ARTICLE # 21... WONDERFUL WOOL!!
Fall in New England. Brilliant blue skies,
topaz trees and cool dry days. Sweater weather
for sure! Winter coats will soon have their
day but for now a cozy wool sweater should
do the trick.
Mohair, Cashmere, Shetland, Alpaca..... So
many wools to choose from!
Nature provides our most perfect fibers.
Wool is an animal fiber and it's origins
are ancient, man was domesticating the sheep
long before recorded history. Early on fleece
was felted and used as body coverings. Weaving
and knitting were later employed to make
use of this most miraculous material. Basically
wool is animal hair which is gathered, cleaned,
carded and finally spun into yarns which
are then used in woven as well as knit fabrics.
The wool fibers are uniquely constructed
by nature to capture the bodies warmth yet
draw moisture away. Wool can actually absorb
up to 20% of its weight in water without
feeling damp. Although it draws moisture
away from the body it also has natural oils
which repel water from outside AND it is
naturally fire repellent. Wool keeps the
wearer warm, dry and comfortable. To this
day no other fiber has been created which
parallels the wonders of
wool.
Sheep's wool is the most well know of all
the wools but very few consumers are aware
of how many kinds there are. American Fabrics
by Zelma Bendure and Gladys Pfeiffer, 1947
gives three separate categories.
First we have our finest sheep's wools which
are the Merino and Rambouillets. The fleece
of the Merino sheep is very fine with a tight
even crimp and lots of natural oils. It is
the only breed of sheep that has no Kemp,
a course brittle fiber found in all other
sheep's wools. The softer fleece provides
yarns that are smooth and dense. Merino knits
and woven fabrics drape beautifully and have
great integrity, holding their shape well.
Rambouillet wool is less fine than Merino
but still considered a very fine wool. The
Rambouillet sheep is actually an old strain
of Merino which had been a gift to France
from the King of Spain.
Medium Wools are nice but less fine, they
have a looser crimp and have less natural
oil. The results are spongier less dense
fabrics with a fuzzier surface. These wools
make nice cozy sweater yarn. The higher the
grade the better the yarn. There are many
breeds of sheep in the medium category. Shetland
wool is a higher grade in the medium range.
Many medium grade breeds have been cross
bred with merino in particular so there are
dozens of wools on the market all with unique
qualities.
Long Wools are long, course and hairy. They
have a high luster and very little natural
oil. Garment quality long wool fleece is
used for coating and course tweeds. One of
the most well known sheep in the long wool
category is the Blackface Highland from Scotland
the source for the world famous Harris Tweeds.
The most course long wools are used for carpets
tapestries and upholstery filler fibers.
There are a number of other animals whose
wool or hair is made into yarns. These are
your specialty wools they include angora
and cashmere (both a type of goat), camel,
llama, alpaca and two wild members of the
llama family the vicuna and guanaco.
The cashmere goat originated in Tibet and
Northern India. Virtually all vintage cashmere
came from this area of the world. The goat
was not shorn like sheep but rather loose
tufts were hand plucked from the animal or
surrounding bushes during molting season.
The softest highest quality cashmere is the
underdown fur and is called pushm. Unlike
sheep's wool the quality of cashmere does
not depend on the breed but rather the environment.
Life for a "free range" cashmere
goat is not easy, food is sparse and the
weather difficult. When the cashmere goat
is removed from it's harsh living conditions,
given a safe environment and well fed the
fleece grows in thicker and more course.
The resulting wool does not meet the high
standards set for true cashmere. This is
why a vintage cashmere coat has superior
softness and drape. Much of the cashmere
being produced today is from domesticated
cashmere goats being raised under milder
conditions.
The angora goat produces the wool we call
mohair. Mohair fiber is smooth and slippery
and the resulting yarns are soft and durable.
It blends beautifully with other wools. It
adds wonderful texture and since it accepts
dye differently can create interesting color
effects. I am quite fond of Mohair because
of these unique characteristics. I love vintage
mohair sweaters especially some of the ones
they made for men. When they blended the
wool and mohair the resulting colors and
lustrous texture creates a subtle iridescent
effect.
Camel hair is another fascinating luxury
wool. Like cashmere the wool is not shorn
but rather it is plucked in clumps while
the animal molts. The finest camel hair is
that closest to the skin. These fibers are
extremely soft and lustrous. Despite its
delicate feel camel hair wool is a durable
material well suited for outergarments. Before
the 1940s only the finest grade of camel
hair was used in the textile industry but
towards mid-century the industry started
mixing some of the courser hair in the yarns
resulting in a lower quality material. The
finest camel hair garments are very soft
and smooth to the touch.
The llama and alpaca are both originally
from South America, both are a species of
camel. The llama has thicker more course
hair while the alpaca, a smaller animal has
hair with a fine silky texture and a lovely
luster. The alpaca comes in a range of colors
gray, faun, brown black and pure white. Often,
Alpaca sweaters utilize the natural colors
in lovely combinations.
The vicuna and guanaco are wild animals.
Both have incredibly fine and beautiful fur
which has been used to create some of the
most rare and precious fabrics ever known.
The Inca considered this animal sacred and
harvested their fur sparingly but when the
European people came they ruthlessly hunted
and killed these delicate animals to harvest
their wool. This resulted in an alarming
drop in numbers. In 1921 laws were enacted
in Peru to protect the vicuna. The U.S.and
the other South American countries joined
in this effort but to no avail by the 1970s
poachers had brought the vicuna to the brink
of extinction. Extraordinary measure were
then taken to protect the vicuna and the
efforts were a success. No longer endangered
the Peruvian Government is now allowing the
indigenous peoples to harvest a limited amount
of vicuna wool. Since the animal is sacred
to these people they do not kill it
but shear the tuft of valuable fur which
provides them with much needed revenue and
actually protects the animals from poachers
who would kill them. There is a nice article
about the vicuna at this link
http://www.bonnydoonalpacas.org/vicunart.htm
If you are a textile geek like me or merely
interested in knowing more there is so much
one can learn about wools and lots of it
is a click away on your computer. There are
associations for nearly every wool bearing
animal and they are very generous with their
knowledge.