Sometime back, Spin Off Magazine ran a contest called “Save The Sheep”. The focus of this contest was using wool from rare breeds for a project to show that these breeds and their wool had value and were well worth preserving. Included with the information packet for entering the contest was a listing of rare breeds of sheep. It was shocking to see that over 90 breeds were considered rare and endangered. And it got me to wondering just how many breeds of sheep there are in the world. While I still do not have a definite answer to that question, I now know that there are over 1,000 different breeds of sheep in the world today.

Think of it – over 1,000 breeds of sheep and all of them with differing fleece characteristics! So many different wools to sample, so little time....how is the hand spinner ever going to sort out which breed is going to have the perfect fleece for his or her project?

Fortunately, we have systems for classifying the grades of wool produced by all the various sheep breed. Yet, to muddy the waters a bit further, differing authors classify fleeces by different groupings.

Nola and Jane Fournier, writing in their book “In Sheep's Clothing”, use the following classifications: Fine Wools; Longwool and Crossbred Wools; Down-type Wools; Other Wools; and Black and Colored Wools. While Judith McKenzie-McCuin
classifies wools as: Fine; Long; Medium; and Primitive in her book “Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning”. While Marilyn Kluger's “The Joy of Spinning” lists these categories: Fine wools; Crossbred Wools; Medium Wools; and Long Wools. Each gives examples of breeds that fit in each category.

Let's see if we can sort it all out.

Fine Wools:

It is interesting to note that the wool industry tends to apply the label of “fine wool” only to Merino and Merino type fleeces. Fine wools have a short staple, about 2/12 inches (63.5mm) according to McKenzie-McCuin,. These wools have a very high degree of crimp and the fleeces contain a high degree of lanolin. Bradford count would range from 60s to 80s or even higher as breeders work to improving fleece quality. Note: I am including only Merino and Merino types in the “fine” category.

Medium and Crossbreed Wools:

Some of these will head towards the fine side, some to the coarser side. The Staple length will range from 3 to 5 inches (76- 127mm) with a Bradford count of between 50s and 60s. Examples of Medium and Crossbreed wools are: Corriedale, Columbia, Romeldale, and Targhee.

Down Wools:
Fleece from the down breeds of sheep range from 2 inches to 4 inches in staple length (50 – 100mm) and have a Bradford range of 46S to 60s. While there is an overlap with the Medium and Crossbreed category, down breeds have a differing crimp structure which gives yarns spun from their fleece a high degree of elasticity and loft. These types of fleeces have little to no luster.

Long Wools:
With a staple length of between 3 and 12 inches (76 – 300 mm) and a lusterous sheen, the long wools are quite lovely. Bradford Count varies from 36s to 48s.

Primitive Wools:
Primitive wools come from unimproved breeds of sheep. Staple length and Bradford Count on these fleeces is all over the place with Bradford varying from 36s to 70s.
Some primitives have very short staple length, some are long wools. Some are double coated, with very coarse outer coats and very fine inner coats.

A Simple Test:
An easy way to tell if a specific fleece will be suitable for next to the skin wear is to tuck a small piece of the wool into your bra to see if it's comfortable. If it's not then set that fleece aside for outerwear or household textiles. Sorry, guys – but I can't come up with a place for you to tuck fleece bits for testing so I'll suggest you ask a female friend or relative to do the test for you.