Combing some non-British Sheep fleece

Back in this post from December 2020, I came up with the idea of doing a sampler featuring the wools of different sheep breeds and I mentioned that I would make two different ones, one for the 57 different pure breed British Breeds (not including standard crosses like Welsh Mule, Masham etc) and one for the other breeds that are non-British (even if there are flocks of some of them now living in the UK).

I am building up quite a collection of small amounts of fleece and ready-to-spin fibre for a lot of these breeds and what I have been doing this past month or so, since 13th January, is that I have been preparing some of the small amounts of washed fleece ready for spinning.

Top half of photo collage
Large picture top left - Norsk Spelsau - Norway
Small picture top middle - Galway - Ireland
Small picture top right - Berrichon du Cher - France
Small picture 2nd row middle - Coloured Beltex - Belgium
Small picture 2nd row right - Blue Texel - The Netherlands

Lower half of photo collage
Small picture top left - Roussin de la Hague - France
Small picture top middle - Tiroler Steinschaf - Austria
Small picture bottom left - Harjedalsfaren - Sweden
Small picture bottom middle - Ouessant - France
Large picture bottom right - Klovsjo - Sweden

These are all different kinds of fleece, there are some very bouncy, almost "Downs-like" fleece, some are more longwool type and some are dual-coated like the Harjedalsfaren.  I've not started spinning any of the breeds that I have just yet but I do know that I will need to spin finer yarns than I did for the British Breeds project as I have limited amounts of each of them due to cost and availability but also because when I do the designs I not only need to get the name of the breed in the design but also the country such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Ireland, USA etc etc whilst still keeping the entire project within a manageable physical size.

What I have so far, besides those above are: Rambouillet (France), Eider (Germany), Targhee (USA), Pommersches Landschaf (Germany), Texel (The Netherlands, and considered a different breed from Blue Texel), Swedish Finewool (Sweden), Helsinge (Sweden), Asen (Sweden), Varmland (Sweden), Roslad (Sweden), Gestrike (Sweden), Rya (Sweden), Gotland (Sweden), Finnish (Finland), Nederlandse Bonte Schaapo (The Netherlands), Highlander (New Zealand), Coburger Fuchsschaf (Bavaria), Swiss Valais Blacknose (Switzerland), Corriedale (New Zealand), Charollais (France), Polwarth (Australia), Perendale (New Zealand), Icelandic (Iceland), Zwartbles (The Netherlands), Tiroler Bergschaf (Austria), Faroese (Faroe Islands), Norwegian (Norway), Punta Arenas (Chile), Beltex (Belgium), Est a Laine (France), Cormo (Tasmania/Australia), Gutefar (Sweden) and Falkland Merino (Falkland Islands).

There are others that I am on the lookout for, as and when I see them, depending on costs and ability to be able to import them or not.  Merino is traditionally and historically a Spanish sheep so I will make sure I have some standard Merino in this project too.  At some point I will have to make the decision that I have enough samples and get designing and spinning but I'm in no immediate rush to do that as I'm happy to see what this years may bring forth first.

Combing the rest of the Llandovery Whiteface Hill sheep fleece

This past year or so I've been working on spinning up older braids of fibre and preparing fleece that I have had for the longest time along with either dyeing fibres for my "ingredients cupboard" or using up items from my "ingredients cupboard" in blends.  This particular fleece isn't old, I'd only had it just over a year but I had two pillowcases full of this fleece and there was a lot of kemp that was sticking out through the fabric of the pillowcase so it was making a bit of a mess as well as taking up a lot of space.  I decided to comb this fleece to save on space.  I did actually finish combing the first pillowcase full back in early December 2022 and this contained 583g of fleece and after 19 hours of combing, not in one session, I had 218g of nice soft fluff.  

The second pillowcase full weighs 1,105g and has been sat across the room looking at me menacingly ever since.  I finally started to tackle this monster job on Friday 8th September 2023 and I have worked at it all over the weekend and have now finally finished combing it, 5 days beginning on the 8th and finishing today, on the 12th September.  It took just about 25 and a half hours to comb my way through it and I got 400g of fluff.  So, this almost whole fleece that was left over from the Breeds Project started out at 1,688g and I have got 618g of soft fluff ready for spinning or dyeing and spinning and it has taken me 44 hours and 20 minutes of work to get to that.  Overall though, including that what I used for the project, I got a total of 712g of fluff from 1,916g of kempy fleece and that is a yield of 37.16%.

I didn't take any additional photos, other than what I took last year when I spun some up for the British Breeds Project.

I have plans to dye the fluff, now that the kemp has been removed, and use some of the things in my "ingredients cupboard" to make blends for spinning.  I haven't decided what colours yet, I need to see what I have in the cupboard and dye the wool to match or co-ordinate with that.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2022 Stage 6 - Binche (in Belgium) to Longwy (in France)

Stage 6 of the Tour de France and it is a 219.9km long hilly race that starts in Binche (Belgium) and ends in Longwy (France)

The Map

Sights and points of interest along the route

The town of Binche, formerly Bincium, was formed in 1120 during the reign of Yolande of Guelders, Countess of Hainaut.  The ramparts of Binche have been magnificently preserved in almost their entirety It has almost 30 towers and 6 gates.   

Binche Ramparts

There are also traces of the former shelter provided by the Abbey of Bonne Espérance, now known as Caves Bette, was acquired by Monks in 1380 who turned it into a refuge to be used at times of war and to stock provisions.  The International Carnival and Mask Museum, Belfry of Binche which is an integral part of the town hall built in the 14th century.  Le Fuseau Arts Crafts and Lace Centre, Binche lace is characterised by the extreme fineness of the thread (never cut) used by the lace makers.  The "snow background" thus gives the works a fairytale appearance.  Victor Hugo himself made a large echo of it in Les Misérables.  It is said that the "Binche point" is the most difficult in the world to knit.

The remains of the Palace of Mary of Hungary.  Erquelinnes and 14th century Castle of Solre-sur-Sambre, the town of Beaumont famous for its macaroons and 11th century Salamander Tower.  Eau d'Heure lake and the Plate Taille Dam.  The town of Chimay were the 96 year old Princess Elisabeth de Chamay resides in Chimay Castle, built in the 11th century.  Lake Virelles and Notre-Dame de Scourmont Abbey

Chimay Castle

Continuing along the route and back into France is Rocroi, Secheval, Charleville-Mezieres with an old mill built in 1626.  Donchery and Sainte-Onésime Church then onto Sedan with its 17th century Dijonval Royal Cloth Factory which is now luxury accommodation.  There is also the medieval castle of Sedan, with seven floors and walls of 25m thick in places.

Sedan Castle

Bazeilles, with Château de Lamecourt and Château de Montvillers, amongst several castles in the area.  The towns/villages of Margut and Thonelle, Basilica of Notre-Dame D'Avioth and the village of Marville with its aerodome being a former air base and Saint- Nicholas Church.  Onto Longuyon, which is close to the Belgium and Luxemborg borders with Sainte-Agathe Church, the original building dated back to before 634.  Cons-la-Grandville Castle in the town of the same name.

Cons-la-Grandville Castle

The riders then reach the town of Réhon, birthplace of cartoonist Jean-Marc Reiser (1941-1983).  The final town is Longwy with its Vauban Fortress and what is left of its old medieval castle.  Other notable places include St Dagobert Church and the Church of Mont Saint-Martin

The Fortress and castle of Longwy

Who Won the Stage and Who Won What Jersey

The Stage winner is Tadej Pogacar for UAE Team Emirates

The Yellow Jersey won by Tadej Pogacar for UAE Team Emirates.

The Green Jersey won by Wout van Aert for Jumbo-Visma.

The Polka Dot Jersey won by Magnus Cort Nielsen for EF Education-Easypost/USA.

The White Jersey won by Tadej Pogacar for UAE Team Emirates.

Combatif Award won by Wout van Aert for Jumbo-Visma.

Leading team: Ineos-Grenadiers

The Challenge: As the cyclists leave Binche in Belgium we thought we'd follow up yesterday's challenge with something more sedate.  Tomorrow is world Chocolate Day and you rarely think of Belgium without jumping to some sort of chocolate!

Take a picture of your favourite treat.  Be creative!  If you want to spin today, we'd suggest a chocolate-y fibre to dig in to.

Suggested Fibre:  Our recommendation is Alpcalypse; it reminds us of a chocolatiers selection box

What I did

I had a good look through my stash and whilst I do have a couple of brown fibres, specifically dark brown Yak and a brown Alpaca that were both in the Advent Calendar, I don't want to spin those as they are, I feel that they might need putting with other fibres.  I decided to look to chocolate packaging, no Cadbury purple in my stash so do I go red/white to represent Maltesers packet?  What colours do I have that fit this challenge?  I settled on two different lots of Botany Waste.  One was a 50g bump of blue from the Advent Calendar and the other was a combination of two different lots of white from a white Botany Waste pack that I bought last year and I drafted the two whites side by side to ensure the fibres mixed all the way along the single as it spun.  I have no idea what the actual fibre content is other than that the white is a medium wool with lots of bounce but not particularly soft and the blue has sparkles in it and is maybe various shades of merino or Corriedale.

The finished yarn is a double-knit weight and is 99g/203m which in terms of the TdF length calculations is 609m - 2 singles plus the plied length = 3 x finished yarn length.

Llandovery Whiteface Hill Sheep

The Llandovery Whiteface Hill sheep is a breed of Welsh Mountain sheep that has been bred for generations to thrive in the area of the Black Mountain in Carmarthenshire and is a little larger than other Welsh Mountain sheep.  Development of the breed has focused on retaining the hardiness and maternal quality of the breed whilst improving conformation to ensure that demand for ewes for breeding stock and lambs for the food chain and the focus remains on improvements for the meat market.  There is no focus on improving the fleece.  Demand for breeding ewes come from all across Wales and beyond for the production of Welsh Mules and Welsh Half-breds. The Llandovery Whiteface Hill Sheep Society was founded in 1998 by a small number of local farmers wanting to progress the genetic development of the breed.  However, they do not appear to have a website as yet.

Llandovery Whiteface Hill ewes

Llandovery Whiteface Hill rams

The Llandovery Whiteface Hill sheep, at the time of writing, is in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust category 6: "Other UK Native Breeds" (over 3000) registered breeding ewes.  Breeders remain in the localised area of Llandovery and the sheep are sold at Llandovery Market.  There is no information about this breed in either of my two reference books and one of them is produced by the British Wool Marketing Board, who couldn't tell me anything about the breed when I approached them for information and if it wasn't for the fact that this breed is listed on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust website I would not have known that it even existed.  There is also very little information on the Internet about the breed either and nothing about the qualities of the fleece, micron counts, weight or staple length or how best to prepare it.  It seems that it is undiscovered from a hand spinning point of view.

They are a medium build sheep with a whiteface and legs, which are free from wool, white ears and black nostrils. Ewes are naturally polled but rams can be with or without horns.

They produce a medium size dense white fleece, mine arrived at a little over 3kg, that contains a large amount of kemp in both white and red.  The staple length is around 4-5 inches (10-12.5cm)

The advise in my reference books for similar fleece is that they can be spun from teased locks, it can be carded or combed. If you leave the kemp in that it is going to create a very textured scratchy yarn with interest from the red kemp.  If you comb it and remove the kemp then you will be left with lovely soft wool.

Yarns spun from Llandovery Whiteface Hill fleece that contain the kemp are definitely suited to household items and upholstery and if you have removed the kemp then I would say that they are definitely good for next-to-skin use.  

This one has been extremely difficult to get my hands on and it has taken me over a year to obtain a fleece. I couldn't find any for sale anywhere because it is not well known and I discovered that the British Wool Marketing Board just clump the fleece in with other white Welsh Mountain fleece.   Given that there is no website for the breed society there was no obvious point of contact.  I did find a blog post that mentioned the breed and I contacted that person, who was very helpful and put me in touch with a farmer of the breed who informed me that his sheep were sheared the previous week, on 16th June 2021, and he was happy to sell a fleece to me.  Then it went silent and I never heard from him again.  I feared it might have been due to Covid but it wasn't and I eventually gave up on him.

I recommenced my search in April of this year, just before the start of shearing season, and the best time to make contact with breeders to reserve a fleece.  Seeing as how the Rare Breeds Survival Trust know about how many of this breed there are I contacted them for help and they gave me an e-mail address for the breed society.  I made contact but never got a response.  Browsing Instagram one day I suddenly got the idea to search for Llandovery and lots of business accounts came up, one of which was a wool shop in the town, so I made contact.  I got a response the following day to say she couldn't help but she put me in touch with someone else.  That person couldn't help me either but she gave me a phone number to call so I rang the number and it was the Llandovery Market, where they sell the sheep.  I explained to them what I was doing and that it was the last fleece I needed to complete the project.  They gave me a name and a phone number of a local farmer who, in their words, is very approachable and helpful.  I rang and left a message and after a couple of chats on the phone I purchased a fleece and it arrived quite quickly.

I have bought this breed in as a full fleece from Wyn Morgan in the Brecon Beacons and it arrived on 8th June, my 20th wedding anniversary, and it weighed just over 3kg.  I had a little peek inside the top of the bag and it looked very kempy but I wasn't able to get it out of the bag and examine it until I had time to start washing it on the 10th June.

About half of the fleece was washed on 10th June and it filled my drying hanger so the rest had to wait until this was dry.  This first batch filled a pillowcase and weighed 1,105g (excluding the weight of the pillowcase.  The rest of the fleece was washed on 14th June and weighed 811g once it was dry, giving me a total of 1,916g of clean but kemp rich fleece to prepare.

I combed 228g of fleece to get 94g of gorgeous, soft, hand combed top, just enough for my project.
  

Look at how white and fluffy that single looks on the bobbin

My finished yarn is of good quality to the touch of the hand it is really soft and squishy and light with just a very tiny crispness to it if you squeeze it hard. I have 93g/230m of sport weight yarn. My knitted piece for the project took 46g/114m so I have some left to do whatever with, and the rest of the fleece of course.

Clun Forest Sheep

The Clun Forest was established in the 19th century and takes its name from the market town on the Shropshire/Powys border and was developed from a number of now extinct local breeds.  The area has been home to shepherds for about 1000 years.  The native sheep were hardy and self sufficient thriving on rough grasses.   In 1803, in an agricultural report these sheep were quoted as having no horns and white faces.  In 1837 another statement also quotes them as having no horns and white faces but the breed was quickly changing in appearance.  This was caused by cross breeding with the Kerry Hill, Hill Radnor and Shropshire which ultimately lead to the change of head colour.  The Clun Forest Sheep Breeders Society was set up in January 1925 "to secure the purity of lineage and fixity of type".

The Clun Forest sheep, at the time of writing, is in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust category 6: "Other UK Native Breeds" (over 3000) registered breeding ewes.  During an annual 4-day sale in the 1950's some 75,000 purebred ewes were sold but since that time numbers have declined.  They are found across the UK and also around the world such as the USA, Canada, The Netherlands, The Czech Republic and France.

The Clun Forest is a medium build sheep with a dark brown face, legs and ears and the ears are held upright.  They have a forelock of white wool and both sexes are naturally polled.  

They produce a medium size fleece that is 2-3kg in weight  with dense locks and is of uniform quality and has a staple length of 3-4 inches (7.5-10cm).  The wool is fine with an average micron count of 25-28 and is white with no kemp or coloured fibres.  Takes dye nicely with clear colours.

This fleece can be spun from teased locks, it can be carded or combed.  It is pleasant to spin and has lots of air and bounce with a springy quality.  Is very good on its own but will also add elasticity, resilience and loft to blends with other fibres. 

Yarns spun from Clun Forest fleece are similar to those of the Downs breeds but in my opinion softer and nicer and definitely for next-to-skin use.  

I have bought this breed in as a whole raw fleece that I purchased in April but it was sheared during 2020 and it weighed 1900g on arrival.  I always wash fleece within a week of arrival, so this was washed and dried about 5 months ago.

After washing the entire fleece I am left with 1225g of clean, soft fleece waiting to be combed. I have taken 100g of clean fleece and combed it and I have 61g of soft hand combed top to spin up.

My finished yarn is of good quality to the touch of the hand and is so soft and bouncy.  I have 61g/149m of sport weight yarn.  My knitted piece for the project took 20g/49m so I have some left to do whatever with plus the vast majority of the fleece.

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.

Black Welsh Mountain Sheep

Black Welsh Mountain sheep have been around since the 13th century and are native to the southern mountains of Wales.  Originally they were an occasional anomaly from the regular Welsh Mountain breed but during the 19th century they were used for selective breeding for the colour and developed into a breed in their own right and now they are a pure black breed.  The black fleeced sheep have been around since medieval times and was falls gwlân cochddu (red-black wool) and was considered to be a highly desirable commodity. 

The Black Welsh Mountain sheep, at the time of writing, is in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust category 6: "Other UK Native Breeds" (over 3000) registered breeding ewes and they can be found mostly in Mid Wales but there are specialist flocks across the UK.  They are a small sheep with a black head and legs, which are wool free, with a mature ewe weighing about 45kg and rams are around 60-65kg.  Ewes are polled and rams grow horns. They have a placid temperament and are easy to handle.

They produce a good sized fleece of  around 1-2kg and it is black, a proper true black.  Unusually these sheep do not grey with age like other coloured sheep breeds do.  Their fleece is also of better quality than their forebears and other Welsh Mountain breeds, probably because they have undergone a process of selective breeding in the past to develop the breed for its colour and no doubt only animals with the highest quality and softest of fleece were used to make the most of the desirable black fleece.  The fleece is still slightly on the crisp side but has very little kemp and is softer than their counterparts.  The staple length is generally 3-4 inches (7.5-10cm).

The locks are not particularly distinct but can be separate from the fleece by locating a tip and pulling outward and so spinning from the lock is achievable.  It can be carded or combed.  Drafting is easy.  There is no point trying to dye this fleece as it is so dark that it is just a waste of time and dye. 

Yarns spun from Black Welsh Mountain fleece very nice and can be used for sweaters, hats, scarves, mittens, blankets and more.  

I have bought this breed in as pre-prepared fibre in a box containing 50g each of four British Breeds. I also had a 25g sample that I got with another pack so broke the 50g into two shorter lengths and then split the 25g down the length into two thinner strips.  This made the pieces almost the same length so I stretched the thinner piece out to the same length as the 50g and pre-drafted and spun them together at the same time. Then done the same for the other two pieces.  There are some white fibres on the larger sample but this could of come from one of the other breeds in the same box.

There are a small amount of tiny non-white hairs/fibres that are easy to remove.

My finished yarn is of medium quality to the touch of the hand and it is quite soft with a slight crispness and definitely quite sturdy.  I have 74g/128m of lovely natural black sport weight yarn.  My knitted piece for the project took 49g/85m so I have a small amount left to do whatever with.

Kerry Hill DK yarn

Further to my post of a few days ago about spinning up the Kerry Hill fleece for the breeds project, I have now spun up the rest of the fleece and I spun it a little thicker and allowed it to be big and bouncy.

I have two skeins totalling 201g/479m of double knit weight yarn.