How to Love Wool
I was raising sheep for eight years before I thought much about wool. It sounds ridiculous but there’s quite a few sheep producers on the same boat. Selling wool is hard and there are plenty of reasons people want to raise sheep that don’t concern wool production. I had reason to grow and present a quality fleece on my animal for shows. After shearing though, wool was an annoyance. Most of it is worth less than the bag you put it in and a lot of us are unable to meet the high standards to sell in niche markets. There was a short period of time when egged on by the 4-H motto “learning by doing” that I learned how to do all the crafts: carding, spinning, dyeing, knitting, crochet, felting. I also learned I’m not one who enjoys sitting still for such activities. This is where I get along with a lot of my shearing clients. Love sheep? Check. Think the world of wool? You bet. Enjoy spinning and needlework? Not a bit. I wrote about this position others last year when announcing our new “Shearer’s Twist” line of products, which you can read here. Should it be that a passion for handiwork or wool classing certification is required to sell the fiber your flock grows? I don’t think so but that’s the way the market goes unless you raise hundreds or thousands of fine wools in the south and north central regions of the US.
I found my way into wool by picking up a pair of shears. The shearer is the final factor effecting wool quality. No matter your personal feelings about wool, to satisfy clients sheep need to look tidy and wool should be harvested smoothly. A good shearer is imperative to those shepherds who do raise their sheep for wool. It’s vital that I understand their desires and how my work impacts their business. Schooling took place every day on the job at first as I latched onto clients’ perspectives in their worlds of wool. From their enlightenment I brought lessons to shepherds on the other end of the spectrum. Ones with questions like, “What can I do with this wool?” and “How do I improve”, “What kind of bedding should I use?”, “When’s a better time to shear?”, “Will you buy it?”. Learning and teaching on the job is probably unadvisable in most scenarios but I was engulfed in the commotion and I loved it. We reached out to mills, talked to dyers, sent samples to friends, asked experts about the science. Finally, I began to uncover the tools that could connect folks just like me, gracious shepherds inexpert in wool craft, with the communities who could appreciate their fiber farther removed from the farm.
It's a matter of uniting the producers’ experiences with what the mills need to what the consumer wants. Growing wool is changed by climactic conditions, production stages, environments, stress, health, and nutrition. These the farmer understands. Mills know staple, yield, grade, crimp, and contaminants that change the outcome of the products we want from our wool. The consumer wants….mostly Merino. Sure, there’s been an uptick in demand for unique breed-specific wool but nothing to make waves beyond small corners of niche markets. Between each of these steps there are misconceptions and frustrations. These are the places I have wormed my way in to find what conversation is missing and hand over the toolbox I’ve gathered. Building of bridges is not simple for anyone but it is doable. That’s where I really found my spark. I’m writing this on a break from skirting some of the thousand pounds of wool scattered around my lawn collected during shearing this spring. All of it fetching a better than average price for the farmers and destined to become roving, handspun yarn, batting, carpets, knit goods, and more. All thanks to the dots we can connect. I still pick up my knitting a few days per year…usually around the winter holidays planted on the couch in front of a good movie all in an attempt to take a break from running a business. I’ve found my happiest place in the world of wool elsewhere as the personal rolodex for local wool.
But the science! All the good science of wool is amazing and at this point in my personal education I forget not everyone has these engrained in their memory like myself. Let’s start at the landfill.
Biodegradable - I won’t quote the jaw-dropping statistics here but a lot of textiles end up in landfills, much of the material being petroleum-based. (Read more about textile waste here.) Know what’s not petroleum-based and entirely biodegradable? Wool! It’s an all-natural fiber that does take a long time to break down but does it naturally. Do you know why it takes a while to decompose?
Durability - Wool fibers can bend 20,000 times before they break compared to cotton at 3,000. It’s also non-flammable meaning it is extremely difficult to get wool to burn and if it does catch on fire, it doesn’t melt or stick to skin. This is why the U.S. military prefers wool for its service member’s base layers, even in hot climates. The flame retardant properties of wool can be life-saving. (Read about wool in the military here.)
Moisture Wicking, Odor Resistant, & Antimicrobial - Another benefit the military has enjoyed is the odor-resistant and moisture wicking abilities of wool. Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan noticed quickly how horribly synthetic fibers absorbed and retained odor. Wool doesn’t. The scale-like structure of the fibers don’t allow odors to penetrate meaning one wash takes care of stink. What wool can absorb is water – more than 30% of its weight in it. Wool is fairly water repellent (especially when spun in the grease as preferred by fishermen of a certain generation) but when it does absorb moisture, it can take on a lot of it before it feels damp. This water-repelling odor-resisting structure also makes it antimicrobial and anti-allergy. Mold, dust, and bacteria just can’t hold on to fabrics made from wool. But I’m not done yet!
Carbon Sequester - It’s a carbon sequester. Sheep consuming forages convert organic carbon into wool, producing a fleece whose weight is 50% carbon. When wool biodegrades it releases this carbon back into the soils slowly, as a normal and natural part of the carbon cycle. (Yup, more reading here.)
Breathable - Lastly, my favorite. Wool is an active and breathable fiber. It reacts to your body’s temperature much like it does for the sheep who carry it around for six to twelve months out of the year. Wool’s goal is to help regulate body temperature whether it’s to keep you warm in cold or cool in the summer heat.
Think about wool this way: sheep have evolved, even while domesticated, for centuries to rely on their wool for protection and comfort. Wool’s natural protective properties coupled with basic shepherd’s care create an ideal state for sheep to thrive. Those natural and adaptive properties are enjoyed by wearers of wool too! (And last little reference to check out here.)
I found a community that needs me, a resource I can advocate for, and a successful career I enjoy. It’s only natural I’d bring all this back to where I began – at 4-H. 4-H is a youth development organization with deep roots in agriculture delivered by state university extension offices but supported largely by volunteers. 4-H is where I got my start with livestock and it’s the program that helped me the most growing up. Now, I’m a volunteer for my local program and recently we put on our largest event of the year. In the planning process my brain was buzzing with ideas to teach skirting, talk about yield and breed differences, the basics of classing, grades of wool, considerations for shearing. My energies were demanded elsewhere and instead we had two workshops led by members from our community on dyeing and felting. I didn’t share the concern in the back of my mind that it would be too much crafting or not engaging enough but I waited for the feedback at the end of the event. As it turns out, my worries were perfectly out of place. The kids loved it - playing with color, trying a bit of spinning, and felting creatures with wool. Incredibly, I’ve forgotten already how creatively willing we can be at that age. Odd materials and brand new skills don’t deter! There’s art to be made, ideas to express. A smile spread across my face that day watching a new group of young people fall in love with wool.
Cheers,