12,000 Years of Sheep Fans Can't Be Wrong!

12,000 Years of Wool Fans Can't Be Wrong! 

Tech Talk: Wool, Part I  

Y’all know that Yarnivore carries a variety of fibers, including wools, plant fibers, and synthetics. Each fiber has its uses; today we’re talking about wool. Let’s start with the basics. When we talk about wool yarns and threads, we’re mostly talking about sheep fiber (other mammals also produce wool, but that’s for another time). Wool is one of the most versatile fibers that we use. It breathes well, is flame resistant and durable, and it takes dye beautifully. It's no wonder that humans have been using wool since 10,000 BCE, more than 12,000 years!

There are over 1,000 sheep breeds, including Merino, Rambouillet, Blue Faced Leicester, and Corriedale, and their wool has different characteristics, like texture and length. Sounds kind of like hair, doesn’t it? In fact, wool is a sheep’s underhair, a generally soft, thin, curly, and flexible fiber. Like our hair, it’s made from keratin, which is what makes it so strong and flexible. Keratin is what gives wool yarns elasticity and durability, so that it returns to its original shape after being stretched.

Wool from different sheep breeds has different uses, depending on its quality, including diameter, crimp, yield, color and staple length. Generally speaking, the longer the staple and the smaller the diameter (measured in microns), the softer and more valuable the wool. Merino, the finest wool, is usually about 3.4-4.5 inches long and 24 microns or less. Merino’s quality is further measured in grades, which you may sometimes see on a yarn label: Ultrafine (<15.5 microns), Superfine (15.6-18.5 microns), Fine (18.6-20 microns), etc. Merino’s length and smaller diameters are why we prefer it for garments that are close to our skin.

We could spend days talking about wool facts, but we’ll stop there and share more about wool next week!

P. S. 

Shop News - Featured Tool             

Add a little fun to your stitching with these new needleminders from Remember November. These whimsical minders have a super strong magnet to hold your needle.

Laser cut from Birch, each minder is about 1.5".  Made in USA by a small business. 

 

 

Zorn Junction Trunk Show, Saturday September 28, 11a-4p. This south Texas dyer specializes in boutique batches of unique colors! Come see her before she heads north again!

 

 

The Best Little Yarn Crawl in Texas, October 11 - 20, 2024. We'll announce when Passports are available for purchase. Early birds will get a Crawl bag!

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The Tip Jar

How can you tell what type of wool is in your yarn? When you look at the ball band (label), the yarn or thread’s maker should list the fiber they’ve used. If the label simply says “wool”, it means they used a mixture of different sheep types. If they’ve used a specific type of sheep’s wool, like Merino, they will say so. If the Merino is a higher grade (e.g., Extrafine), the label should have this information, too. 

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