What. An. Insane. Week. So much so that as I was sitting here trying to remember what all happened this week and finally had to go back and check my own IG feed I realized there wasn't even much on there either besides the Great Bee Move.
That in itself is probably worth at least two blog posts, but before I do that I'm going to revisit Burrnie's Sheep of the Week post to answer a great question.
You say that his wool is creamy white but his hair is yellow. What is the difference between wool and hair?
There are actually some breeds of sheep that only have hair. They are commonly known as...wait for it..."hair sheep". Some examples would be Barbados Black Belly, Katahdin, St. Croix and Dorper. All sheep have at least some hair though.
Here is a closer picture of Burrnie's face. All around his face (eyes, nose, mouth) is hair and it feels much like a short haired dog's coat. Where things get fuzzy on his cheeks and forehead is the start of his wool and his wool covers all of the rest of his body except his legs, which turn back into hair.
The hair on Burrnie's face and legs is the same yellow color. While his wool looks nearly the same color here, it's actually a creamy white...when it's clean. You can see that in the hat I made as a thank you gift from him to Robin.
Burrnie's wool is very soft and, as we talk about in regards to wool quality, very crimpy. What that means is if you run your hand over it, it feels "fuzzy", not smooth like hair. If you look at it under a microscope however, each fiber that looks fairly straight and just fuzzy is actually zig zaggy (special pro term ;-).
A fine wool sheep (like a Merino) can have up to 100 zig zags per inch. A coarse wool sheep (like a Cotswold) might only have five per inch and their zig zags are more like loopy curls. I've never counted Burrnie's zig zags or crimps per inch, but I'd guess it's...well, I should just go pull a lock out of his bag and do the math.
Here's a fun way to think about the difference between hair and wool. You would stroke Burrnie's smooth face, but you would bury your hand into Burrnie's soft, fuzzy wool...when it grew back out ;-).
Keep the comments and questions coming!
5 comments:
As a someone who has been spinning nearly 10 years you've just explained the term FINE to me in an ah-ha instant: "can have up to 100 zig zags per inch"!
...And it was a joy to click on Stella's tag on your Bee Moving Day and read the wayback blog.
I love to click back through the old posts. I wish there were more of the more recent posts, but I just can't seem to get back in the groove.
I think Burrnie deserves a big hug for working, on the job 24/7, 365, so people can have beautiful wool - one of the very best fibers mankind uses.
Go, Burrnie!
Our neighbor has 100 head of 'hair sheep' they make me think they are goats :)
Love Burrnie's beautiful hat. It looks wonderfully warm and cozy. And WHITE. :-)
-- ineedorange
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