DeeDee means me I think when she mentions a breeder who says there is a
break in all fleeces... she got her money refunded for a coloured fleece
that she thought too tender and I am not about to resurrect that particular
event... :O Let's just say that her idea of testing for a break was not
mine. There are standard procedures. (don't flame me please I have enough
to worry about right now and she was compensated, had she been nearer than
umpteen thousand miles away I would have asked for the fleece back and spun
it myself).
We now sell top not fleeces, that way it is easy to provide samples
without storing individual fleeces for ages, saves any disagreements too.
:)
I had phrased my post to another list badly, which is what DeeDee picked me
up on. What I meant was what Robin has put better than I did - all fleeces
do have a break. Shearing before the rise occurs is hard going for the
shearer. Hence the fact that a doublegrown fleece almost invariably has
a break in it making it worth a lot less per kilo than a singlegrown fleece
ie one year's growth. When testing for a break you are looking for where it
occurs, obviously every fibre is going to give at some point, the weakest
link in the chain if you like... this break is sometimes chemically induced
in order to make the sheep shed their fleece at the same time (they are
usually covered with a net before this is done) - the fleece then peels off
(as I understand, but haven't tried it and don't intend to!!) A break near
the base of the staple isn't as important as one midlength. yes you lose
some fibre but it is more than spinnable still.
Ewe fleeces are more susceptible to tenderness than wether fleeces due to
the pressures of lambing.
goodness knows how many breaks the minefield-reared sheep had in its wool,
which has probably been dumped by now and please be clear everyone that I am
not worrying about records, merely wondering if anyone had come across a
heavier fleece than that.
back to the spinning...
rosemary
Clive & Rosemary Wilkinson
DHF Falklands
Dunnose Head Farm
Falkland Islands
South Atlantic
www.falklandwool.com
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