Spinning Wool: How to Spin Wool from Rare Sheep Breeds + 4 Projects

Every issue of Spin Off is about fiber in one form or another. Nearly every issue contains a Fiber Basics article that looks very closely at one breed of wool or type of fiber. For this reason, it was so fun to pull together this collection of articles and projects on spinning with, and using, wool from rare sheep breeds. Learn about spinning wool fibers from the Border Leicester, Wensleydale longwool, American Jacob and Bond and Bond-Corriedale–cross sheep. Along with each article, you'll find projects you can make from each wool fiber. Read about these wools, then try them out—each one spins up differently and has characteristics that make it ideally suited for different garments. Inside you'll find:

• Fiber Basics: Border Leicester + Christmas Stocking to Knit - Today there are three distinct breeds of Leicester: the English, the Border, and the Blueface. Get to know the Border Leicester in this eBook. The stocking knits up quickly and you could easily graph out a name or a few of your own designs to personalize the design.

• Fiber Basics: Wensleydale Longwool + Scarf to Knit - Wensleydales are a dual-purpose British longwool breed originating in 1839 as a cross between a longwool ewe and a Dishley Leicester. A key feature is the lack of kemp, a desirable quality passed on to crossbreeds from the Wensleydale. The woolen-spun Wensleydale has more bounce than seemed possible from the lustrous locks, and that bulk combined with the stitch pattern makes a very cushy and soft enough fabric for this scarf pattern.

• Fiber Basics: American Jacob + Slippers to Crochet - Many people like to link the origins of this rare breed of sheep to the Old Testament story of Jacob, who was given all the spotted sheep and goats from his father-in-law's flock as payment for shepherding. Jacob fleece is really all-purpose and can be used for everything from hats to rugs. Use this slipper pattern and combine the colors from the fleece you have in any way to make a design that is uniquely yours.

• Have You Any Wool? + Cabled Bowler Hat to Knit - On the shelves of Gleason’s Fine Woolies, brightly colored batts and balls of natural-colored roving sit atop a few dozen freshly shorn fleeces ranging in color from white to silver, brown, gray, and black. Bringing great fleeces to handspinners, though, is a round-the-clock effort that has taken years of hard work, breeding, and international connections. Read on to learn what it takes to get great fleeces ready for spinners and then enjoy knitting up a cabled hat.