South Country Cheviot Sheep

There are three distinct Cheviot sheep breeds here in the UK.  The South Country Cheviot, The North Country Cheviot and the Brecknock Hill Cheviot.  All three varieties share distinctive looks: they have wool-free white faces, upright and perky ears, Roman noses, dark nostrils, and their eyes are ringed dark which makes them look like they are wearing eye-liner. All three then have their own distinguishing features and characteristics and they are different in size and whether they have horns or not.  Each have their own blog post so be sure to click on links within the posts to navigate between the three.

The South Country Cheviot Sheep, also known as the Border Cheviot and in the US it is known as the American Classic Cheviot, is the oldest and the original of the three Cheviot breed of sheep to be found in the UK.

These are the dominant sheep in the southern portion of the Cheviot Hills, which run along the border of England and Scotland and were formed by a volcanic flow of lava 400 million years ago. The hills tallest point stands at 2,673 feet above sea level. 

The Cheviot Hills have been home to grazing sheep since at least the 14th century and there is a story that the sheep were to bought to land following the grounding of a Spanish ship and they escaped and ran off and quickly established a large population in the southern hill country.  At this time the Spaniards were developing the forebears of the Merino and so these sheep already possessed high quality fine fleece.

Around 1480 local Monks who kept a large number of these sheep were keen to improve them and tried crossing them with some imported Merino sheep but this was not a success and the offspring were prone to foot rot.  Also around this time the towns in the borders region were becoming reliant on wool to keep the increasing Tweed mills working. James Robson of Belford, Northumberland is credited with the development and improvement of the South Country Cheviot when he obtained three Lincolnshire Longwool rams and crossed them with some ewes and this proved successful in producing a good strong sheep with more more wool.

In 1791, Sir John Sinclair was tasked with improving the national stock and he selected the native long woolled hill sheep found in the Border's Cheviot Hills from all other breeds he had seen and he gave them the name of Cheviot, the first time they had been named as a breed.  He believed they were the perfect mountain sheep in both form and fleece and so he took 500 of these Cheviots more than 300 miles north to his Langwell Estate in Ulbester, Caithness which is almost the most northern part of mainland Scotland.  It was a success and they flourished as they suited the terrain and so many more thousands were transported north over the following years.  They were crossed with Leicester and other rams and the breed developed into the bigger and slightly different North Country Cheviot and that is a different blog post.

The South Country Cheviot can be found in the Cheviot Hills, Southern Scotland, Northern England and South Wales.  At the time of writing they are in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust category 6: Other UK Native Breeds (over 3000) registered breeding ewes.

The South Country Cheviot is a small, hardy sheep that is very alert and active and weighing in at 55-70kg for a ewe and 70-80kg for a ram they are much smaller than the North Country Cheviot.  They have wool-free white faces, upright and perky ears, Roman noses, dark nostrils, and their eyes are ringed dark which makes them look like they are wearing eye-liner. The rams can have horns.  The fleece is white with a distinctive ruff behind the ears with crisp, white lustrous wool.  The fleece weigh 2-3kg with a staple length of 4-5 inches.  The locks have rectangular staples with slightly pointed tips and a three dimensional crimp.  Breed associations specify no hair, kemp or coloured fibres should be in the ideal fleece.

The South Country Cheviot fleece is described as "chalky" and whilst the wool dyes wells it does not have the brilliance of the longwools like the North Country Cheviot does.  If you have a short fleece it can be carded but usually it is long enough to be flicked or combed.  It is good for socks, sweaters and the like.

 

I couldn't find fleece or fibre from this one for sale anywhere as most people just clump all three of the Cheviot breeds under the umbrella of "Cheviot".  I found a Facebook group for the breed and sent them a message on 22nd April 2021 and I got a reply back the next day and I gave them my details and then it all went silent, despite me sending another message on 30th May to ask if the shearing had been done.  I never did hear back from this contact.  Maybe it was a Covid thing.

I finally managed to get hold of a South Country Cheviot fleece in mid-August 2021 from a young farmer who is working and raising his own flock under his fathers supervision in Dumfries, Scotland.  It is a Hogg fleece, which means last years lamb and weighed 1.5kg on arrival.  I was put in contact with this young farmer by someone who had written a blog post about the breed that I came across when searching for this fleece.  I made contact with her and the rest is history, as they say.

After sorting out a few bits of rubbish and washing what remained I was left with 1107g of nice clean fleece ready to be prepared for spinning.

I took 145g of this nice clean bright white fleece and I combed it and I got 84g of lovely hand combed top ready to spin.  I have 962g of washed fleece that can be combed at a later date.

My finished yarn is of really nice soft quality to the touch of the hand and just look at how white it is.  My knitted piece for the project took 24g/181m so I have a small amount left to do whatever with, plus the rest of the fleece of course.

Scottish Blackface - worsted weight yarn

Carrying on spinning the Scottish Blackface fleece from a few days ago, I made a worsted weight yarn with the hand combed fibre I had left.  Its very soft and squishy and I have 113g/218m.

Scottish Blackface Sheep

Scottish Blackface sheep have origins dating back to the 12th century when Monks used their wool for clothing and exporting to Europe.  There are actually several recognised strains within the breed but here are main four:

The Lanark: the dominant strain in Scotland, carries the heaviest fleece and the wool is shorter and finer than that of other strains.

The Northumberland: is the largest of the strains and found in Northern England.  It has soft wool compared to others.

The Perth: is distributed most widely and is found in North East Scotland, Northern Ireland and South West England.  It is fairly large with a medium to heavy fleece.

The Newton Stewart: is found in the wettest coastal areas of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Eire and the Hebridean islands.  The fleece is shorter but more resistant to rain than the other strains.

In more recent years the Lanark and the Newton Stewart have been bred together to bring the two strains closer together and improve them.

They are most commonly known as Scottish Blackface but also Blackfaced Highland, Linton, Scottish Mountain, Scottish Highland, Scotch Blackface, Scotch Horn and in Ireland they may be known as Kerry despite the fact that there is a Kerry Hill breed from Wales.

The Scottish Blackface sheep, at the time of writing, is in the Rare Breed Survival Trust category 6: "Other UK Native Breeds" (over 3000) registered breeding ewes.  Their numbers are such that they make up 30% of all sheep across Britain and account for 50% of the wool harvested in Scotland.  They are located primarily in the Scottish Highlands and hills of North East England but they do occur throughout the UK, as already referenced.

They are a medium build sheep with a blackface, black and white marking on both legs and feet.  Both sexes grow curled horns, although the males horns grow much larger.  Individual sheep can be hefted to a specific part of the mountain or hill and will remain there, often where they were born, without the need for fencing.  They are naturally hard and will make the most of poor grazing.

They produce a medium size fleece of 2-3 kg that is white and bulky.  The fleece should be free of any black fibres and can vary from short fine wool to strong coarse wool, depending on the strain of the breed.  The staple length can be anything from 6-14 inches (15-35.5 cm).  The locks are long and hairy with an undercoat of fine wool and maybe some kemp.  It is clear white and will take dye well but any kemp that is present will not take the dye so readily.

This fleece can be spun from teased locks or combed using Viking combs with widely spaced teeth to keep the fibre types together.  If you want to remove the coarse hairs and any kemp to isolate the soft woolly undercoat then use wool combs with finer teeth. You will need to mist with water during preparation as it is prone to static electricity.  If you are spinning all fibre types into your yarn then use a very light touch to keep the fibres together.

Yarns spun from Scottish Blackface fleece that have all the fibre types are definitely suited to household items and upholstery and not for any kind of clothing except maybe a lined jacket. If you have isolate the soft woolly undercoat and spun that on its own then it will be very soft and perfectly able to be used for next-to-skin garments. 

I have bought this breed in as an amount of raw fleece from a farm in Aberdeenshire.  It was 838g on arrival and in three pieces.

It's quite hairy and has a lot of kemp in the undercoat

I washed this on 11th March 2021 and I only threw 46g in the bin at that stage but when it was dry I pulled lots of the long coarse hairs out of the locks as I took it from the hanging drier and put it into a bag until I was ready to comb it.  460g of clean, partially prepared fleece went into the bag.

Despite removing the coarsest hair and kemp there are still black fibres that need to be removed.

After I had combed it I was left with 224g of lovely, soft woolly undercoat ready to spin. I used 110g of the hand combed nests to make the yarn for the breeds project.

My finished yarn is of good quality to the touch of the hand and it is very white.  I have 109g/263m of sport weight yarn. My knitted piece for the project took 28g/68m so I have some left to do whatever with.

North Country Cheviot

There are three distinct Cheviot sheep breeds here in the UK.  The South Country Cheviot, The North Country Cheviot and the Brecknock Hill Cheviot.  All three varieties share distinctive looks: they have wool-free white faces, upright and perky ears, Roman noses, dark nostrils, and their eyes are ringed dark which makes them look like they are wearing eye-liner. All three then have their own distinguishing features and characteristics and they are different in size and whether they have horns or not.  Each have their own blog post so be sure to click on links within the posts to navigate between the three.

The North Country Cheviot sheep is a breed in its own right but was originally developed from the smaller South Country Cheviot sheep.

In 1791, Sir John Sinclair was tasked with improving the national stock and he selected the native long woolled hill sheep found in the Border's Cheviot Hills from all other breeds he had seen and he gave them the name of Cheviot (now known as the South Country Cheviot or Border Cheviot), the first time they had been named as a breed.  He believed they were the perfect mountain sheep in both form and fleece and so he took 500 of these Cheviots more than 300 miles north to his Langwell Estate in Ulbester, Caithness which is almost the most northern part of mainland Scotland.  It was a success and they flourished as they suited the terrain and so many more thousands were transported north over the following years.  They were crossed with Leicester Longwool and other rams and the breed developed into the bigger and slightly different North Country Cheviot.

Cheviot and Leicester sheep were exhibited at the Highland Show in 1831 and this was the "shop window" to a wider audience. Classes at the Royal, Paris and Smithfield Shows soon followed.  Due to many breeders improving further on this breed there are now three "types" within this breed: the Hill or Lairg, the Caithness and the Border, which I find really confusing given the fact the South Country Cheviot is also sometimes referred to as "The Border Cheviot".  My head hurts!  The wide variety types within the breed ensures that crossing rams are available to meet most conditions.

The North Country Cheviot is big, long, robust white sheep that is prolific with strong maternal qualities that are very alert and active and weighing in at 55-80kg for a ewe and 100-120kg for ram they are considerably larger than the South Country Cheviot .  They have wool-free white faces, upright and perky ears, Roman noses, dark nostrils and their eye are ringed dark which makes them look like they are wearing eye-liner. Both sexes are polled.  At the time of writing, the North Country Cheviot is in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust category 6: "Other UK Native Breeds" (over 3000) registered breeding ewes.  

The fleece is white, crisp and lustrous and generally weighs 2-3kg with a staple length of 3.5-6 inches (9-15cm).  The locks have rectangular staples with slightly pointed tips and a three dimensional crimp.  Breed associations specify no hair, kemp or coloured fibres should be in the ideal fleece.

This fleece can be carded if you have a shorter fleece or if you have a longer fleece it can be flicked or combed.  Takes dyes well and clearly.  The resulting yarns can be used for socks, sweaters and the like.  

I had a bit of trouble locating this breed as many clump all three Cheviot breeds under the umbrella name of "Cheviot" but I did finally manage to get a fleece or at least a part fleece from a lady who has them on her farm just outside of Halifax, West Yorkshire.

When it arrived it weighed 889g (which is why I think it is just a part fleece) and after sorting it, washing it and drying it weighed 659g.

I decided to comb all of this fleece and I got 398g of hand combed top from it that contained both long and short fibres.

I picked out about 100g and started spinning.  The rest can be blended with other fibres in the future perhaps.

My finished yarn is of medium quality to the touch of the hand and is 98g/176m.  It doesn't feel as soft as the South Country Cheviot, which technically I haven't spun yet, I spin that in about 3 weeks time but I'm a Dr Who fan and I've done some wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey stuff to come and update this post with information and add links to the other Cheviot breeds cos they don't just appear magically all by themselves you know.  My knitted piece for the project took 44g/80m so I have some left to do whatever with.

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.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2021 Stage 6

The Cycling: Stage 6 160.6km and starts in Tours and ends in Châteauroux - Val de Loire. The route contains just one category 4 climb.  All riders took Covid-19 tests yesterday following the time trial and all have come back negative, it's good that they are doing tests for the safety of everyone. Mark Cavendish won the stage.  

Team Challenge: "The cyclists are passing through Amboise today; the place where Leonardo Da Vinci spent his last days.  Famed for many pieces of work, Da Vinci also designed a weaving loom which wasn't built until 500 years after his death - and it worked perfectly!  Another piece of work by him was 'Madonna of the Yarnwinder', a painting depicting the Virgin Mary and an infant Christ, holding a crucifix-shaped yarn winder.

Today's challenge is a photographic one - show us your yarn on its winder! (And if you don't have a winder, show us what you use instead!)".

What I planned to do and what I achieved: First off, I Googled the painting as I had never heard of it.  It is interesting that I discovered that there is more than one version of this painting, they are similar to each other but with notable differences.

The information gathered from an official Leonardo Da Vinci site states that the original has probably been lost and that several copies still exist and that there is strong speculation that at least two of copies are by Leonardo Da Vinci himself, pictured above, but there is a lot of debate surrounding them and that any or all of them could in fact be by his talented students.  The original works is securely dated at 1501.

The work was intended for Florimond Robertet, Secretary to the Kind of France and shows the winder shaped like a cross and symbolizes the Passion of Christ and His future death.  It seems that Mary is trying to pull the child away from the symbol of his future death but she is powerless to prevent the Crucifixion and his destiny.  The painting is known by several names including Madonna of the Yarnwinder, Madonna of the Spindle and Madonna with the Distaff.

Today I have plied the Moorit Shetland that I spun yesterday and this has given me a sport weight yarn of 125g/251m, which means that another 753m is added to the team total.

I'm able to complete the challenge again today and snapped a quick picture of my newly spun Shetland whilst it was still on my Niddy Noddy (a form of wool winder).

The finished skein of Moorit Shetland that is part of my British Breeds Project

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2021 Stage 5

The Cycling: Stage 5 is a Time Trial and is just 27.2km long and starts in Changè and ends in Laval.  The 30 year old French lady who caused the big crash on Saturday, Stage 1, has finally handed herself in and is currently in custody at a police station in  Landerneau. On Sunday, the Finistère gendarmie announced the opening of a judicial investigation into "involuntary injuries with disability not exceeding three months by a deliberate violation of an obligation of safety or prudence". She could face up to two years in prison and a fine of $35,000.  The race organisers are no longer looking to prosecute her but she's not off the hook yet as any of the riders could still sue her themselves due to injuries, damaged and wrecked bikes etc, especially the three that had to abandon the race due to injuries received, medical bills, loss of earnings and future earnings as they will probably have to pull out of other races too until injuries are healed. Tadej Pogačar won the stage.  

Team Challenge: "Time Trial - today it is just you and the clock.  The fastest time trial that the Tour de France has seen was set by Rohan Dennis in 2015; 9 miles in 14 minutes and 56 seconds.  Now that is a lot of spinning!

Your challenge today is to see what length single you can spin in 14 minutes and 56 seconds.  No plying necessary!  On your marks, set, spin!".

What I planned to do and what I achieved: I am doing the challenge today, whoooo hooooo.  I am spinning some Shetland in natural shade Moorit, 100g bump and 25g that was in British Breeds Sample pack, both from World of Wool.  I split the larger amount into two by holding the two ends together, finding the middle and separating into two equal amounts at that point.  Then with the sample amount, I split that into two the same way but then stretched each out to the same length as the larger bumps and spun both the sample and the larger bump at the same time in each case so that the fibres mixed.

I managed to spin 32.56m in the 14 minutes 56 seconds allowed, timed on my stop watch.  Taking the single off the bobbin onto my niddy-noddy, tying it, taking it off the niddy-niddy to measure it and then feeing it back onto the bobbin was great fun, NOT!  The issue is that there is so much energy in the spun single that it just becomes one big twisty-twirly-knotting-up-on-itself mess.  When you ply with another single, which means you twist the fibre in the opposite way to which it is twisted as a single, it removes some of that energy.

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Once the measured single was back on the bobbin I was able to finish spinning that half of the fibre and then spin the second single.

Hebridean Sheep

The Hebridean Sheep is a small black sheep that looks slightly different now than it use to do about 200 years ago.  Originally these sheep may have been descendants of a primitive sheep that Vikings bought  to the Hebrides a millennium ago, that is both the Inner and Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland.  The original strain had white faces and legs, usually had two horns, rarely had four and had more range of colours including blue-grey, brown, black and russet. The original strain died out when crofters moved to raising "improved" breeds such as the Cheviot and the Scottish Blackface.  Thankfully during the late 1800's a handful of flocks were bought to England to become "lawn ornaments" on estates owned by the aristocracy.  They may have been bred with the Black Welsh Mountain sheep because the Hebridean sheep today have black faces, black legs and the fleece is always black, which lightens to grey or reddish brown on the tips with both age and exposure to the sun and the multi-horned trait runs much more strongly throughout the breed.  Both sexes have horns, although some ewes are occasionally polled.

A two-horned variety of Hebridean

A four-horned variety of the Hebridean

The Hebridean sheep, at the time of writing, is in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust category 6: "Other UK Native Breeds" (over 3000) registered breeding ewes, having recently progressed from category 5.  

Hebridean Sheep are now found throughout the UK and are popular with smallholders and often used in conservation grazing schemes because they can thrive on what would be considered to be poor grazing for other breeds and are good at scrub control as they have a strong preference for browsing and they would need more than hedging, which they will eat, to prevent them from escaping.  They are small, fine boned and hardy and can outwinter severe conditions and can tolerate wet weather extremely well.  They have strong black hooves with few foot problems.  The face and legs are usually free from wool.  Fully grown ewes weigh about 40kg and the rams are proportionately heavier.

They produce a black fleece of 1.5kg-2.5kg that is dual coated that has a soft insulating undercoat with a coarser rain shedding top layer and the sheep just give themselves a quick shake to rid themselves of the rain.  Some fleece have a noticeable demarcation between the coats whilst others are not so clear and is more of a gradual shift between the two but are still easy to separate into fibre types.  The fleece are popular with hand spinners who appreciate the subtle mix of colours and textures within the fleece. The staple length is 2-8 inches (5-20cm).  The locks are triangular and lustrous and may contain hair or kemp, especially on the hindquarter area of the fleece.

Preparation of the fleece will depend on the length, the type of dual coat and whether you want to separate out the different fibres or spin them together.  Spinning can be a bit of a challenge.  It has a luscious dark colour and a lot of durability.  As for dyes, no point trying as the wool is so dark that you won't see it. Use yarns as appropriate as it depends on what and how they are spun to how soft they are but if you have left the waterproof outercoat in your yarn that waterproof quality will be in your yarn so would be great for outerwear.

 

I had a small issue with when getting this fleece because I ordered a large bag of 250g of washed fleece, knowing that it was a dual coated fleece, and only 100g was sent so I had to wait for more fleece to be prepared and then they sent me 300g as compensation when I was only expecting the missing 150g. Whilst I waited for it to arrive, I combed the 100g that they had sent.  It was quite black with a lot of white hairs and I didn't get a lot from it and I forgot to weigh it.

When the replacement arrived it was a completely different colour and texture.  This replacement was dark brown and felt different to the touch, and I forgot to take photos of the replacement fleece before starting work on it.  300g of fleece became 85g of soft fibre.

See how different the two lots are.  That is a prime example of how fleece can differ from animal to animal never-mind breed to breed.  I did try to remove more of the white hair from the first batch but I was left with so little soft wool and it was a different colour that I decided to just use this brown-y one instead and threw the other stuff in the bin.

My finished yarn is of good quality and soft to the touch of the hand and a very rich dark chocolate brown, much darker than it looks in the light box.  My knitted piece for the project took 29g/48m so I have some left to do whatever with.