I
owe my love for Border Leicester sheep to a lady from the thumb area
of Michigan. Janet McPeck sold me my first Border Leicester
fleece. It was a black lamb fleece that was so dark and so
clean, I actually asked her if it had already been washed! I
had been spinning for about eleven years by that time and had never
held anything so wonderful in my hands. I was captivated.
Like many people, I’d heard about Border Leicester wool but it was not
a common breed back in the late 1980s, at least not in
Michigan. What I’d heard was that it was a long wool and a
coarse wool. What I had never heard but have learned along
the way is that it has an incredible hand, a luster that takes dye
gorgeously and it will wear beautifully without pilling. It
is very versatile wool, making wonderful yarn both spun pure and
blended with other fibers.
Border Leicester fleece comes in natural white and natural
colored. Most of the natural white fleeces I’ve handled, both
from my sheep and other flocks, are very white-white.
Occasionally we get a white animal whose wool is a more cream
color. The white-white fleeces take dye well without changing
the color. The cream fleeces also dye well, but make the
colors a bit warmer.
Natural black Border Leicester fleeces are common. There are
different genes that lead to an animal having black fleece, one is
dominant and one is recessive. It is believed that the
dominant black sheep has a fleece that will stay quite black for
several years before starting to silver. The recessive black
sheep will begin to silver as young as a yearling. I have
seen this happen within my flock. Both types of black sheep
will have black faces and legs throughout their lives, it is only the
wool that changes color. Some silver down to a very light
color, which makes for interesting and beautiful yarns when dyed.
Natural silver Border Leicester sheep do crop up from time to time but
are not common. These sheep will have a silver color to their
faces and legs as well as their wool. Moorit and other brown
colors have not appeared in the Border Leicester breed in any
significant number, and perhaps those available are the result of out
crossing.
All natural colored sheep are prone to sun bleaching. This
creates the illusion of a brown sheep when viewed out on
pasture. But the face and legs, which have normal hair and
not wool, will remain the sheep’s true color. The sun
bleached area of the fleece is a very small portion of the fiber
length. It will not normally affect the overall color of
the wool when carded together. However, some people prefer to
cut off
the sun bleached ends before washing the fleece.
No matter the color, Border Leicester wool should be full of
luster. The natural shine of this fleece helps to enhance the
dyed colors but also enhances the natural colors by the way light plays
off the fibers. It resembles mohair in this property, but
with all the elasticity of wool.
And the curls! The best Border Leicester fleeces should be
loaded with curls the diameter of a pencil or even thinner.
Many doll makers purchase the locks for making doll hair and Santa
beards. It’s perfect! But the curls can also be
used, simply teased and not carded, to create some wonderful and
interesting novelty yarns.
Border Leicester wool is a long wool, growing up to 12” per year, so
the sheep are shorn twice a year. It is also classified as
coarse wool based on the diameter of the fibers. However, the
luster and curls combine
to give it a very nice hand, a silky feeling that just slides through
your
fingers. The finest fleeces are the lamb fleeces, which I
find no problem
to wear right next to my skin. The silky texture is not lost
with the
age of the sheep either. I find my oldest ram fleeces still
have it
and while they may be too coarse for a next-to-the-skin sweater, they
make
fantastic socks and outer wear that can take hard wear and tear.
If you haven’t tried any Border Leicester wool, treat yourself to
some! It is an easy to spin wool even for the newest
beginning spinner. If you haven’t seen a Border Leicester and
wonder what they look like, you can see photos of them here
at Twin
Willows Farm.
Twin
Willows Farm
