[Ansteorra-textiles] sheep!

[Nancy Wederstrandt]

This is all your fault... I got in a talking mood.

Some of the reasons I spin what I spin.

I started with Romney because it's good to spin and an easy one to spin if 
you are a beginner.  It's long and has some curl to it, very pretty color 
ranger and it shimmers..... It has a sheen to it that quite lovely.  I have 
two fleeces that I shared some with Kestral and some with a non SCA spinner 
and they both tried to steal the rest of it.  (The non-SCAer went off and 
bought her own.)
I have to say that they are not cheap fleeces but I really think investment 
wise they are a profoundly good deal.  You get a lot of bang for your buck 
- but it's a big buck 50.00+ so often I split fleeces with someone or I use 
it for one thing.

Jacob - because where else can you get a wide range from dark to light on 
one sheep that goes back to Biblical days (they think) and can dink with 
tweedy effects, over dyeing and such.... It's nice fiber and if you look at 
the pictures of them you realize that you may well have spun fiber off a 
sheep with weirdly odd horns.  It's springy, nice to spin, fairly medium in 
softness (though I have two  lilac Jacob lamb fleeces that are very soft 
and nice.)  FYI, lilac is a very soft purpley brown with white 
fiber.  Kestral can tell you more about Jacob.... plus there are some 
problems with it.

Soay is demanding and difficult to do because you often have to use a 
supported spindle to spin it (hint there folks)  The up side is that you 
can spin extremely fine thread with it for knitting lace.  The down side is 
that it's very short fiber which can be used for blending or for felt.  The 
colors generally are cinnamony and dark brown very exotic for me but it 
explains those basic brown tweeds (grin).

Salish isn't a breed so much as a regional sheep breed.  It's the result of 
shepherds breeding up something to fit a part of the country.  Much like 
what is being done here in South Texas....
I like Salish in that it's a variable colored fleece with nice fiber and 
the people I buy from are extremely sweet.  Below is the only reference I 
have found and I got it from the shepherd I get my fleeces from.... (Salish 
is a Northwest Indian Tribe found in Canada and Washington/Oregon)
SALISH SHEEP
A number of inquiries have reached me regarding the history of Salish and
Sardis sheep. Since neither is listed as a breed in the Canadian Livestock
records of sheep registrations, it would seen these names have been adopted,
not with the intention of suggesting they are a recognized breed, but rather
to designate the area from which the sheep came. (THE NCWGA DOES LIST THEM
AS SALISH)
Apparently their history relates to the Salish Weavers at Sardis, in the
Fraser Valley of British Columbia. While the story of the revival of Salish
weaving under the guidance of the late Mr. Oliver Wells of historic Edenbank
Farm is so well known to many, others may not be as well acquainted with
this world-famous project...hence a brief history is outlined here.
In 1961, Mr. Wells began to encourage the local Indians to renew their
almost lost art of Salish weaving. Mrs. Sara Oliver Wells and a friend of
hers, Miss Sadie Thompson, got together a flock of black sheep in order to
supply the Indians with wool for their handcrafting. My late husband and I
became acquainted with Mr. & Mrs. Wells through our mutual interest in black
sheep. In 1969, we saw a pair of black ram lambs in the local Langley
Auction which had long tails, horns, very short ears, rather long and hairy
fleeces and a somewhat goat-like conformation.
Following up this lead, we visited the farm that had consigned the lambs to
the sale. The owner was Mr. Jan Brogowski of the Langley Farm.
Mr Brogowski ran a small flock of mostly white-faced, mixed grade sheep and
had imported a purebred Karakul ram from Quebec in eastern Canada. Every
lamb from this ram was black. We contacted Mr. & Mrs. Wells who
subsequently purchased nine of these black yearling ewes, a ram lamb and the
original Karakul ram. These sheep all seemed unduly wild and apparently
when they were unloaded at Edenbank Farm the ram took off into the bush, and
it was several hours before he returned.
Different theories have been expressed as to just why these particular
sheep were so wild. One party suggested it may have been due to inbreeding
but one wonders if this ancient breed of sheep that has been domesticated
for so many centuries would have a natural trait of wildness.
Integrated with the black sheep the Wells already owned, these wilder
Karakul crosses were introduced and produced wool with a 9-11 inch staple
length which is ideal for the style of weaving done by the Salish weavers.
Some of the original woven articles handcrafted by the Salish weavers were
taken to Great Britain by early visitors to Canada and a number of these
weavings found their way into museums there. It was while researching and
photographing some of these beautiful pieces for a manuscript that Mr.Wells
lost his life in a tragic automobile accident in 1969. Following this, Mrs.
Wells and Miss Thompson decided to sell the black sheep and for a time the
flock remained within the family but eventually was dispersed.
This to the best of my knowledge is the story of the Salish or Sardish
sheep. Written by: Joan Wootton

See too much info!  I'll shut up now!

Clare