ebruary 2009

knitting 4948 knitting

ebruary 2009

FeatureFeature

From sheep to skein

Shearng

An essential part o maintaining theanimal’s health and welare, shearing takesplace once a year in the warmer monthso spring and early summer. It is a highlyspecialized trade sought ater all over theworld and is an élite, competitive skill.Proessional shearers rst remove anydirty wool which would contaminate theremaining feece, usually rom around thelegs and tail end o the sheep. Next theyremove the entire feece in one piece inless than two minutes without harming theanimal. At this pace, nearly 250 sheep areshorn in a day’s work, which is done withthe greatest care or animal welare. Eachfeece can weigh between 1.5 and 7kgdepending on the breed o sheep. Oncethe feece has been removed, it is rolledand packed into a large sack, called a ‘woolsheet’, which is then transported to theBritish Wool Marketing Board or grading.

Auonng

Auctions are held nearly every ortnight at theBritish Wool headquarters in Bradord, WestYorkshire. In addition to reviewing the testresults, buyers may also personally inspectsample bales o the wool or sale prior toauction. The bre is bought and sold both inits raw, greasy orm as well as in various otherstages o processing. Bidding takes placeon computers in increments o pence andhal-pence per kilogram. British Wool aimsto sell the entire clip, the total amount shorn,within one year and oers between 1.5 and 2million kilos o wool or sale at each auction.On average, around 30 buyers and merchantsattend these auctions; most come rom the UKand supply end-users all over the world. Aterauction, the wool is sent on to manuacturersand enters the rst phase o processing.

Sourng

Once at a processing acility, the raw wool iswashed, or scoured, in a series o tubs usinghot water and a detergent. Scouring removesthe grease, unwanted vegetable matter, mud,thorns and anything else remaining rom theelds. Once washed, the wool is thoroughlyrinsed, wrung out through a series o rollersand nally dried. Due to the removal o thegrease and other undesirable elements, thescoured wool weighs nearly 30 percent lessthan it does in its raw orm. The bi-productso washing are puried to yield lanolin whichis used in a variety o products such as soap,ace and body cream, ointments, cosmeticsand other products. The yarn produced aterscouring is usually made rom a blend obres. In order to ensure their proper mixing,the bres are oten blended once beorescouring and again aterwards in large,15-ton bins.

43Grang

Fleeces are categorised or graded into qualityand type using a set o special criteria suchas colour, length and strength o the staple,or the naturally ormed clusters o woolbres. Grading is one o the oldest survivingtrades in the textile industry. During a ve-year apprenticeship, graders are taught tocategorise raw wool based on sight andtouch. Once graded, the wool is compressedinto tight bales rom which samples aretaken or scientic laboratory testing. Thetest results are compared with internationalstandards or bre thickness measured inmicrons, colour and the amount o greaseand vegetable matter. Providing potentialbuyers with product inormation and veriyingthe test results, a certicate is available oreach lot oered or sale.

i m A G e c r e A t e d b y G m c / b e n b i S S e t t

Most knitters have a stash o balls, hanks and skeins o gorgeous yarns – many o them wool.Yet ew o us actually have the opportunity to see how our treasured yarns are made. Here isan insider look at how one o world’s avourite bres is transormed rom sheep to skein.By

br breu

chevo sheep fro Souh Solan