Glossary

Have you ever been reading an add for a wool fleece and wondered "what the heck does that mean!?!"... Hopefully this page will help.

This is not an extensive glossary for all things fiber arts, but it is representative of the terms I may use on my site. Please let me know if there is a term you think would be helpful for me to include.

Break: A weak spot in the length of a wool fiber caused by illness, extreme stress or poor nutrition.

Britch: the coarser wool that is from the hind end of a sheep. Different breeds, and individuals within each breed, have varying amounts of britch wool.

Carding: using hand cards to align fibers in a way so that they are ready to be spun or otherwise used for fiber arts. The fibers are not perfectly parallel but more perpendicular to each other and the result is a woolen, or fluffier yarn with more memory and that is warmer.

Combing: using hand combs to align fibers in a way so that they are ready to be spun or otherwise used for fiber arts. The fibers are parallel to each other and the result is a worsted, or flatter and smoother yarn that does not trap as much warmth as a woolen yarn and has much better drape than a woolen yarn.

Crimp: how much wave or zigzag is in the wool. The more crimp in the wool the more “body”, volume or spring will be in the end-product. Crimp lends itself to making a woolen yarn that has “memory”.

Felting: when wool fibers cling together.

Kemp: coarse guard type hairs that are common on the legs and face of a sheep but in most breeds, undesirable in the fleece.

Lanolin: the natural grease made by a sheep that coats their skin and wool to varying degrees.

Locks: Small clumps of fiber/wool that naturally clump together on a sheep.

Luster: natural shine inherent in the wool.

Memory: in fiber or yarn, it refers to the tendency for a lock of wool or a yarn to want to bounce back to its original shape after being bent or stretched.

Raw Fleece: a fleece that is still in its unwashed, carded or combed state. A skirted fleece can still be a raw fleece.

Scoured: to wash the wool to remove dirt and lanolin.

Second Cuts or Seconds: these are smaller lengths of wool that are left over the shearing that are shorter than the staple length of the fleece and are undesirable in a good quality fleece. They happen when the shearer must shave the same place twice. Example: I sheared off the wool accidentally leaving a full inch of wool left on the animal, so I shear it again to take off the extra length. That extra length is called “Seconds” or “Second Cuts”. As few of them as possible should be included with a high-quality fleece.

Skirted Fleece: a fleece that has had all of the nastier edges of the wool discarded, ie dung tags, urine soaks, too dirty, too much lanolin, etc.

Staple Length: low long the wool is from clipped end to tip. This measurement varies greatly when there is crimp or wave involved. Please see the pictures and explanations below. This is why I always have a picture showing the actual locks of wool on a ruler, so that you know exactly what you are buying.

Vegetable Matter or VM: any kind of plant matter like hay, grass, weeds, etc.

Weight: the weight of the fleece that a customer will receive.

This lock of wool is just as it is shorn right off the sheep. Notice how much crimp and scrunch is in the wool and the length of the lock.

This is the same exact lock but it has been stretched out by hand. Notice again the length of the lock.

Here again is the same lock but I have stretched it to its maximum length. Notice how long the fibers actually are?

I think you can guess, due to the pictures above, that stating an actual staple length can be tricky. It is also tricky buying wool when you don't know the true staple length. This is exactly why I include pictures of my wool locks and their lengths in my information on each fleece. I include a few locks from different parts of the fleece to give you the best over all idea of what you are getting.