{"id":7799,"date":"2022-04-02T07:41:27","date_gmt":"2022-04-02T05:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=7799"},"modified":"2022-04-09T18:10:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T16:10:07","slug":"aland-wool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/aland-wool\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00c5land wool"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today’s blog post and an upcoming breed study webinar are all about \u00c5land wool. This is my eleventh breed study. Previous breed studies have been about Gotland wool<\/a>, Gute wool<\/a>, Dalap\u00e4ls wool<\/a>, V\u00e4rmland wool<\/a>, J\u00e4mtland wool<\/a>, finull wool<\/a>, rya wool<\/a>, Kl\u00f6vsj\u00f6 wool<\/a> (blog post only), \u00c5sen wool<\/a> and Gestrike wool<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Saturday, April 9th at 5 pm CET<\/strong> (world clock here<\/a>) I will host a free<\/strong> live breed study webinar on \u00c5land wool!<\/strong> I will share my experiences with the wool from a spinner’s perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The webinar has already taken place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c5land sheep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u00c5land sheep<\/a> is a unique breed that has lived and developed in the archipelago of \u00c5land in the Baltic Sea for centuries. \u00c5land is geographically quite close to Sweden, but is an autonomous region of Finland. The belief used to be that \u00c5land sheep were related to the Finnish landrace, but genetic examinations have shown that \u00c5land sheep is its own and unique breed. It is believed to belong to the most primitive breeds of the Northern European short tail sheep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1980’s \u00c5land sheep were endangered, but through dedicated work the breed was saved. \u00c5land sheep got a status as its own breed 20 years ago. At the time there were around 150 ewes, now there are over 1800, of which around two thirds live in mainland Finland and the rest in \u00c5land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c5land sheep is a sturdy breed that have developed into excellent landscape managers in the barren skerries of the archipelago through centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sheep are relatively small, rams weigh around 60 kilos and ewes around 40 kilos. About half of the rams and some of the ewes have horns. The fleece comes in a wide variety of colours and patterns. Many \u00c5land sheep are born black or dark grey but lighten with age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gene bank<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the gene bank for \u00c5land sheep all individuals and their characteristics are documented in a database, including information of wool colour and quality. Through this documentation the aim is to preserve the breed and keep its genetic diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sweet staples of \u00c5land wool from two different fleeces.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I read the guidelines for the \u00c5land sheep gene bank I get the sense that the rules are similar to those of the gene banks of Swedish heritage breed. With an aim to preserve the genetic diversity of a very small breed there is no room to breed for specific characteristics like the wool, even if the work with the gene bank does include information about wool quality. I asked Maija H\u00e4gglund, the chair of the \u00c5land sheep association about this. She confirmed that the genetic variety is the focus of the gene bank. However, they do recommend sheep farmers to consider wool quality and not allow too coarse or too fine wool to take over in the flock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tommi’s \u00c5land sheep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To get hold of some \u00c5land wool I contacted Tommi, a sheep owner with around 50 \u00c5land sheep. His landscape managing sheep graze freely in the barren outer skerries of the \u00c5land archipelago between May and October or November. He takes his boat to visit his sheep every now and them so they will recognize him and know that he is still there. Many other breeds would not be able to survive on their own in this kind of environment. But \u00c5land sheep have grazed these islands for centuries and have adapted to their environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c5land wool characteristics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u00c5land sheep have a dual coat with fine undercoat and long, strong outercoat. The wool can differ very much between flocks, individuals and over the body of one individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The staples of the grey fleece are long, some over 30 cm (left). The center picture shows undercoat and outercoat separated. To the right a staple of the white fleece.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I got parts of two \u00c5land fleeces from Tommi, one grey with extremely long outercoat and very fine undercoat. The other almost white with some black fibers in it, silky soft undercoat and strong outercoat. Shorter and finer than the grey fleece. Both fleeces have some kemp, but it feels quite fine and doesn’t bother me that much. They add to the rusticity of the yarn and makes it more interesting to me. When I asked Maija about the kemp she said that the occurrence of kemp varies between individuals but that her experience is that the kemp in \u00c5land sheep is relatively fine, expecially when the fibers in general are fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On both the grey (left) and the white (right) fleeces you can see the finer undercoat fibers, the coarser outercoat fibers and an occasional black kemp fiber.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Main characteristics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I look for the main characteristics of the fleeces I have. When I work with the \u00c5land wool, through picking, teasing, carding and spinning I see and feel a wool that is full of contrasts \u2013 silky, yet rustic, fine, yet strong. The outercoat are the longest I have seen and the undercoat remarkably long for its fineness. I smile when I see the vast difference between undercoat and outercoat and how they still work together with the aim to protect the sheep from the harsh weather on the barren islands. If I have to pick three main characteristics of the \u00c5land wool I have experienced it would be<\/p>\n\n\n\n