Hand Knitting with designer Ryeland wool yarn from our own flock of coloured Ryeland Sheep reared here at Low Sutton, Masham.The fleeces are professionally spun in Yorkshire, some of the yarn is left in its natural state and some is hand-dyed using purely natural dyes. Available to purchase as yarn, knitting kits or finished garments.

Breed history

The Ryeland is a short woolled sheep originating from Herefordshire having a fine downs type wool with a short staple of 8-10cm in length and a fleece weight of approx 2-3kgs.Believed to have acquired its name from the fields of Rye stubble on which they were traditionally grazed the Ryeland was one of three main breeds of sheep in the Middle Ages providing Europes finest wools from England. The other two breeds being Cotswold and Lincoln, however the Ryeland was the most famous of the short woolled breeds.The Leominster Benedictine priory kept large flocks on its granges and Lemster Ore the golden fleece of England was the term used to describe the valuable short staple wool produced by its Ryeland sheep. In 1193, Leominster Priory gave the years wool to help pay for the release of crusading Richard the Lion Heart. Queen Elizabeth was given Lemster wool stockings and liked them so much that she insisted only on Lemster Ryeland wool.

What is wool?

Wool is a fibre derived from the fur of animals of the Caprinae family sheep and goats, especially sheep. Unlike silk, it is formed of the protein keratin and it has two qualities that distinguish it from hair or from fur: it has scales that overlap like tiles on a roof and it is crimped (the natural wave of wool fibre).The tiny overlapping wool fibre scales allow the wool fibres to repel rain and spilled liquid with ease. The natural crimp helps the fibres to retain their shape and wool fibres can be stretched and then readily bounce back into shape.

Bradford count

Bradford or English Spinning Count System is the number of hanks of yarn, each of 560 yards in length that can be spun from one pound of clean wool. The finer the fibre is, the more hanks that can be obtained from one pound of wool. The higher the number, the finer the wool, example being that Merino is in the range of 60-80 and Lincoln in the range of 36-40. Therefore 80 is finer than 36 making the Ryeland at 56-58 a relatively fine fibre.

Micron

A micron is the modern measurement used for the diameter of wool fibres and is equal to one thousandth of a millimetre. Fleeces contain a wide range of fibre diameters and therefore a small sample is taken from the fleece of the sheep to calculate the average diameter of the fibres. The lower the value of microns the finer fibres are. Merino is typically 18-24 microns whilst Lincolns range from 36-40. Again the Ryeland at 25-28 is somewhere in the middle.