{"id":1996,"date":"2019-04-06T08:01:05","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T06:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=1996"},"modified":"2021-03-01T18:59:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T17:59:38","slug":"gotland-wool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/gotland-wool\/","title":{"rendered":"Gotland wool"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the spring 2019 issue of Spin-off magazine<\/a> I wrote an article on sorting fleeces of Gute and Gotland wool. Some of you have asked for a breed study in Scandinavian sheep breeds. I think it’s a great idea and I will start today! I will look at Swedish breeds to start with and from the spinner’s point of view. A bit about the breed, the characteristics of the wool, how I prepare and spin it and what I want to do with the finished yarn. Today I will cover my thoughts on Gotland wool.
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Next Saturday, April 13th at 5 pm CET I will host a live webinar<\/strong> where I share my thoughts and experiences on Gotland wool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gotland sheep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Gotland sheep is not one of the older Swedish sheep breeds. However, it is the most common breeds in Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origin of the Gotland sheep is the Gute sheep. Gute sheep is a very old breed with a rustic fleece. I will cover the Gute sheep in more detail in a later post. In the 1920’s a program started to develop a breed that was good for meat and skins. The new breed was originally called P\u00e4lsf\u00e5r (Fur sheep) to emphasize the use of the skins but was later changed to Gotland sheep to accommodate to a more international audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today the Gotland sheep is the most common breed in Sweden. In 2018 there were 520 registered flocks of Gotland sheep with around 18000 lambing ewes according to the Swedish sheep breeders’ association.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The breeding standards Gotland sheep include standards for meat production and skin quality. The goals for wool characteristics are primarily set for skin quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wool characteristics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Newly shorn wool from a Gotland lamb<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first characteristic that comes to mind when looking at a Gotland fleece is the shine. Gotland wool has a beautiful shine in different shades of grey from medium to dark grey and black. The staples are shaped in a 3-dimensional curl. The wool has a uniformity across the fleece with a solid colour, lock characteristic and staple length. The fleece consists of mostly outercoat and very little undercoat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Freakishly long Gotland wool. The staples are very dense.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These characteristics are very well suited for a beautiful skin. However, Gotland wool is not my favorite wool to spin. It is easy to be fooled by the beautiful silvery locks, but they can be deceptive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n