Look out to those who've seen me write on Shetlands before--more info on those sheep than you *ever* want to know! <g>
Donna writes: <<I'm currently working on some Shetland, and I can tell you that the length of the wool is about 3 inches. This is my first Shetland fleece. I'm pleased with the way that you can tease it into a lovely lofty bunch.>> In Sheeps Clothing is a really great book, a reference I use frequently still, even after 22+ years of spinning. BUT it's not perfect, and Shetland is one of the wools that it really doesn't do accurately or well :) Shetland wool is as variable as its color. Some breeders go for the "Merino" type (my terminology), which is short (usually 3-4") and soft. These Shetlands are being selected by some breeders to nearly match Merino in softness, with micron counts on lamb's wool occasionally below 20. The crimp is tight, like Merino, as well. Traditionally, it's very debatable whether Shetland wool (not undercoat of double-coated fleeces, but 'true' wool) was ever anything like that soft. How could they have made socks and outerwear if all the wool was like that? But others will defend to the death the idea that all Shetland wool was always like that. The Shetland I've come to like the best for all-purpose spinning--both very fine (though probably not ring-shawl fine) and for harder-wearing items is what I call "modern" Shetland, with a micron count in the high 20s, moderately open crimp, and a staple length of around 5-6 inches. I derived this term from descriptions UK breeders have given me many times of the type of wool they feel the breed standard requires (even though the actual standard, if I remember right, specifies about 4") That type was selected in the 1920s to a) process well in mainland mills and b) be competitive with other commercial wools. Shetland stock was selected that was believed to represent 'true' Shetland sheep (there had been so much crossbreeding going on, mostly to provide a better meat carcase, that 'true' Shetlands were in danger of disappearing entirely), the breed standard was written, and became part of the history of Shetlands, regardless of what the sheep originally were like. Another favorite of mine is what's often called "primitive" Shetland. It is generally longer, from 6 to as much as 10" that I've heard of (most often around 8 that I've seen), and varies in handle from silky soft to carpet wool. Most of this type seems to have some double coating, sometimes a lot. This seems to be the type actually photographed in In Sheeps Clothing. Microns vary tremendously in this type of Shetland, from 30 (but often very soft-handling anyway) to probably around 40. There's no crimp; the fibers are wavy. Where there's a noticeable undercoat, it's very short (under 2" that I've seen) and with a very disorganized crimp--meaning you really don't see it in the mass of fibers, you have to look at individual fibers to see if they have crimp. You can spin primitive wool into lovely, lofty lopi-style yarns with minimal effort, for knitting or weaving singles. It will also spin into any other traditional yarn other than true woolen (too long for that). A type of Shetland that is like what the *category* Shetland was placed in, down breeds, is also in existence. It's usually pretty short--as short as 2", more often 3-4", very crimpy, and very crisp in handling. It's great for all the things down breeds are good for--uncrushable cloth, mattress pads, quilt batts, etc. This stuff won't wet-felt much at all. We bought a ram one year for his interesting color, from a non-spinning breeder (BIG mistake in a flock designed for handspinning fleeces!). He turned out to have this down-breed-type wool. It was indistinguisable from Suffolk after the interesting colors faded out. We got rid of him after a couple years of breeding, but in the meantime the lambs he produced were much less likely to have cotted (felted on the sheep) wool than their mothers. It was also less soft--there are always trade-offs :) And on that note, because of the extreme differences in Shetland types, you realize after a while that it's really a continuum, from rug-wool coarse on one end to super-soft on the other end. It's wonderful having a flock of Shetlands with all their various colors; to have each of those colors also in a range of wool types encompassing nearly every need a handspinner could ever have is even better :) Sorry, Donna, for getting on the soap box :) But In Sheeps Clothing, though one of my favorite books, really doesn't do Shetland wool justice, and since I've raised the little critters for 10 years next month, I have to defend their diversity and usefulness :) Holly
