The Fibre Garden : rustic
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rustic
Ile-de-France (Rustic Roving)
Classification: FINEWOOL
Thick and chunky rustic roving. Our current batch has a moderate amount of vegetation.
Ivory-cream in colour, with lots of bounce and loft. Ile-de-France was intentionally bred as a meat sheep in France in the early to mid 1800s and is a relatively new introduction to North American shepherds. With Merino in the bloodlines, this fibre should be interesting to experiment with. This source is not as fine as most Merino but could be ideal for warm and cozy socks, midrange or outerwear.
Staple length of this roving is around 2.5 to 3 inches. Likely in the 25 to 30 micron range. Excellent felting properties. An excellent core wool for needle-felting.
Jacob – Black (Top)
Classification: PRIMITIVE
Combed top with little to no veg. Jacob are one of the few multicolour (and multihorned) sheep, of ancient origin. This top is a deep and rich black-brown peppered lightly with grey. Certainly soft enough to use for sweaters and a scarf or three.
Micron count is typically in the 27 to 35 range, with a staple length of 5 to 6 inches. Felting properties are good.
PRODUCT of UNITED KINGDOM
Jacob – Grey (Top)
Classification: PRIMITIVE
Combed top with little to no veg. Jacob are one of the few multicolour (and multihorned) sheep, of ancient origin. This top is a gorgeous heathered blend of ash, grey and black. Certainly soft enough to use for sweaters, mittens and scarves.
Micron count is typically in the 27 to 35 range, with a staple length of 4 to 6 inches. Felting properties are good.
NOTE: Our supply usually includes a moderate amount of GUARD HAIRS sprinkled throughout the fibre. These are a fair bit coarser than the base fibres. Combing them out might be an option, if they are a problem for your intended project.
PRODUCT of UNITED KINGDOM
Manx Loaghtan
Classification: PRIMITIVE BREED
Lovely clean top with very little to no veg. This breed is native to the Isle of Man but is also raised in the UK. It was brought back from the brink of extinction and is considered a rare breed. The name is said to translate basically to "mouse brown" and that's exactly the colour of this top, sprinkled throughout with soft grey. Said to be excellent for sweaters and socks, and this feels plenty soft for either.
Micron count for this top is 28 with a staple length of about 3 inches. According to a couple of our customers, this has average wet-felting properties. One reports that it did not work well for Nuno felting.
PRODUCT of UNITED KINGDOM
Norwegian – Black (Top)
Classification: DUAL-COATED
Nice and clean combed top. Norwegian sheep come in a range of tones, this top being a very dark brown with traces of grey hairs combed through. Like Icelandic, this is best used for rugged outerwear.
Micron count is hard to determine on double-coated blends. The staple length for this top is 4 to 6 inches. We can't find information on the felting properties, but since Icelandic felts so well there may be possibilities with Norwegian.
Norwegian – White (Top)
Classification: DUAL-COATED
Nice and clean combed top. Norwegian sheep come in a range of tones, this top being a natural off-white. Like Icelandic, this is best used for rugged outerwear.
Micron count is hard to determine on double-coated blends. The staple length for this top is 4 to 5 inches. Wet felting qualities are excellent, and also good for needle felting.
PRODUCT of GREAT BRITAIN
Romney – Light Grey (Roving)
Classification: LONGWOOL
Clean, carded and somewhat chunky roving with very little vegetation. Light grey in colour, marled with softer ash-grey and dark-grey throughout, and just a hint of brown. Romney is a longwool with a good crimp and relatively short staple and slight sheen. It spins well either woolen or semi-worsted styles. Suitable for midrange to outerwear. Being roving this has excellent loft which many needle felters love.
Micron count on this fibre is around 36 (but it feels softer) with a staple length of 4 to 5 inches. Felting properties are very good.
PRODUCT of NEW ZEALAND
Scottish Blackface (Rustic Roving)
Classification: DUAL-COATED
Thick and chunky Rustic Roving, usually with moderate vegetation.
The colour is creamy-white with a light sprinkling of dark hairs. This is an ancient breed, and a main player in the development of the wool industry in Scotland. The fleece is a combination of long, course outercoat hairs, with a much finer undercoat. This roving has the two carded together and would be best suited for rugged outerwear or non-garment uses.
Micron count on the fine hairs varies from 28 to 38 microns but is difficult to assign in a blend. Wet felting properties are good but the resulting felt will be textured and hairy and certainly best suited for sturdier creations. A good core wool for needle-felting.
PRODUCT of CANADA
Suffolk (Rustic Roving)
Classification: DOWN BREED
Thick and chunky Rustic Roving, with a moderate amount of vegetation debris. Creamy-white in colour with mottlings of darker shades here and there. Suffolk is the most common breed in North America, used widely for meat production. This is a versatile fibre with low-lustre wool but plenty of loft for good insulating value. Great for mittens, socks, outerwear and rugged sweaters.
Micron count is in the range of 25 to 33, with a staple length around 2 to 3.5 inches. Wet-felting properties are poor. An excellent core wool for needle-felting.
PRODUCT of CANADA