Great Episode Roxanne. First I must say, that I was taught to spin by someone who insisted on having a project in mind rather than mindlessly just spinning yards and of wool. This means the focus is on selecting suitable wool and techniques for the project. So that has always been my focus. Knitters 'feel' a yarn and from its feel decide if it is soft or not. Knitters like the term 'soft'. As a spinner one of the first things to learn is that 'soft' is a very broad unreliable term because it is so subjective. When starting from the breed raw wool, it is critical to know first whether it is from a fine wool sheep ( focused on the wool of the breed not for meat), a dual purpose sheep for wool and meat , or primarily a meat breed because this will determine its use for a project. The meat breeds mostly have course wool and are used for carpets, upholstery and such. It was used for anything over 30 microns. The exception are the long breeds that are a class of their own . Most long breeds are over 30 microns but have a different characteristic because of the length that helps to determine use. The dual purpose breeds produce wool that is in the medium range and suitable for outerwear .(usually 23- 29 microns) The fine wool breeds are those that can be worn next to the skin. (Anything under 22 -21 microns ). Sometimes the medium breeds might 'feel' soft but are not suitable for anything close to the skin so are still best for outerwear. So rather than use the subjective term 'soft, ' it is good to know the micron count, since it is an objective measurement and a much better descriptive term for determining a project. Fortunately we have an easy way to find the count for most sheep by googling the breed name. However there are more than a 1000 breeds of sheep and many are rare breeds that have not been identified. But there are other ways of determining its suitability for a project besides 'feel'. Most will be course wool or maybe dual coat, like Icelandic with an undercoat that can be separated as 'fine' and the outercoat of courser guard hair. So the better term to describe the type of wool type instead of 'soft. is 'fine' . Medium and course breeds coats are more obvious. But for any study on breed types this is an imperative for classifying the breed . So a good way to put the different breed samples together rather than randomly is by this description. It was first started by the Bradley count but is much more accurate with the micron count.
What a comprehensive explanation, thanks. My sister-in-law has started raising sheep for therapy, so has no idea what breed (she doesn't knit/crochet) - I would expect it's likely a meat breed. They've been sheared, and she mentioned using the wool for pillows. I've only ever dealt with purchased yarn, but have washed some of the wool for her. Any recommendation on whether I should get a carder or combs for my first attempt at getting some usable product? I have no interest in spinning (at least not yet😊). Thank you!
You’re so good at sharing your knowledge and experience and inspiration, Roxanne🥰 I’ll also say that I’m very glad to see you more animated and relaxed these last few Fridays. You really got me interested when you mentioned Tour de Fleece being a good motivator; I’ve been slogging through a spin of a fleece that I feel I need to finish before processing another fleece that I’ve had for… too long. Surely in 21 days, a little time every day, I can get the first project done and the next one ready to spin. Thanks for the idea, and have a fun Tour!
Fascinating to learn more about these different breeds and their fleeces, especially the older and endangered breeds. Look forward to seeing the results as you work with them. Thank you
I purchased a Suffolk- Friesian cross fleece recently and have been sorting and scouring with the goal of learning to spin. My workshop has been smelling like a barn! Very funny and I’m wondering about what I’ve gotten myself into. It’s going to be a long-term project at the rate I’m going. It’s given me some appreciation for how much work it is to produce yarn by hand- and I haven’t gotten to the carding step yet.
Awesome article about the Viking sails! Fir tar, fish oil and sheep tallow for waterproofing! Wow, must have stunk to high heaven but the industriousness and ingenuity are really amazing. Thanks also for the progress on your breed study. Very interesting.
Ha ha há, you do go on ( in the best of ways)! Such a comprehensive exploration, enhanced by your curiosity and enthusiasm. I love it when you post pix of the sheep pertinent to the wool you are discussing!
I love seeing the different wool in those packages. It looks so soft. I never knew there were so many different breeds of sheep. Thank you for the video. 🐑 🧶
Oh this was so much fun! Loved seeing all those different rare breeds. Hope you share your experiments with us, Roxanne. I've been spinning with supported spindles for about 4 years, and am really just now learning which spindles work best with different sheep fibres. It's a deep rabbit hole!
Hi there, wow you have been very busy and the result is going to be interesting for you and us also, once you share it. Its good that you have found time to do your spinning. There is a Wool festival in Christchurch tomorrow and as I went last year and learnt so much, I am going to be going again tomorrow. The sweater knitting is going well now and I am looking forward to churning out another by the end of the week. My brothers wife has asked me to knit a little jacket for their 3 year old son, honoured to be asked. Anyway, I shall let you on. Nice to see you, as always and what you had been up to. Please take care of yourself and enjoy the journey.
I have Katahdin hair sheep, and they shed their woolly winter coat on their own, but sometimes I will pull handfuls out if it’s not coming out quickly enough. Their is usually plenty of hair in it- the hair is like hair from a goat or cow. Very coarse and stiff. I also have one Icelandic ewe, and she is either shorn, or I pluck what’s loose. I had been told that rueing was when they have a natural wool “break” before the new coat grows in.
I've been spinning about a year now and love it. I'm still amazed by the variety of sheep breeds and am appreciative of your sharing your information about this. I may do tour de fleece. I have a local small farm where I acquired 8 oz of cleaned and picked Finn. I have hand cards and combs so am anxious to play. Looking forward to your next spinning journey! I wish I had your discipline for resisting yarn with no plan.
It's not discipline so much as knitting for enough decades that I recognize the pattern! Impulse yarn purchases never result in finished projects that I love (more often, they don't result in a finished project at all). I know what sorts of yarns I am likely to knit with (sweater quantity of sold, worsted weight wool, or single skeins of self-striping sock yarn), so I will buy that on impulse, knowing that I'll use it, eventually. If there's a *type* of yarn I'm interested in using (something with a particular construction), I wait until I come across a specific project I want to use that type of yarn for, and then buy the right amount in the right yarn weight, in a color that suits the recipient.
I’m so excited to see how your spinning of those beautiful fleeces goes. Then seeing them added to that beautiful blanket. I love that I learn so much every Friday. The tour de fleece sounds awesome.
Great episode, Roxanne! You got some really interesting wool from lesser known breeds there. As a life long knitter, I started my breed study for very similar reasons. Plus I wanted to find out if using different breeds for different knitting needs would eliminate the need for man made materials. And therefore be more environmentally friendly. The word blaeset , reminds me of blaze in English or bles in Dutch. And the sheep does look a lot like the Dutch zwartbles (which means black blaze, or black sheep with white blaze). Last year I took part in the World of Wool team during TdF. This year, I will be joining our friend Trish of Fiber Love Diary. Might see you there!
It does seem like blæset should be cognate to blaze or bles, but apparently, it means "wind," so blæset sau translates to "blown sheep," whatever that means!
Gosh, there was a lot of information in that video, Roxanne. I didn't even know there were dual coated sheep and that fleece could be plucked by hand! Makes me wonder how the plucker keeps the pluckee still enough to do the job! Good luck with the new additions to the breed study 👍😊
thank you so much for reminding me that tour de fleece exists. I was gifted 2 miniature sheep fleeces, one white, one dark brown and I've scoured and dried them but not picked them because, life. My father made me drop spindles and I think 10 to 20 minutes a day to learn this newish skill to me will be perfect.
Fantastic episode. I am a fiber lover. Can you tell by the name? I'd been away from fiber arts for too long. I don't know how to spin - yet. I wanted to start with weaving, to weave my own fabric for clothes. It was funny to hear you talk about yarns being the same. I intentionally seek out different yarns and usually pay through the nose for them. It's making more sense to try spinning my own. I suppose I could travel the world collecting different yarns! Maybe not such a bad idea! The colors of the fibers you got are gorgeous. I look forward to seeing what you decide to do with these.
Tour de Fleece sounds like great fun! I love fiber artists. They do amazing work and find wonderful ways to celebrate creativity. Spinning is something I want to try some day when I have a place for more kinds of stash. Oh my. Yet another rabbit hole.
I’ve come across rooing/rueing? before in the context of Shetland sheep. I think it was a video from Wool Week, but if you google Shetland and rooing, quite a bit comes up.
U r the best educator for anything knitting. Is there a resource for what sheep produces certain types of yarn and their disciplines? My name is Mary (no lambs for me) and I've always loved the black face/nose sheep. If I was younger I would immerse myself from breed to yarn. So knitting it is... Thanks for sharing.
It's my first year as well, and that's exactly my goal (only with a kromski). I have so many other projects (knitting, sewing, building) that my poor spinning wheel gets neglected. I'm using TDF to kick start back on spinning.
The blacknose is going to be fairly coarse. Think rugs...but the lamb will be softer at least. The matching Norwegians should make for a nice fade or blend for sure. I doubt I'll do TDF. I was thinking that with your blanket, you'll have a bit of an idea of how some of these breeds spin up if you ever decide to use a particular breed and hand-spun in a project
So exciting🙂 I should like to see the different wool textures in your blanket. Or have you already made a podcast about it? Thank you for sharing all your knowledge.
Curious how much weight of the raw fleece samples you lost when scouring. I had some fleeces that lost 35-40% during washing, the water was filthy! As far as I know it depends on sheep breed. Perhaps I'll join the Tour de Fleece this year: I want to finish carding and spinning part of a fleece to be turned into a jumper.
Wow, Interesting , the things I did know . I was not aware or ever knew about Hair Sheep. 🤔 I had first wondered when you started talking about this, if it was like how they spin straight off angora bunnies vs clipping . In the video I saw , fluffy angora bunny that didn't seem to be traumatized by it .
I have learned from you and appreciate your video's. Question: Really learn a lot from you. How do you knit sweater sleeves that have stitches on the each side of the seam and sometimes on the neck seam - you see it in cashmere sweaters, etc. I would send a picture but don't know how to on this feed. Do you have a post for this? Thank you so much!
I've always wondered about plucking wool, does it not hurt the sheep? I've also heard of wool being obtained by combing, where they just literally run a comb through the wool, and whatever is ready to be shed will come out in the comb, so maybe the plucking method is more like that?
The hairs of these sheep have a predetermined breaking point when it comes to change of fur. So "rooing" does not hurt, otherwise sheep will scratch the wool off, like other animals do, too. Combing sheep is not really possible because of lanolin.
Great Episode Roxanne. First I must say, that I was taught to spin by someone who insisted on having a project in mind rather than mindlessly just spinning yards and of wool. This means the focus is on selecting suitable wool and techniques for the project. So that has always been my focus. Knitters 'feel' a yarn and from its feel decide if it is soft or not. Knitters like the term 'soft'. As a spinner one of the first things to learn is that 'soft' is a very broad unreliable term because it is so subjective. When starting from the breed raw wool, it is critical to know first whether it is from a fine wool sheep ( focused on the wool of the breed not for meat), a dual purpose sheep for wool and meat , or primarily a meat breed because this will determine its use for a project. The meat breeds mostly have course wool and are used for carpets, upholstery and such. It was used for anything over 30 microns. The exception are the long breeds that are a class of their own . Most long breeds are over 30 microns but have a different characteristic because of the length that helps to determine use. The dual purpose breeds produce wool that is in the medium range and suitable for outerwear .(usually 23- 29 microns) The fine wool breeds are those that can be worn next to the skin. (Anything under 22 -21 microns ). Sometimes the medium breeds might 'feel' soft but are not suitable for anything close to the skin so are still best for outerwear. So rather than use the subjective term 'soft, ' it is good to know the micron count, since it is an objective measurement and a much better descriptive term for determining a project. Fortunately we have an easy way to find the count for most sheep by googling the breed name. However there are more than a 1000 breeds of sheep and many are rare breeds that have not been identified. But there are other ways of determining its suitability for a project besides 'feel'. Most will be course wool or maybe dual coat, like Icelandic with an undercoat that can be separated as 'fine' and the outercoat of courser guard hair. So the better term to describe the type of wool type instead of 'soft. is 'fine' . Medium and course breeds coats are more obvious. But for any study on breed types this is an imperative for classifying the breed . So a good way to put the different breed samples together rather than randomly is by this description. It was first started by the Bradley count but is much more accurate with the micron count.
What a comprehensive explanation, thanks. My sister-in-law has started raising sheep for therapy, so has no idea what breed (she doesn't knit/crochet) - I would expect it's likely a meat breed. They've been sheared, and she mentioned using the wool for pillows.
I've only ever dealt with purchased yarn, but have washed some of the wool for her. Any recommendation on whether I should get a carder or combs for my first attempt at getting some usable product? I have no interest in spinning (at least not yet😊). Thank you!
You’re so good at sharing your knowledge and experience and inspiration, Roxanne🥰 I’ll also say that I’m very glad to see you more animated and relaxed these last few Fridays. You really got me interested when you mentioned Tour de Fleece being a good motivator; I’ve been slogging through a spin of a fleece that I feel I need to finish before processing another fleece that I’ve had for… too long. Surely in 21 days, a little time every day, I can get the first project done and the next one ready to spin. Thanks for the idea, and have a fun Tour!
Fascinating to learn more about these different breeds and their fleeces, especially the older and endangered breeds. Look forward to seeing the results as you work with them. Thank you
As usual, so much interesting stuff for me to learn from you, Roxanne. Thanks! 🐑
I purchased a Suffolk- Friesian cross fleece recently and have been sorting and scouring with the goal of learning to spin. My workshop has been smelling like a barn! Very funny and I’m wondering about what I’ve gotten myself into. It’s going to be a long-term project at the rate I’m going. It’s given me some appreciation for how much work it is to produce yarn by hand- and I haven’t gotten to the carding step yet.
Awesome article about the Viking sails! Fir tar, fish oil and sheep tallow for waterproofing! Wow, must have stunk to high heaven but the industriousness and ingenuity are really amazing. Thanks also for the progress on your breed study. Very interesting.
This was a great episode! Really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to see these fleece in your blanket. I need a spinning class…
Ha ha há, you do go on ( in the best of ways)! Such a comprehensive exploration, enhanced by your curiosity and enthusiasm. I love it when you post pix of the sheep pertinent to the wool you are discussing!
I love seeing the different wool in those packages. It looks so soft. I never knew there were so many different breeds of sheep. Thank you for the video. 🐑 🧶
Oh this was so much fun! Loved seeing all those different rare breeds. Hope you share your experiments with us, Roxanne. I've been spinning with supported spindles for about 4 years, and am really just now learning which spindles work best with different sheep fibres. It's a deep rabbit hole!
Hi there, wow you have been very busy and the result is going to be interesting for you and us also, once you share it. Its good that you have found time to do your spinning.
There is a Wool festival in Christchurch tomorrow and as I went last year and learnt so much, I am going to be going again tomorrow.
The sweater knitting is going well now and I am looking forward to churning out another by the end of the week. My brothers wife has asked me to knit a little jacket for their 3 year old son, honoured to be asked.
Anyway, I shall let you on. Nice to see you, as always and what you had been up to. Please take care of yourself and enjoy the journey.
I have Katahdin hair sheep, and they shed their woolly winter coat on their own, but sometimes I will pull handfuls out if it’s not coming out quickly enough. Their is usually plenty of hair in it- the hair is like hair from a goat or cow. Very coarse and stiff. I also have one Icelandic ewe, and she is either shorn, or I pluck what’s loose. I had been told that rueing was when they have a natural wool “break” before the new coat grows in.
I've been spinning about a year now and love it. I'm still amazed by the variety of sheep breeds and am appreciative of your sharing your information about this. I may do tour de fleece. I have a local small farm where I acquired 8 oz of cleaned and picked Finn. I have hand cards and combs so am anxious to play. Looking forward to your next spinning journey! I wish I had your discipline for resisting yarn with no plan.
It's not discipline so much as knitting for enough decades that I recognize the pattern! Impulse yarn purchases never result in finished projects that I love (more often, they don't result in a finished project at all). I know what sorts of yarns I am likely to knit with (sweater quantity of sold, worsted weight wool, or single skeins of self-striping sock yarn), so I will buy that on impulse, knowing that I'll use it, eventually. If there's a *type* of yarn I'm interested in using (something with a particular construction), I wait until I come across a specific project I want to use that type of yarn for, and then buy the right amount in the right yarn weight, in a color that suits the recipient.
I’m so excited to see how your spinning of those beautiful fleeces goes. Then seeing them added to that beautiful blanket. I love that I learn so much every Friday. The tour de fleece sounds awesome.
Thank you for all this great information about sheep and wool. It is so much fun to learning from you. I hope you are feeling better.
Fiber Curio has a great shop. Her descriptions are very accurate, exactly what a spinner needs to know.
I'm doing the "Tour" on my own. Ten minutes a day on the drop spindle. I also like to use this event to practice long draw when I can make the time.
Great episode, Roxanne! You got some really interesting wool from lesser known breeds there. As a life long knitter, I started my breed study for very similar reasons. Plus I wanted to find out if using different breeds for different knitting needs would eliminate the need for man made materials. And therefore be more environmentally friendly. The word blaeset , reminds me of blaze in English or bles in Dutch. And the sheep does look a lot like the Dutch zwartbles (which means black blaze, or black sheep with white blaze). Last year I took part in the World of Wool team during TdF. This year, I will be joining our friend Trish of Fiber Love Diary. Might see you there!
It does seem like blæset should be cognate to blaze or bles, but apparently, it means "wind," so blæset sau translates to "blown sheep," whatever that means!
I own Jacob Sheep! I make so much money selling their freshly cut fleeces!
I own a Jacob's sheep fleece, so nice.
I love knitting Jacob Sheep yarn into warm winter garments!
You are always so informative!❤
Gosh, there was a lot of information in that video, Roxanne. I didn't even know there were dual coated sheep and that fleece could be plucked by hand! Makes me wonder how the plucker keeps the pluckee still enough to do the job! Good luck with the new additions to the breed study 👍😊
thank you so much for reminding me that tour de fleece exists. I was gifted 2 miniature sheep fleeces, one white, one dark brown and I've scoured and dried them but not picked them because, life. My father made me drop spindles and I think 10 to 20 minutes a day to learn this newish skill to me will be perfect.
Fantastic episode. I am a fiber lover. Can you tell by the name? I'd been away from fiber arts for too long. I don't know how to spin - yet. I wanted to start with weaving, to weave my own fabric for clothes. It was funny to hear you talk about yarns being the same. I intentionally seek out different yarns and usually pay through the nose for them. It's making more sense to try spinning my own. I suppose I could travel the world collecting different yarns! Maybe not such a bad idea! The colors of the fibers you got are gorgeous. I look forward to seeing what you decide to do with these.
Great episode full of interesting facts. 🇬🇧
Tour de Fleece sounds like great fun! I love fiber artists. They do amazing work and find wonderful ways to celebrate creativity. Spinning is something I want to try some day when I have a place for more kinds of stash. Oh my. Yet another rabbit hole.
The Black-nosed Valet Sheep is so cute!
I’d love a knit or crochet sheep doll made from its wool. I think my cat would like it more!
I’ve come across rooing/rueing? before in the context of Shetland sheep. I think it was a video from Wool Week, but if you google Shetland and rooing, quite a bit comes up.
U r the best educator for anything knitting. Is there a resource for what sheep produces certain types of yarn and their disciplines? My name is Mary (no lambs for me) and I've always loved the black face/nose sheep. If I was younger I would immerse myself from breed to yarn. So knitting it is... Thanks for sharing.
My first year doing TDF, set a goal of 1 hour a day working on improving my consistency using my lendrum.
It's my first year as well, and that's exactly my goal (only with a kromski). I have so many other projects (knitting, sewing, building) that my poor spinning wheel gets neglected. I'm using TDF to kick start back on spinning.
What an enjoyable podcast! Thanks, Roxanne.
Very informative, thank you😊
Helpful to hear your mental process. Thanks.
Great episode
Thank you, Roxanne! I remember seeing an old painting of a girl 'collecting' wool in a field, maybe from hair sheep?
The blacknose is going to be fairly coarse. Think rugs...but the lamb will be softer at least. The matching Norwegians should make for a nice fade or blend for sure. I doubt I'll do TDF. I was thinking that with your blanket, you'll have a bit of an idea of how some of these breeds spin up if you ever decide to use a particular breed and hand-spun in a project
So exciting🙂 I should like to see the different wool textures in your blanket. Or have you already made a podcast about it? Thank you for sharing all your knowledge.
I covered the various yarns over a period of 6 weeks as I made the blanket. Check out the Casual Friday episodes from April and May.
@@RoxanneRichardson Thank you 🤗 I'll do that.
soooo interesting!!!
Curious how much weight of the raw fleece samples you lost when scouring. I had some fleeces that lost 35-40% during washing, the water was filthy! As far as I know it depends on sheep breed.
Perhaps I'll join the Tour de Fleece this year: I want to finish carding and spinning part of a fleece to be turned into a jumper.
Finer wools have more lanolin, so will lose more weight in the scouring.
Wow, Interesting , the things I did know . I was not aware or ever knew about Hair Sheep.
🤔 I had first wondered when you started talking about this, if it was like how they spin straight off angora bunnies vs clipping . In the video I saw , fluffy angora bunny that didn't seem to be traumatized by it .
No tour de fleece for me, I am not spinning yet, scared of that rabbit hole, but I am always very interested in your breed studies experiment.
I have learned from you and appreciate your video's. Question: Really learn a lot from you. How do you knit sweater sleeves that have stitches on the each side of the seam and sometimes on the neck seam - you see it in cashmere sweaters, etc. I would send a picture but don't know how to on this feed. Do you have a post for this? Thank you so much!
If you post your question in my Ravelry group, along with a photo, I will be better able to understand what it is you're wanting to understand.
@@RoxanneRichardson I found your Ravelry story but how do I find your Ravelry group?
@@1959GreenGables There's a link to my group in the video description. Scroll down.
Those blackface sheep are adorable!!
My long haired cat has a noticeably thicker winter coat he sheds during spring
I've always wondered about plucking wool, does it not hurt the sheep? I've also heard of wool being obtained by combing, where they just literally run a comb through the wool, and whatever is ready to be shed will come out in the comb, so maybe the plucking method is more like that?
It's like an undercoat and overcoat on dogs. The undercoat can be picked off when it releases or relaxes.
The hairs of these sheep have a predetermined breaking point when it comes to change of fur. So "rooing" does not hurt, otherwise sheep will scratch the wool off, like other animals do, too. Combing sheep is not really possible because of lanolin.
It would be interesting to see DNA testing on these sheep