I am pretty excited about this news!
I have manged to get hold of some beautiful Tasmanian English Leicester lamb locks from one of our oldest English Leicester studs!
Melton Park English Leicester Stud is a very special place in Tasmania. Anne Heazlewood cares for her English Leicester sheep on the Heazlewood property where the breed has been raised for over 150 years. In fact, the property has been breeding English Leicester sheep since 1854!
At the moment I only have the Lamb Locks hand dyed in packs. I will be dyeing some up more in rainbow colours to add texture to my art yarns.
I will be taking some of these packs to the Bothwell International Spin in on the first weekend of March in Bothwell Tasmania.
FLEECE AND FIBRE
English Leicester fleece is highly prized for its lustre and length. On the animal, the fleece grows dense and free. The lock is a medium width showing a small, well defined wave or crimp from the skin to the tip. The staple length on an adult is long, can be around 250mm (10 inches). The fibre range is generally 32-38 microns (40s-46s).
For hand spinners and weavers the wool is superior for length, soft handle and dye acceptance. Wool from the fine end of the scale is most suitable for lace knitting, with the stronger wool's used for outer garment knitting and crochet, hand woven wall hangings, rugs, and craft work. Selected fleeces are used to make dolls' wigs and dye perfectly in natural hair colours.