In this post we are looking at breeds from the Northern European Short-Tailed Family.
The next family is The Northern European Short-Tailed family. The sheep are from all over the Northern Atlantic Region. This family has some of my other favorites in it. From left to right: Finn (woolen), Finn (worsted), Gotland, Icelandic (seconds, plied), Icelandic (singles, top), Shetland, Soay.
The Finn was a pleasure to spin and is one of the most supple in the whole collection. The woolen has a nice spring to it. This was accomplished by carding the locks into roll logs and then spinning with a low amount of twist in the single. The Finn that was combed on my viking combs was very easy to draft and thus made an evenly spun yarn. Both are quite soft, although I feel like the white is slightly softer than the brown.
Gotland is another longwool. This sample is a nice salt and pepper mix. This sample was combed and spun woolen. The singles are quite fine and the finished skein has a beautiful luster.
Icelandic wool is one of my favorite samples. The two samples are quite different. One is the seconds from the combing process of the top and then plied to itself. The top is pulled from the viking combs and spun in a lopi style single.
This Shetland sample is in the moorit color family. This is not the softest of Shetland samples but it is very nice. I combed this on the viking combs and spun it from top. The finished skein is soft and lofty.
This sample is from an almost undomesticated breed called Soay. The whole process with this sample was unlike any of the others. To begin with the washing, I washed it just like the others, but it was very clumpy. I then took the dry wool to my carders and began carding small batches of it in attempt to get the dander out of the wool. The fleece has a soft undercoat as well as some kemp to it. Traditionally this fiber would have been used in the Faroe and Shetland Islands.
In the next post we are going to look at breeds from the Feral and Welsh Hill and Mountain Family.
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