Roslagsfår are a breed of endangered landrace sheep from Sweden that are kept on the islands north of Stockholm. They were once widely kept for their wool but in 1995 there were only about 40 animals left. They were rediscovered when Nils Dahlbeck and Lars Englund were travelling around Sweden looking for coloured rya sheep and horned rams.
They used to kept on almost every farm in Roslagen, being kept on summer pastures on the islets in the archipelago. During the 20th century the Roslagsfår were replaced with more productive breeds and they almost became extinct, with the only remaining herd belonging to Maj and Henry Jansson on Raggarön in norther Roslagen. The sheep on this farm has been mentioned in farming documents since the 18th century. Maj and Henry saved all of the ram lambs and kept them together with the ewes until winter, when all the ram lambs were slaughtered after mating, so called "group mating". The Roslags sheep have been preserved in the gene bank of the Swedish Farm Sheep Association since 1997.
Roslags are small, slender sheep with slender legs and are Sweden's smallest sheep. Rams weigh about 50kg and stand about 57cm at the withers and ewes weight about 35kg-40kg and stand about 54cm at the withers. The ewes can lamb all year round, usually having a single lamb, sometimes twins. Triplets are extremely rare. The Roslags exhibit the highest within-population inbreeding due to the low number of the breed and the breeding method once used. A contemporary estimated number of the population of Roslag sheep by Nordisk GenBank Husdyr is 496 individuals over a number of flocks.
The interests of individuals breeding Roslag sheep are represented by The Swedish Peasant Sheep Association and they are responsible for the breed's conservation. Some owners of Roslag Sheep are members of the Swedish Sheep Breeders' Association and follow the breeding plan for the breed as determined by the Swedish National Boar of Agriculture and the sheep holders may be entitled to environmental subsidies for the conservation of endangered breeds.
Most of the sheep, about 90% of them, are white or ivory and the rest are either black with larger or smaller white markings or black and white spotted. Lambs can be born reddish brown or reddish brown spotted but this colour fades to creamy white as the wool grows. Rams have horns that are usually large and white whilst the ewes are polled. They are hardy and easily become affectionate and tame. They are agile and are good grazers on grass. They are easy to handle and move due to their small size. The tail and face are not usually covered in wool, although the tails can be covered in wool in some animals.
The wool is of the rya type, with long straight or curly outer hairs and undercoat. The wool is of varying quality and is less suitable for felting as it does not shrink but retains its original structure so felting was not so common in the past. People used to spin the wool and weave with it or they knitted and needle-stitched with it, making anything from socks, mittens and other clothing and even sailcloth. The Upplands Museum has had old "Uppland wear" examined and has concluded that they were made of wool, the equivalent of which today is only found in the Roslag breed.
The fleece are double coated and of varying quality that may include lots of kemp and they can be up to 15 inches (38cm) long.
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I bought this breed in as 108g 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 a lady called Anita Grahn based in Uppsala, Sweden. Her shop has been empty since October 2024, when she was in hospital, and her online shop is still empty. I do hope she is OK, but I fear the worst. 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.
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| Raw unwashed fleece |
I washed the fleece on 27th May 2002 and the water turned not so much dirty as milky, obviously quite a lot of lanolin/grease, in the undercoat most likely, but hasn't it washed up white! Once dry it weighed 83g.
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| Washed fleece |
I combed it on 4th July 2022 and I have 58g of lustrous hand combed top to spin that is quite reminiscent of an English Longwool in texture, softness and the amount of lustre.
I spun this on 1st August - 2nd August 2026. I found it to be an interesting spin. It is not soft but it is nice to spin. I tried to pre-draft it prior to spinning but it just kept falling apart. I seemed to have a fair amount of very short fibres in some of my fibre nests.
The finished yarn has a slight sheen to it and is 54g/137m. It is quite prickly and not for next-to-skin. I knit the project piece 15th-16th August 2026.
