår as a breed in the list of Swedish livestock breeds and from 1998 the breed was eligible for environmental support.
The Svenskt Finullsfår is classified as an endangered livestock breed and is eligible for support from the Swedish Board of Agriculture. Conservation is primarily carried out "in situ" i.e. by keeping as many live animals as possible in different herds. The Swedish Fine Wool Sheep Association is a breed association and works to support conservation work by establishing breeding plans, holding courses and spreading knowledge about the Svenskt Finullsfår.
The head and legs of the Svenskt Finullsfår are wool-free and shiny. The tail is short with a broad base and a narrow, wool-free tip. The ears are small and thin, the bridge of the nose is straight or slightly convex. both sexes are polled. The animals are curious, social and affectionate with a lively temperament. They are good foragers and have the ability to, outside the gestation and lactation periods, feed on leaner pastures and are therefore well suited to landscape management.
The fleece is characterised by its soft, shiny, silky and fine-fibred wool, and is available in white, black and brown and more rarely, speckled. The wool is similar over the entire body, which means that entire fleece can be used for the same purpose. Fibres are crimpy and lustrous, with good elasticity. Conservation breeding efforts since the 1930s have emphasised the wool quality, aiming for fibre diameters in the range of 15 to 25 microns with fibre lengths between 1¾ and 2½ inches (4.5cm - 6.5cm).
In 2017, there were 3,473 ewes and 254 rams. Of these, 2,214 ewes and 224 rams were kept in purebred breeding, distributed over 104 herds. The Svenskt Finullsfår are found throughout Sweden, but are most common in the southern and central parts. Between 2004 and 2009, the Fine Wool population in Sweden increased and at its peak was just under 5,000 individuals in purebred breeding.
At the beginning of 2018, a closed studbook was introduced for the breed, which means that there is no risk of crossbreeding with other breeds in the purebred population. Pedigree registration and record keeping are handled by Elitlamm, which is linked to the Swedish Sheep Breeding Association.
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I bought this breed in as 113g of unwashed raw fleece that was part of a sample pack that featured 8 different Swedish breeds that I purchased back in early May 2022 from Anita Grahn based in Uppsala, Sweden. Her online shop has been empty for a long time now, since she announced she was in hospital, so I don't know if she survived whatever she was in hospital for. However, I can provide a link to Swedish Fibre, a small business run by Sandy Zetterlund who has a passion for knitting, wool, spinning and now a passion for bringing these beautiful fleece from these rare conservation sheep kept by small farmers into the limelight and put them in front of similarly passionate hand spinners like myself who care about ensuring the future and continuation of these rare and unique breeds. The demand for and sale of the fleece from these rare breeds really do help the survival of the breed.
I washed this on 25th May 2022, and the water turned quite brown and milky too, so it was both dirty and greasy. I honestly thought that I had somehow managed to felt it during the washing stage, but once it was dry it all just poofed up, and it wasn't felted. Phew!
I had 92g of clean, washed fleece ready for preparing. I tried combing this, but the fibre lengths were too short, and I couldn't open the locks up very well, so it has sat in a bag waiting for me to figure out how I was going to process it until I bit the bullet and got on with it on 14th May 2025. I've never gotten to grips with carding, but I managed to at least open up the locks using a pair of carders, and then I added the short fluff straight onto my combs from the carders, and I managed to comb it a little bit to remove the rubbish and then dizzed it off my combs. From the pile of rubbish that was building up, it looked like I was throwing away at least 50%, but from my 92g of washed fleece I now have 61g of fluff ready to spin.
I started spinning this on 6th August. It was tricky because the fibres are so short, and I had to add more twist than normal to keep it together. Plying was easier, although in some places it looked overplied and in other places it looked underplied. I didn't finish spinning until 8th August, and I achieved a yarn that was 58g/197m and very soft.
I knit the sample piece from 1st to 3rd September, and the knitted fabric is soft with a slight fuzziness.
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