Description
This bundle of Leicester Longwool locks have come from the lamb’s first shear, making them the softest and longest the animal will ever produce in their lifetime. This set of curly wool locks is around 28cm or 11″ long, and the fleece came from a sheep named Bright Eyes.
This wool was directly sourced from the shepherd, in a small farm dedicated to this native rare breed right here in the UK.
I have carefully scoured and hand washed these locks and separated them into practical 1 ounce bundles. I have done my utmost to preserve the fibre’s lock structure, so please be aware that tiny amounts of vegetable matter may still be present.
Dyed in a light aqua blue to deep teal gradient, these delectable wool locks will enhance your project and your overall enjoyment of crafting. Each bundle is one of a kind, so get them while they’re still available.
What are these curly wool locks good for?
Long wools with such well defined lock structure are great for various crafts:
- Spinning – use them to spin art yarns. The tailspinning technique would be a perfect way to showcase these wool locks. The video below may help give you some ideas.
- Wet felting – adding locks to a felted work can yield some lovely textured results.
- Needle felting – you can create a beard on a sculpture, or turn the locks into a mermaid’s hair. The choices are endless.
- Dollmaking – rerooting doll hair. A lot of my hand dyed curly wool locks have ended up as gorgeous doll hair!
A little note about the Leicester Longwool breed
The Leicester Longwool, also known as Bakewell Leicester, Improved Leicester and New Leicester, was originally developed by the breeding innovator Robert Bakewell in the 18th century.
They are among the world’s largest sheep. Their fleeces have beautiful and distinct locks with well-defined crimp, which can grow up to 36cm or 14″ long. Leicester Longwool sheep’s wool diameter ranges from 32 to 46 microns, making it a very soft, yet sturdy, fibre.
This breed is classified as “endangered” by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, with fewer than 500 registered breeding females remaining in the UK. In North America, the Leicester Longwool is preserved by the efforts of private breeders. *
Disclaimer(s)
I’ve done my very best to make sure colours run true in the photos, but please note that your monitor settings may differ from mine.
The last two photos in this listing are of the same fleece, but are not part of the listing sale.
* – information gathered from Wikipedia and The Field Guide to Fleece (by Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius).
