Twin Willows Farm - Fleece from
the Down Breeds of Sheep
The most
popular breeds of sheep in the United States, by numbers, are
the down breeds. These are what we traditionally think of as
“meat sheep.” They are generally black faced with white
bodies that grow fast and large. Their name comes from the
southern part of England, where the breeds were developed, which has
low hills they call “downs.” They are sometimes called farm
breeds. They were bred for meat and kept in pastures and
paddocks, not sent up into the hills to forage.
The most common down breeds are Suffolk, Hampshire, Southdown, Oxford
and Shropshire. Handspinners don’t usually go seeking this
type of wool, but since it is usually plentiful and low priced, it can
be fun to obtain and play around with. To find a shepherd in
your area with this
type of wool, contact your local cooperative extension office and ask
for
the name of a breeder who sells club lambs to the 4-H and FFA kids.
Down wool is short stapled, generally not growing more than 3” per
year. It has a particular type of crimp which is almost more
of a Z in the fiber than the usual softer S type of crimp.
The down fleeces will frustrate handspinners who want to create a fine,
smooth yarn. These fibers
produce yarns that will be lofty and full, they are much better suited
to
a worsted weight or bulky two ply yarn.
This type of yarn is excellent for winter hats and mittens.
The lofty yarn traps air which acts as extra insulation and helps to
keep hands and heads warm. Finer spun, it also makes socks
that wear well. Most people find it too coarse for wearing in
sweaters or scarves, however.
Because of the short staple length, carding is easier than combing for
this fleece. If the fleece is very short, hand cards will
work better than drum carding. Due to the crimp and lock
structure of down fleeces, they are easy to card and are a good fleece
for beginners to learn on.
Down fleeces are not very good for felting. This makes them
excellent fleeces for beginners to learn washing and dyeing techniques
on.
You almost can’t ruin a down fleece!
Where down fleeces really shine is in quilt batting. Because
of the crimp, the resistance to felting and the fact that they rarely
“beard” up through the cotton quilt tops, down fleeces make excellent
quilt batts. Fleeces can be sent to one of many commercial
woolen mills around the country to be processed into quilting batts.
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without the author's written permission.
Contact Pegg
Thomas at twinwillowsfarm@gmail.com.
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Twin
Willows Farm
