Faroe Island Wool Top

About the Fibre

Staple length: 90-100mm. Micron count 34-36

Medium-Coarse

A textured wool with colour depth, suitable for spinning, felting, and fibre arts. 

Each bag contains 100g of roving.

About the Breed

The Faroe Island sheep is a short-tailed northern European breed. They are most closely related to the Norwegian and Icelandic sheep. They have a double-layer coat with an inner, softer, lanolin-rich layer and an outer, durable layer (similar to the Icelandic coat).

Rams are horned and ewes are polled (unhorned). Having developed in a landscape without natural predators, Faroese sheep have less flocking instinct than  many other breeds, and spend their days roaming their rugged grazing grounds.

Introduced in the 9th centure, Faroese sheep have held an important part in island traditions and commerce. The saying "wool is Faroese gold" originates from the time when wool was the leading economic factor.

The sheep are now kept mainly for meat, with the wool in declining demand.

Photo by Arne List from Kiel, Germany - Porkeri, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6868912