Luscious, Cozy, Wool

For 12000 years this Fiber has figured on the loom of civilization as an integral part of human life. My father grew up on a sheep farm in the Karoo and they also farmed angora goats. This was their livelihood and helped them through the depression of the 1930's. This is a fabric of history.

World of Wool.

Other animals grow fleece that can be spun, but wool is synonymous with sheep. It is suggested that there are thousands of breeds, more than a billion sheep graze world pastures. Most wool is produced in the Southern Hemisphere and shipped to the Northern Hemisphere. Australia leads in world production and Japan in in ports.

The merino supplies approximately 1/3rd of the worlds wool. Spain regards their merinos so important that it once deemed their export a capital offense. The breeds fiber is so fine that 5 strands equal the width of a human hair. Breeds like the Romney and Lincoln produce a course fiber used in carpets. Wool from other animals such as mohair from angora goats, rabbits and South American cameloids are known as speciality fibers.

Wool was England's 1st great industry. By the late Middle Ages its export had become the nation's largest source of income. Flemish cloth merchants were England's best customers during the 13th century, when the great Cloth Hall was built at Ypres, which is now Belgium. Raw wool from England was directly unloaded from ships, while merchants displayed samples of their wares at stalls.
Flanders, later helped England improve their own cloth - making industry.

I was privileged to visit Botany Bay in Chorley, England, which is now a museum and a wares markets. I experienced the canals and locks which transported wares inland.
Demand for English wool enriched great landowners in areas such as the Cotswolds. I watched a fascinated show on sheep shearing. Those sharers are top notched in their skills. When shearing, no nicks or bleeding happens. The sheep seem to be happy to have the ' load off their shoulders.'

The Language of Wool.

Woolen terms.
. Carding : to untangle fibers.
. Cropping : to cut the pile to uniform height.
. Felt : wool matted by using moisture and pressure.
. Fulling: to shrink and thicken cloth.
. Lamb's wool : from shearing lambs younger than 7 months.
. Nap: fiber ends raised to give a soft finish to cloth.
. Virgin wool: unused, raw wool.
. Worsted: fabric made with long parallel wool fibers.
. Yarn : fibers twisted together by spinning.

Sheep farming includes all of mankind at one time or another. It produces millions of jobs for skilled workers. It is a form of art. Not just anyone can take this up. Much learning and study is required. It's also kind to the animals. Beautiful scenery in England is the sheep in its pasture, walking up and down a copse, rich with the greenest grass. So peaceful.

Sources : Wikipedia, National Geographic excerpts, author's original information, Pixabay.