{"id":3375,"date":"2019-10-12T07:43:55","date_gmt":"2019-10-12T05:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=3375"},"modified":"2019-10-12T07:43:10","modified_gmt":"2019-10-12T05:43:10","slug":"swedish-fleece-championships-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/swedish-fleece-championships-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Swedish fleece championships 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week I wrote about the Swedish spinning championships 2019. In this blog post I will take you with me to the Swedish fleece championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fleece highlight of the year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Swedish fleece championships is one of my favourite events of the year. This is when I meet talented shepherdesses who know what spinners want. It is also the time when I buy my best fleeces. I take notes of the winners and put them in my list of shepherdesses to contact when I need a specific breed or quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Over 50 fleeces competed in the 2019 fleece championships!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eight categories<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There were 54 competing fleeces, which, as I understand it, was a record. The fleeces are sorted into categories depending on the breeds that are competing. This year there were eight categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gotland<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Heaps
Some of the silvery Gotland fleeces in the championships. The leftmost got a bronze medal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Seven fleeces competed from the most common breed in Sweden, the Gotland<\/a> sheep. Strong, silky and drapey are words that I think best describe this breed. Not a next to skin material, but prefect for socks and sturdier garments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rya<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Fleeces
Spectacular Rya fleeces with unusual color changes in the staples. The rightmost got a silver medal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Six stunning fleeces competed in this category and I could have eaten all of them. From pitch black, through caramel ripple to beaming white. Rya wool can be described as long, strong and shiny with strong outercoat and soft undercoat and very little crimp. The fleece has traditionally been used in Rya rugs. It works wonderfully as a sock yarn or for embroidery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swedish Finewool<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Heaps
Sweet Swedish fine wool locks with lots of crimp. The middle fleece got a gold medal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My first fleece was a finewool fleece and since then it has been the wool I feel most familiar with. Soft, crimpy and and warm are words that come to mind. A very good candidate for next to skin garments such as mittens, sweaters and shawls. This is my go-to wool for woolen spun yarn from hand-carded rolags. Six fleeces competed in this category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swedish Leicester<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Heaps
Swedish Leicester. Long, curly and shiny.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Swedish Leicester come from Leicester longwool sheep that were brought to Sweden in the 16th to 18th centuries. Just like Gotland wool the fibers are long, strong and drapey. The two breeds have been co-bred in Sweden to make pretty skins. Not next to skin material, but it makes an excellent warp or as a strong component in a blend with something softer. Seven fleeces competed in this category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V\u00e4rmland<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Heaps
The V\u00e4rmlands. So many variations in colour and character. The white fleece to the right got a bronze medal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Six fleeces competed in our biggest conservation breed, the V\u00e4rmland sheep. They were all lovely and represented the colour variation very well. The fleece is a dual cote with lots of fine undercoat and long outercoat. The breed is quite versatile and you can get anything from strong and rustic warp yarn to silky soft locks I have made mittens<\/a> and half-mitts<\/a> from a V\u00e4rmland fleece and medalist in the fleece championships of 2017<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crossbred J\u00e4mtland<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Heaps
Crimp, anyone? There were lots of J\u00e4mtland fleeces in the championships.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

J\u00e4mtland sheep are our newest breed. Officially it has been a breed for less than ten years. It is a crossbred between a meet crossbred Svea sheep and merino. Seven fleeces competed in this category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General domestic breeds<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Fleeces
Two Helsinge fleeces competing in the general domestic breeds category. The darkest one got a bronze medal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This was a category for domestic breeds that were to few to make their own category. Nine domestic breeds and domestic breed crosses competed \u2013 Helsinge, Kl\u00f6vsj\u00f6, J\u00e4mtland\/H\u00e4rjedal\/\u00c5sen, Gotland\/finewool, Gotland\/Rya and Gotland\/finewool\/Rya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crossbreds<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Fleeces
General crossbreds. From the left: Finewool\/Dorset, Finewool\/Leicester and Gotland\/Texel. The dark to the left got a silver medal and the white to the right got a gold medal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Six exciting crossbreds competed in this category \u2013 Finewool\/Leicester, East Frisean, Finewool\/Dorset, Finewool\/Leicester, Gotland\/Texel and J\u00e4mtland\/Leicester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Championship harvest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I had a allowed myself to buy three fleeces from the auction of the competing fleeces following the prize ceremony. That is about the amount of wool I can manage to bring home on the train. I also wanted to buy some smaller quantities of wool for, say, upcoming breed study webinars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long and silky Rya<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Long and silky Rya lamb’s locks. The fleece got a gold medal in the fleece championships.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On this year’s wool journey I experimented with making a sock yarn blend with Rya and mohair<\/a>. On the championship auction I managed to get the gold medalist \u2013 a shiny white lamb’s fleece from the Shepherdess Kari Lewin. She won an obscene amount of medals for her fleeces of several breeds \u2013 Swedish Leicester, Rya, Gotland and Swedish finull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Versatile V\u00e4rmland<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
A yummy white V\u00e4rmland fleece with many possibilities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second fleece I bought was also a medalist \u2013 a bronze winning white V\u00e4rmland lamb’s fleece. It was unusually shiny and with lots of variations in fiber length and fiber type. I have spun some V\u00e4rmland of very different character and colour and this was my first white V\u00e4rmland fleece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shiny Kl\u00f6vsj\u00f6<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A
The most shiny fleece was a Kl\u00f6vsj\u00f6 fleece. No medal, but it wanted to come home with me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The last fleece I bought was not a medalist, but still such a beauty. It was a shiny white Kl\u00f6vsj\u00f6 fleece with long and Rya-like locks. Kl\u00f6vsj\u00f6 sheep is another conservation breed. I wasn’t alone in having fallen in love with this fleece. I bid against another spinner (and, as it turned out, a follower) for a while until I won. Then I offered her to share it with me and she happily accepted my offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miscellaneous yum<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There was also a raw fleece market where shepherdesses sold their fleece. There wasn’t very much space and therefore not many vendors. Still, I got what I wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all, I got some mohair for my sock yarn project (see Rya paragraph above). I haven’t really worked with mohair before so this will be exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Shiny
Mohair for my socks!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next up was a small bag of Swedish finewool. This is my favourite breed and the one I started out with eight years ago, but since I don’t have a project planned at the moment I didn’t get a whole fleece. Instead I will use the wool for teaching purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
I always come back to Swedish finewool.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another smaller batch for teaching purposes was some J\u00e4mtland wool. My favourite J\u00e4mtland wool supplier covers her sheep and shears them once a year, so her fleeces are remarkably clean and has very long staples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Long
J\u00e4mtland wool has the crimpiest crimp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’m always keeping my eyes open for conservation breeds, and I found one that I hadn’t planned to buy. I stumbled upon a stall full of \u00c5sen wool as if it was meant to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
\u00c5sen wool, another conservation breed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Going back home<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We had a couple of days to ourselves and then we had to go back home. I had bought seven batches of wool (two whole fleeces and five smaller batches). I had also received a bag of Norwegian pelssau from a friend, so there was a lot of wool to take home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Seven
There is always room for more wool!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Luckily I had brought vacuum bags for the transport. I could press my eight bags of wool into three practical bags and fit them in our luggage and get home on the train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wool
Always come prepared for the fleece market! My 4 kg of fleece fit nicely into three vacuum bags.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you are looking for me in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be washing fleece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy spinning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can follow me in several social media:<\/p>\n\n\n\n