<<Deborah, you always give such choice bits of information when you post! >>
Thank you - glad to be of service. Ii's obviously something I've spent a lot of time thinking about, in the course of my work. <<It occurs to me that one couldn't do a yarn that fine without modern-style wool, since it's much crimpier than any other form of Shetland. >> Unfortunately, I think you're making a lot of assumptions, while also trying to compare apples to oranges. "modern-style wool" doesn't really mean much, and you can't really say it (whatever "it" is) is much crimpier than any other form of Shetland. Pretty much all breeds of sheep today are different from what they were 100 years ago (and Shetland in particular), and even more so from 150 years ago, which was when the art of lace knitting was hitting its stride. Shetland and Merino sheep are two of the most selectively bred breeds today, since people worked intensively during the 20c to breed them specifically for more and better wool. In the case of Shetland, in the islands at least (North American breeders have a different view), this means eliminating scadder and the dual coat. One of the reasons for the dual coat, is to have a rough hair-like coat to protect the softer, finer wool underneath. You don't necessarily retain that very fine wool underneath when you breed out the guard hairs. Also, care and feeding of Shetland sheep is very different today than it was 100 years ago, and that has a distinct effect on the wool. In most cases, better food actually means a stronger, healthier fleece - but also that the individual fibers aren't as fine. I can give you a good, practical example - the sheep on North Ronaldsay, in Orkney, have never been "improved" - the flock of about 3,500 sheep live on the beach, eating mostly seaweed. New rams for "improvement" have never been used. They are about as close to Iron Age sheep as you can get, and they retain their dual coats. They also lose their fleeces in June and July - another element of "improving" sheep over the past 200 years or so was getting them to retain their fleeces, so they could be shorn at specific times of the season. The North Ronaldsay sheep don't get good pasture or feed, by modern agricultral standards (don't worry, they don't starve, either). The guard hair they produce is pretty coarse, but in many cases, the "down" underneath is as fine fiber as I've seen anywhere - it rivals cashmere and qiviut. Some of that is the breed, but some of it is because they get so little grass. They are very lean, athletic sheep. By combing, I can spin it finer than anything else I've ever spun, including qiviut. Their wool is probably much closer to what Shetlanders were using 100 - 150 years ago than any Shetland-breed wool, and certainly much closer than fine Merino. <<Apparently, these shawls didn't happen before the 19th century - a time when many European areas were trying to retain "identity" through folk art/clothing, etc. in the face of growing Nationalism.>> I think the development of the shawls had far more to do with the development of knitted lace than anything else - that didn't happen until the late 18c, probably as a result of someone trying to make an easier substitute for bobbin lace. It was also a way for the islanders to continue to knit for income - the market for socks, caps, etc. began to dry up in the 18c, because of industrialization in the midlands. Deborah To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
