Sheep of the Week: Merino

Word has it that there are over 450 breeds of sheep throughout the world, and most enthusiasts agree that the merino produces the softest wool of all, some of which rivals cashmere in its luxuriousness.  So luxurious, in fact, that the keepers of these sheep have been utterly stingy in the past.  So stingy, it’s a wonder we even have merinos 

in this part of the world.  We do have a few, but even 

now it’s difficult to find true merinos in the U.S.

Before the 18th century, King Ferdinand of Spain cornered the market on merinos, known then as Escurials. (We have a rooster named Ferdinand, a.k.a effing Ferdinand, bastard chicken from hell.  Only we don’t say “effing.”)  Anyway, remove a sheep from Spain and effing Ferdinand would have you executed.  I told you they were stingy!  He gifted a few to his cousin in Saxony, Prince Xavier, and the Saxon Merino was born.  Eventually, war came and the flock was all but annhialated.  What survived was dispersed to the four corners.  Those that made it to America were selected for meat, and their wool suffered.  Those that went to Australia were bred for their wool, and they ate something else.  So fine that someone got stingy again and it wasn’t until 1986 that the Aussies allowed sheep to be exported.  Rams only.  Good luck with that breeding program.  

Ever resourceful, ranchers in America bred those rams with well-chosen muttons, and now we do have a few farms that produce lovely merino fleeces.  Alas, none are local to Western North Carolina, but we can still hope.  (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong!)  Merinos have been crossed with other breeds to add softness to potentially scratchy wools, so when you find Cormo or Polwarth or Rambouillet, you’ll have a nice next-to-skin fiber to use in your spinning or knitting.

I am a huge fan of merino fiber.  One of its characteristics is loftiness.  Another is warmth.  Once spun, the yarn is puffy and bouncy, light weight, yet warm.  It does not wear hard, so it will eventually pill.  But honestly, it's worth it.  Look how pretty.

This is hand spun merino plied with bamboo in my Reed colorway.

Fun fact:  Merino sheep carry up to 10-25 pounds of fleece on their 80-175 pound bodies.  I bet they’re frisky on shearing day.

Another fun fact (and probably TMI):  Did you know that you can buy merino undies?  Wool panties.  Sounds awful, but, again, I am a huge fan.  Every try to pull up a pair of sweaty wet cotton panties (after peeing in the woods) when you're backpacking up a mountain on a 90 degree day.  Wool panties will change your hiking life.  Trust me.

Effing Ferdinand...Bastard Chicken from Hell

One Down, Countless More To Go

Nothing like chunky yarn and big needles to make me feel like I've accomplished something.  I knit this up the other day in Urban GypZ Hand Spun yarn using a variation of her hat "theory."  Love it!  I've had hat hair all weekend.

Sheep of the Week: Jacob

One of the hardest parts of spinning fiber into yarn is choosing from among the oodles of materials.  You can't always tell from the way a fiber feels in the store how it will feel once it is spun and washed, its twist set, then knit into something yummy.  In a cruel twist of fate, fiber that is soft enough to swaddle a baby (think Merino) generally will be more delicate and likely to wear out sooner.  And what is durable and sturdy (Wensleydale, anyone) is what that itchy scarf is made of.  You know the one.  It's on the floor in the back of the hall closet the last time you checked.  And as I search for materials, either in my local shops or on online, I find that there is an information underload.  So I am trying to educate myself about various breeds of sheep by both researching and experimenting first hand with a variety of fibers.  Each week, I will study a breed and share my findings.

First up, the Jacob.

I stumbled across some beguiling fiber at a local shop, The Asheville NC Homecraft Shop, which carries many locally produced products, including rovings from Hobby Knob Farm, just up the road in Weaverville, NC.  This stripey madness is what I spied:

When the lady in the shop told me it came from one sheep with 4 horns, I knew I had to investigate.  I also bought a Jacob batt, when had been well blended to a uniform gray, and which I dyed in my Carolina Sunrise colorway---purples, indigos, coral and red--and spun into a textured yarn for which you'll just have to stay tuned.  

Until then, let me introduce you to the Jacob.  Does this look real to you?

Octavia, from Hobby Knob Farm.

From Hobby Knob Farm. I only see 2 horns.

They're like the panda bears of the sheep world!  Only with horns.  And hooves.  And I bet they reproduce more easily.  Anyway...they believe that these sheep come from the Middle East, through Spain and Portugal to Britain.  Its wool is of medium luster and is best when spun into a thicker yarn, either worsted or woolen.  It is not a next-to sensitive skin wool, so save it for knitting into outerwear and outdoor garments--hats, mittens, sweaters, vests.  

I decided to use some of my top to practice the second lesson of Art 101--the Autowrap.  I carded some gorgeous mohair with a little sparkle to serve as my wrap, plopped that in a bowl at my feet and started treadling.  Now, I'm not much for brown yarn.  I'm just not much for brown, period.  And the mixing of the brown and the white of the fiber is a little obscured by the mohair which, I grant you, could have been spun a little finer.  But the more time I spend with my little skein of Jacob, the more enamored I am.  You decide.

Art Yarn 101: The AutoWrap

After having fun with the Racing Stripe, it was time to move on to the next lesson in Spin Art by Jacey Boggs, in my autodidactic quest to learn all I can about textured yarns.  The Autowrap, as it turns out, is a really rewarding technique that is also pretty easy.  You can use a variety of materials, getting different results each time depending on what you combine. 

For my first attempt, I chose a stripey Jacob top from Hobby Knob Farm and wrapped it with hand spun mohair carded with a little glitz.  Two things.  One, if you use a hand spun wrap, be sure to spin your yarn in the opposite direction from the handspun.  I spun the mohair counterclockwise, or S, then spun my yarn clockwise, or Z.  Two, it is really, really, really easy to overtwist this yarn, and don't think you'll fix it by spinning it back the other way once you are done.  You will not fix it.

For my second attempt, I dyed a batt of Jacob, also from Hobby Knob Farm but blended to a uniform gray and wrapped it with a commercial mohair blend.  I think I mastered the twist in this trial, and I've got enough for a hat.  YAY!