Corriedale - You Know You Like It!

I feel like I may not be as faithful as I should be.  I have been referred to as the Longwools Avenger.  It's because there were too many times where I heard Longwools being talked about as only good for carpet and I just had to jump in and defend its honor.  I have also been on a campaign to have people stop talking about Down Type wools such as Dorset and Suffolk as meat sheep when their wool is wonderful and has great properties that are useful for many items because of its bounce and durability and resistance to felting.

Well, today I'm going to talk about a wool that I think may be taken for granted and when people are looking for a wool to use for a sweater or shawl or scarf, this wool is overlooked because it's not so sexy as something a little finer or exotic.

Today it's all about the Corriedale.  Many people think of Corriedale as a medium wool.  Medium wool gets overlooked a lot I think because medium makes us think of average or not special.  I generally put Corriedale into the fine wools category because of the crimp pattern but it's micron count is usually on the edge of the medium wools.

I know it's impossible to know how great these yarns feel, how bouncy they are and how squooshy they are but see if you can see it.

All of these were flicked and spun in different ways from the lock.  The washing method did not keep the locks arranged so there was a bit more waste than I like  while getting them all lined up for flicking.

 Those two were spun exactly the same but the top is 3 ply and the bottom is 2 ply.

 This sample is spun woolen from the lock to make this very plump and soft yarn.

This one was spun from the fold after flicking.  It is a bit smoother and doesn't have as much of a halo as the other so the cable pattern really shows nicely.

These yarns would be great next to skin and would also wear very well. The staple length is generally between 4 and 7 inches and the locks on this particular fleece were about 5 inches which is a nice length to get the ends tucked in enough to avoid pilling without so much twist to make the wool wirey.

Seriously, Corriedale is a very friendly wool.  Try it.