gotland sheep courtesy of the British Gotland Sheep Society
Gotland fleece is dense long, lustrous and grey in shades from light silver to almost black. It has a clearly defined curl and staple. It has a soft handle. The grey is blend of black and white fibers:
- black and pure white look blue-grey
- black and off-white look brown-grey
- sometimes the tips with weather to a brown
gotland lamb by jimmyroq
Gotland grow the best fleece through summer and autumn. A winter shearing will produce the best fleece. The fleece grown during the winter and early spring is soft and fluffy but may have no pigment. Breeders often do a second clip in the spring to make way for new long wool growth. The curl is measurable and they use it as a means of grading the wool- Small: 5/6mm diameter; Medium: 7/8mm diameter: Large: 9/10mm diameter.
gotland lamb 2 days old by jimmyroq
The fleece is typically 29 to 34 microns in diameter. Lambs wool can be in the low to mid 20’s micron…..making this a medium wool. The fleeces weigh between 5-7 pds.
Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotland_sheep
http://www.americangotlandsheep.org/index.html
