Shetland: Gift from the Islands

The Shetland Islands provoke many images to me. Windswept coasts, prehistoric sites, oil platforms parked in Sullom Voe, the hull of an old fishing boat, lonely light houses long automated, fields dotted with shaggy sheep.

To many a knitter a lace hap or Fair Isle cardigan would be just as likely an image. There are numerous books out there that attempt to sort out the origins of both Fair Isle patterning and Shetland lace so what this will focus on are the sheep and the wool they produce.

Shetland Sheep are a breed that was developed on the Shetland Islands. It appears they are related to other Northern European short-tailed breeds (Icelandic, Finnsheep, Romanov). It has been touted as having the finest fleece of all the breeds of sheep native to Scotland. The sheep, like the better known shetland pony, are a small, athletic breed that is well adapted to the meagre vegetation. They come in a dizzying assortment of colors and patterns with exotic sounding names. This makes it easy to plan a project using a variety of natural shades or by dying the darker colors to extend the color palette.

The breed was imported at two major points into North America. Once in the 1940’s into western Canada and then in the mid 1980’s under much more stringent conditions. The original sheep imported in the 80’s lived under lifetime quarantine and their first offspring were released for sale after 5 years of quarantine. This was due to the prevalence of scrapie among sheep in the UK. Since then there as been some importations of semen, but no other animals have been allowed into North America since then.

The older style fleeces are double coated, with a finer undercoat and a coarser outercoat. It’s not unusual for these to be different colors. But there are also many single coated examples as well. Also some of the sheep still will go through a yearly molt unlike less primitive breeds. Most shepherds who know they may have an issue with this schedule shearing such that the fleece is sheared before the molt occurs. Watch for this when purchasing a fleece. It will appear to be a persistent second cuts. Vegetable matter can be a real issue so watch for this in the fleeces. Also the lanolin of shetland sheep has a distinctive odor I have not detected in other breeds (but as of this posting I have never processed any icelandic fleeces.)

Shetland fleeces are light, usually 1-4 lbs and are very open. Carding the fleece is the most common preparation. Combing a double coated fleece will separate the longer, coarser fibers from the finer undercoat which then can be spun into a fine, lace-weight yarn. Thicker yarns are easily spun as well from either the undercoat alone or the combined fleeces.

Whatever you decide to make, from outerwear to lace shawls there is a shetland fleece out there appropriate for the project.

The Kit Has Landed

Yes I’m part of the herd….I’m in the Rockin’ Sock Club 2007.

It’s not like I don’t already have 2 tons of unspun fiber or a million skeins of Blue Moon Fiberarts yarn (not just Socks That Rock). The pattern included is pretty, but I doubt I’ll use it with the Monsoon yarn. My favorite part of the package has to be…..

….yes the emergency sock yarn. It’s gone to meetings with me and was in my pocket during my annual review. Nothing like sitting through boring vendor meetings where the vendor has not even read what your company wanted from them….need I say more.

So what -have- I been doing? Well, I have an ancient workshop I purchased off of EBay and am currently knitting endless 6″ blocks to show off the wool. I started with the fine wools and this part is taking forever. Right now I’m using the corriedale that was pictured in a previous installment of Sheepwreck.

But for today I’m tossing it all aside and spinning some of Abby Franquemonts blended batts. Here’s some examples of previous batts I’ve spun from her.

The second one is not some of my better work…sigh…plus its been fondled to death.

And on the wheel….

Yes, this one is Heartbreakerthat Abby didn’t want to let go. I snagged two batts of this. Trust me, it is even better in person than in the pictures. Also, if you are interested in getting a WooLee winder you can compare the original Reeves bobbin (not Reeves-Schacht) at the top of my picture to the WooLee winder bobbin that has the fiber on it.

What I -should- be working on is the shetland/shetland blend. The chiengora (doghair) has been washed and the shetland batts are on their 2nd time around on the drum carder. My Baby Wolf has an alpaca warp ready, but hasn’t been warped yet, oh and there is a warp I’m working on the warping mill that will eventually make it to the Oxaback loom to be woven into a sturdy Romney blanket. At least I’m working on my squares….but I’ve done NOTHING on the blanket I should be spinning cotton for…..I’m ready to abandon it. It will take me years to really spin enough for a baby blanket…and the baby is now 6 months old!!!!! Ahem…..

But I have promised myself that once the shetland/shetland blend is done and spun up that I’ll work on my Patches Memorial Project (this formerly linked to http://community.livejournal.com/spinningfiber/1016219.html where I had posted the plans for feedback, but the LJ community was deleted by the owner.)

Alpaca: Gold of the Andes

Over the past several years I have spent countless hours studying alpaca fiber and the alpaca industry here in the USA. What has happened since the introduction of alpacas in the US fills several books, but what can be gleaned about the fiber changes is more dramatic.

Alpacas have two coat types, huacaya and suri. Most alpaca fiber available is huacaya, the alpacas have finely crimped fleeces that stand off from the body of the animal. Suri on the other hand is longer, lacks crimp, and has more luster. Not as much luster as mohair, but brighter than huacaya. Most spinners find huacaya easier to work with, but suri properly prepared is worth the effort. There is an excellent tutorial about spinning alpaca fiber on The Alpacas Blogger. The only thing I would do differently than her is to wash the fiber after skirting it.

The first alpacas imported into the US in the 1980’s were of what is called primitive type by Mike Safley. These alpacas had many llama characteristics. Primitive alpacas are strongly double coated, not have much fiber on the legs and a disorganized crimp.

On the other end of the spectrum are the Accoyo type or “ideal” alpacas. Don Julio Barreda (1919-2006) practiced a well known principle of livestock breeding called line breeding and essentially developed an alpaca different enough that it could be called a separate breed. Fine even crimp, low micron count, lack of guard hairs and a dense coat are all characteristics of these animals that should peak the interest of handspinners. But due to the needs of the mills that buy his fiber most of his stock is white or light colored.

As you can imagine, most alpacas in the USA fall somewhere between the two extremes. Also alpacas like to roll in the dirt, a lot. You might be tempted to spin the alpaca fleece without washing it, but most likely you will end up trapping the dirt in the yarn making it harder to wash out. Most processing mills will insist on washing alpaca first before processing. All it needs is a gentle bath with mild detergent.

Alpaca fiber should be categorized in either two or three categories. Blanket, also called prime, comes from the back and sides of the animal. Seconds comes from the neck and upper legs. And thirds will come from the lower legs and belly of the animal. Sometimes seconds and thirds will be combined into one lot. These are no reflection on the fineness between animals, only on that particular animal.

Right now prices for alpaca fiber are all over the place. Prices range from several dollars an ounce to as little as $10 a pound for seconds. I encourage all spinners to first learn about alpaca fiber before putting their money down. I personally look for well developed crimp in a huacaya as well as a blocky lock structure. Cria (or baby) fleeces will have more of tip on them, but still should have a blocky structure near the cut end.

With suri fleeces I look for fine, wavy locks, but not too tightly pencilled. While pencilling in a fleece can be a sign of a finer fleece, they also tend to be harder to process with combs or drum carder. Also the current show standard allows for a suri alpaca to be shown with 2 years of growth so check the locks carefully for cotting (felting).

White, beige, and light fawn fleeces of good quality are easier to find. Rose grey and black, especially suri is more difficult. Genetically, darker colors are recessive to lighter colors.

When buying commercial roving you generally find several grades. In order of fineness they are called alpaca, superfine alpaca, baby alpaca, and royal alpaca. And they are priced accordingly. Similar to merino roving out there, the alpaca available out there seems to have little crimp.

The alpaca community in the United States has an active show community. If you can, go take a look at the animals in person and allow these magical creatures to steal your heart. But beware the temptation of taking one home. And if you consider owning alpacas other than for a hobby please do your research first and remember they are livestock.