The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook

by Robson, Deborah; Ekarius, Carol

• ISBN13: 9781603427111
• ISBN10: 1603427112
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-01
• Publisher: Storey Books

Summary

Most Knitters, Spinners, Weavers, and other fiber artists can't get enough of their craft. They love what they do, and they love to know more about the materials that they work with. Animal raisers are similarly passionate, with a recurring thirst for information about the animals they have, and the ones they dream of having. Created with both groups in mind, The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook is a one-of-a-kind photographic encyclopedia of more than 200 animals and the fibers they produce. It covers almost every sheep breed in the world -- the longwool breeds of the United Kingdom, the Tasmanian merino, the Navajo churro, the northern European Faroese, and dozens more. It also includes goats (mohair and cashmere, of course): camelids, such as alpacas, llamas, and vicunas; bison; horses; musk oxen; rabbits; and even dogs. Each spread includes photographs of the featured animal; samples of its raw fleece, its cleaned fleece, and yarn spun from the fleece; and samples of that yarn knit and woven. In some cases, products that can be made from the knit or woven yarn are also shown, such as a shawl made from Hebridean wool and a fascinating horsehair chachvan. Readers will find everything they want to know about each animal and its fiber, including the fiber's color, density, strength, and staple length, and recommendations for processing and using it. They'll also find expert information on breed conservation and heritage breed propagation; easy-to-use charts and boxes for quick reference; and a comprehensive resource section. No other book covers so many fiber animals. No other book covers fiber animals in such detail. And no other book comes close to offering what this book provides. At once a stunning collection of photographs, a can't-put-down reading book, and an inexhaustible source of expert information, this is the book no fiber-or animal-lover can be without.

Author Biography

Carol Ekarius is the coauthor of The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook, The Field Guide to Fleece, and Storey’s Guide to Raising Sheep, and the author of several books including Small-Scale Livestock Farming, Storey’s Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds, and Storey’s Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle, and Pigs. She lives in the mountains of Colorado.
 

Deborah Robson is co-author of The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook and Knitting in the Old Way. She is a former editor of both Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot and Spin-Off magazine, and she is currently the editor and publisher of Nomad Press, which publishes books on traditional and ethnic knitting and spinning. Robson is also an artist, working in textiles, printmaking, and oils. She lives in Colorado with her daughter.

Table of Contents

Part 1  Sheep: Oodles and Boodles of Wool

Blackfaced Mountain Family
Dalesbred
Derbyshire Gritstone
Lonk
Rough Fell
Scottish Blackface
Swalesdale

Cheviot Family
Cheviot
Brecknock Hill and American Miniature Cheviot
North Country Cheviot

Dorset Group
Dorset Horn and Polled Dorset

Down Family
Southdown
Dorset Down
Hampshire
Oxford
Shropshire
Suffolk

English Longwool Family
Bluefaced Leicester
Border Leicester
Leicester Longwool
Cotswold
The Dartmoors: Greyface and Whiteface
Devon and Cornwall Longwool
Lincoln Longwool
Romney
Teeswater
Wensleydale

Feral Group
Gulf Coast Native
Hog Island
New Zealand Ferals
Santa Cruz

Merino Family
Merino: Booroola, Est a Laine, Fonthill, Peppin, Poll, South Australian, Tasmanian, Type A, and Type B Merino
Debouillet
Delaine Merino
Saxon and Sharlea Merino
Rambouillet

Northern European Short-Tailed Family
Boreray
Castlemilk Moorit
Finnsheep
Gotland
Hebridean
Icelandic
Manx Loaghtan
North Ronaldsay
Ouessant
Romanov
Shetland
Soay

Welsh Hill and Mountain Family
Badger Face Welsh Mountain
Balwen Welsh Mountain
Beulah Speckled Face
Black Welsh Mountain
Hill Radnor
Kerry Hill
Llanwenog
Lleyn
Welsh Hill Speckled Face
Welsh Mountain and South Wales Mountain

Other Sheep Breeds
American Tunis
Bleu du Maine
British Milk Sheep
California Red
Charollais
Clun Forest
Colbred
Columbia and Panama
Coopworth
Cormo
Corriedale and Bond
Devon Closewool
East Friesian
Exmoor Horn
Galway
Gromark
Herdwick
Ile-de-France
Jacob
Karakul
Montadale
Navajo Churro
Norfolk Horn
Perendale
Polwarth
Polypay
Portland
Romeldale and CVM
Rouge de l'Ouest
Ryeland
Targhee
Texel
Whitefaced Woodland
Zwartbles

Wider Circles of Sheep
The Arcotts: Canadian, Outaouais, and Rideau
Dala
Faroese
Gute
Pellsau
Racka
Roslag
Rya
Rygya
Spelsau
Steigar
Svardsjo
Swedish Finewool
Mashams, Mules, and Other Crosses

Part 2   Other Species: The Rest of the Menagerie

Goats
Mohair
Cashmere

The Goat Crosses
Cashgora
Pygora
PCA
Pycazz
Nigora

Camelids
Alpaca
Llama
Guanaco
Vicuna
Bactrian Camel
Dromedary Camel

Other Critters
Bison
Dog, Wolf, and Cat
Fur and Pelt Animals
Horse
Musk Ox
Rabbit: English, French, German, Giant, and Satin Angora Rabbit
Yak