The 'rise' is different from a wool break. A wool break is caused by a
stress such as illness, being moved, or lambing--all the sheep's energy
suddenly goes into survival, there is nothing left to produce wool,
causing a spot where the staple will break in portions if gently
tugged. The rise is a natural phenomenom occurring in a few primitive
breeds of sheep. It's cued by weather, not stress.
It would be quite possible for have a fleece that is 'rooed' (pulled off
the animal during the rise, not all that much different from plucking an
angora, or maybe more accurately, removing the shedding fiber from a dog
or cat) and find the fleece has a break in it at some point along the
staple.
When a sheep is suffering from a break in the wool, a couple weeks after
the illness or other cause, you can 'pluck' the wool from the
sheep--which is a cue that one should shear that sheep if possible in
order to save its wool for some use. Wool with a break is not great for
spinning.
I've been told of, and have seen samples of wool from, Shetland sheep
who change color seasonally (not due to stress, nutritional or
otherwise, or the normal color changes of maturing), and therefore have
agouti-like bands on their wool. As with spinning angora, there's not
much of any way to take advantage of this color change, but it does add
a heathery depth of color to the wool.
Holly
www.shaltzfarm.com and www.hjsstudio.com
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