Image ©Bellvalley
Introduction:
My first introduction to Blue Faced Leicester wool was in a wonderful class that I took at the Maine Spinner’s Weekend given by the Maine Spinners Registry in 1999. The class was taught by Karen Hoedtke and Diane Trussell, and was called “Three Bags Full.” We had 10 different samples of raw wool from 10 different sheep breeds. The purpose of the class was to experiment with different fiber preparation and spinning techniques and, afterwards, to share your thoughts with the other students and teachers. It was such a fabulous class. The funny thing is that when I went back to look at my notes – yes, I still have some of each of the raw wools and my samples – next to the Blue Faced Leicester entry, I found that I wrote “Awesome.” It is the only one of the 10 fleeces that I had written a note about but when I went on to read more of my notes on the BFL, the fleece actually had a break in it. But I still loved it! That is one special fiber.
I hope you will love this fiber from a very notable sheep breed. It is so soft yet has the luster that often attracts me to fibers. See if you can resist!
History of Breed:
Image ©Carol Bator
To really appreciate the Blue Faced Leicester’s origins, we will begin with a quick glance at typical and haphazard sheep breeding practices of the 18th century. It was common practice to keep all one’s sheep, regardless of sex or breed, together in one field. Of course, breeding happened at random. Whatever qualities came forth in the resulting lambs in regards to conformation, health, and wool were by chance. It must have made for some fun spinning and surprises.
A young man named Robert Bakewell changed all that. He revolutionized the way people approached agriculture. His ideas of irrigation and land management were quite extraordinary. But what matters most to us and our interest in the Blue Faced Leicester is his innovative technique of selective breeding where he kept the sexes apart and would choose which sheep he wanted to have mate to bring out desired traits in the lambs.
Robert Bakewell
His efforts began with bringing out the best qualities of the old Leicester longwool breed. He bred the sheep to develop a certain body type and flavor for mutton sales. At first, wool quality was disregarded as longwool sales were on the downward slide. His new breed of improved sheep was called many names including Bakewell Leicester, New Leicester, but mostly identified with the name Dishley Leiceseter in modern times. It is from this sheep breed that we get our Blue Faced Leicester.
Blue Faced Leicester sheep, also known as Hexham Leicester, BFL, or just Blues for short, developed in the early 1900’s in Northumberland England near the town of Hexham from which it gets one of its names. It was originally conceived as a cross breeding sheep to improve the carcass quality and increase lamb production of the hill breeds, a function of the BFL that is still widely used today. In fact, the Blue Faced Leicester is one of the most often crossed sheep in the UK. One of the marketable crosses to come from Blues is the North of England Mule where a BFL ram is bred with a Swaledale ewe. Mule wool is so popular that it makes up 20% of total commercial British wool.
The Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders Association of the UK was established in 1963 to create a definitive breed standard. Quality fleeces is an important part of the standard and is reflected in the wool’s high caliber.
Breed Characteristics:
Image ©Borough Farm
The Blue Faced Leicester is a hornless, broad muzzle sheep with a distinctive Roman nose. They hold their long ears straight up in a dignified manner. The bluish skin, which gave them their name, shows through the white hairs on their heads. BFL’s should have broad shoulders and be strong boned. BFL ewes are known for being wonderful mothers and prolific breeders. Luckily, their excellent wool qualities seem to be inherited by their lambs when cross-bred with other sheep breeds.
The Wool:
Blue Faced Leicester Wool, the stuff dreams are made of!
One Blue Faced Leicester adult will produce a fleece weighing about 2 – 4 ½ pounds. The locks should be tightly curled. Staple length is 3 – 6 inches long. The wool is semi-lustrous and is one of the finest wools of the UK breeds. Thus, it has a silky hand that is pleasing to the skin. Fiber diameter is 24-28 microns and a Bradford Count of 60s – 56s. BFL wool is perfect for any project that requires a smooth, silky yarn with a lustrous appearance. It truly is a fiber that has captured the heart of the handspinner. Will yours be next?
Resources:
BBC, Historic Figures: Robert Bakewell, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bakewell_robert.shtml, Retrieved on Jan 5, 2011.
Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders Association, Breed Description, http://www.blueleicester.co.uk/breed/breed.html, Retrieved on Jan 5, 2011.
British Wool Marketing Board, British Sheep Breeds: Their Wool and Its Uses, 1984, 84 pp
Dohner, Janet Vorwald, The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 2001
Dun, Kathryn, Beautiful Sheep: Portraits of Champion Breeds, 2008, Thomas Dunne Books, 112pp, ISBN-13: 978-0312385125
Fournier, Nola and Jane, S, In Sheep’s Clothing, A Handspinners Guide to Wool, 1995, Interweave Press, Loveland, CO, 222p, Hardback (ISBN 1-883010-11-X)
Henson, Elizabeth, British Sheep Breeds (Shire Book), 2009 8th Printing, Shire Publications Ltd., Buckinghamshire, UK, 32pp, ISBN: 978-0-8526-3779-1
Wikipedia, Robert Blakewell (agriculturalist), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bakewell_%28agriculturalist%29, Retrieved on Jan 5, 2011.