Sheep have provided man with wool for clothing, bedding and floor coverings for thousands of years. The demand for fleece of different qualities for different purposes has always existed and although the rise of man-made fibres lowered its value and importance for a while, natural fibres are now enjoying a great revival.
Dyeversity Yarns use a number of breeds to produce yarns and prepared fibres for different purposes.
Wensleydale Lamb
Lleyn and Oxford Down give wool with softness but "bounce" for light, warm knitting yarns. Wensleydale give long, lustrous, curly locks that can be worsted spun to give smooth, shiny yarns for weaving or cut into shorter lengths for carding and spinning woolen style.
Above: coloured Wensleydale and below the same ewe with Bourne Valley's The Dean Tyson,
Portland sheep with their cream backs and tan bellies, heads and legs give a subtle range of sandy shades ideal for light rugs, furnishings or outer garments and Jacobs provide that black brown, grey and white fleece that gives the speckled, twill and contrasting colours traditionally hand-spun allover the UK.
There need be no wastage of sheep's fleece. The finest might be the highest prized, but coarser ones have their place for warm and hard-wearing outer garments and the coarsest - often the belly wool on sheep with otherwise finer coats produces rugs. The small amount of heavily soiled or weather damaged wool makes excellent insulation, mulch for tender plants or excellent compost.
