May 14, 2011

Could Be That All Down Breed Wool Resists Felting

Remember I ran a handspun, handknit Shropshire wool swatch through the washer and dryer and it came out fine?  Well, I hear it could be possible that all wool from breeds of sheep in the down category is resistant to felting.

One of the Maryland Sheep and Wool fleece sale attendants says so.

The Tsarina of Tsocks says so too in her The Tsarina Tsays blog post, Little Acorns.

This could have possibilities.  There are those relatives I would vote most likely to toss handknits in the wash thereby inadvertently, irreparably felting untreated wool into something resembling a tortured potholder.  I bought some BFL superwash wool top at MDSW to make gifts for such folk.  It's only kind.  To impose incompatible rules or expectations on anyone when giving a gift, that is uncalled for.  However, at the same time I have to consider my own druthers and I'm not excited about the idea of spinning wool plastered with resin.

Nice to know I can widen my search for superwash alternatives from just Shropshire to any down breed.

The down side (oh, sorry, terrible pun) is that down breed wool fleece and roving are rarely sold on this continent to handspinners.  Too, down breed wool is uncomfortable to spin.  Probably there's more than a bit of correlation there.  The up side is I have new motivation to spin up that Dorset cross wool I bought on a whim this spring.

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