The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook: More Than 200 Fibers, from Animal to Spun Yarn

by Carol Ekarius, Deborah Robson

Overview

This one-of-a-kind encyclopedia shines a spotlight on more than 200 animals and their wondrous fleece. Profiling a worldwide array of fiber-producers that includes northern Africa’s dromedary camel, the Navajo churro, and the Tasmanian merino, Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson include photographs of each animal’s fleece at every stage of the handcrafting process, from raw to cleaned, spun, and woven. The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook is an artist’s handbook, travel guide, and spinning enthusiast’s ultimate reference source all in one. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603427111
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	06/01/2011
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	122,045
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 10.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Carol Ekarius is the coauthor of The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook, The Field Guide to Fleece, and Storey’s Guide to Raising Sheep, and the author of several books including Small-Scale Livestock Farming, Storey’s Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds, and Storey’s Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle, and Pigs. She lives in the mountains of Colorado.
 

Deborah Robson is co-author of The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook and Knitting in the Old Way. She is a former editor of both Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot and Spin-Off magazine, and she is currently the editor and publisher of Nomad Press, which publishes books on traditional and ethnic knitting and spinning. Robson is also an artist, working in textiles, printmaking, and oils. She lives in Colorado with her daughter.

Table of Contents

Part 1  Sheep: Oodles and Boodles of Wool

Blackfaced Mountain Family
Dalesbred
Derbyshire Gritstone
Lonk
Rough Fell
Scottish Blackface
Swalesdale

Cheviot Family
Cheviot
Brecknock Hill and American Miniature Cheviot
North Country Cheviot

Dorset Group
Dorset Horn and Polled Dorset

Down Family
Southdown
Dorset Down
Hampshire
Oxford
Shropshire
Suffolk

English Longwool Family
Bluefaced Leicester
Border Leicester
Leicester Longwool
Cotswold
The Dartmoors: Greyface and Whiteface
Devon and Cornwall Longwool
Lincoln Longwool
Romney
Teeswater
Wensleydale

Feral Group
Gulf Coast Native
Hog Island
New Zealand Ferals
Santa Cruz

Merino Family
Merino: Booroola, Est a Laine, Fonthill, Peppin, Poll, South Australian, Tasmanian, Type A, and Type B Merino
Debouillet
Delaine Merino
Saxon and Sharlea Merino
Rambouillet

Northern European Short-Tailed Family
Boreray
Castlemilk Moorit
Finnsheep
Gotland
Hebridean
Icelandic
Manx Loaghtan
North Ronaldsay
Ouessant
Romanov
Shetland
Soay

Welsh Hill and Mountain Family
Badger Face Welsh Mountain
Balwen Welsh Mountain
Beulah Speckled Face
Black Welsh Mountain
Hill Radnor
Kerry Hill
Llanwenog
Lleyn
Welsh Hill Speckled Face
Welsh Mountain and South Wales Mountain

Other Sheep Breeds
American Tunis
Bleu du Maine
British Milk Sheep
California Red
Charollais
Clun Forest
Colbred
Columbia and Panama
Coopworth
Cormo
Corriedale and Bond
Devon Closewool
East Friesian
Exmoor Horn
Galway
Gromark
Herdwick
Ile-de-France
Jacob
Karakul
Montadale
Navajo Churro
Norfolk Horn
Perendale
Polwarth
Polypay
Portland
Romeldale and CVM
Rouge de l'Ouest
Ryeland
Targhee
Texel
Whitefaced Woodland
Zwartbles

Wider Circles of Sheep
The Arcotts: Canadian, Outaouais, and Rideau
Dala
Faroese
Gute
Pellsau
Racka
Roslag
Rya
Rygya
Spelsau
Steigar
Svardsjo
Swedish Finewool
Mashams, Mules, and Other Crosses

Part 2   Other Species: The Rest of the Menagerie

Goats
Mohair
Cashmere

The Goat Crosses
Cashgora
Pygora
PCA
Pycazz
Nigora

Camelids
Alpaca
Llama
Guanaco
Vicuna
Bactrian Camel
Dromedary Camel

Other Critters
Bison
Dog, Wolf, and Cat
Fur and Pelt Animals
Horse
Musk Ox
Rabbit: English, French, German, Giant, and Satin Angora Rabbit
Yak

Editorial Reviews

"Every once in a while there is a book that lives up to it’s hype. Only once in a blue moon are we lucky enough to get a book that surpasses all the stories that have led up to it. The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook is a blue moon book. The spinning world has been buzzing about this book for years, and Deb Robson has been kind enough to share writing the process on her blog, but that still didn’t prepare me for the completeness of the book.

The sheer complexity of the subject made clear, useful and not just interesting, but fascinating. More than 200 animal fibers and breeds laid out and dissected by an animal expert and a spinning expert jump off of the page in concise prose that speaks to the history of the breed; fleece, fiber and lock characteristics; using the fiber in dyeing, spinning, knitting and weaving. The photography is crisp enough to count crimps and shows fiber as washed and unwashed; prepped and spun, and sometimes knit or woven. The authors manage to do all of this using 2-4 pages per breed.

Spinners (and knitters) this is the book you’ve been asking for: more photos and breeds than In Sheep’s Clothing and more sheepy and animal goodness than The Knitter's Book of Wool. A labor of sheepy love and a stellar book."—Library Journal

This is an excellent resource for fiber artists curious about different types of animal fibers and how best to use them.—Vogue Knitting

Two experts, one a farmer and livestock guru, the other a fiber magazine editor, join brains to produce this resource for yarn crafters. Far from drab and dreary, Robson and Ekarius enliven the pictures and descriptions of about 200 breeds of sheep, inserting critical information and fun facts. Well written and researched, a reference for all ages.
Starred review—Craftzine

Not only is this a library essential for yarn users who take their wool, alpaca, llama, cashmere and yak seriously; it’s also an important text for those involved in the husbandry of our four-legged fiber friends. If we want to preserve our “heirloom” fibers, we need to know their names.—Interweave Knits

A reference you'll return to again and again as you grow as a fiber artist.

A comprehensive manual for the wool aficionado. Packed with photos and detailed fiber properties, it covers every breed of sheep you are likely to encounter and then some.

From the Publisher

This is an excellent resource for fiber artists curious about different types of animal fibers and how best to use them.

Vogue Knitting

Two experts, one a farmer and livestock guru, the other a fiber magazine editor, join brains to produce this resource for yarn crafters. Far from drab and dreary, Robson and Ekarius enliven the pictures and descriptions of about 200 breeds of sheep, inserting critical information and fun facts. Well written and researched, a reference for all ages.
Starred review

Craftzine

Not only is this a library essential for yarn users who take their wool, alpaca, llama, cashmere and yak seriously; it’s also an important text for those involved in the husbandry of our four-legged fiber friends. If we want to preserve our “heirloom” fibers, we need to know their names.

Interweave Knits

Two experts, one a farmer and livestock guru, the other a fiber magazine editor, join brains to produce this resource for yarn crafters. Far from drab and dreary, Robson and Ekarius enliven the pictures and descriptions of about 200 breeds of sheep, inserting critical information and fun facts. Well written and researched, a reference for all ages.
Starred review

Booklist

"Every once in a while there is a book that lives up to it’s hype. Only once in a blue moon are we lucky enough to get a book that surpasses all the stories that have led up to it. The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook is a blue moon book. The spinning world has been buzzing about this book for years, and Deb Robson has been kind enough to share writing the process on her blog, but that still didn’t prepare me for the completeness of the book.

The sheer complexity of the subject made clear, useful and not just interesting, but fascinating. More than 200 animal fibers and breeds laid out and dissected by an animal expert and a spinning expert jump off of the page in concise prose that speaks to the history of the breed; fleece, fiber and lock characteristics; using the fiber in dyeing, spinning, knitting and weaving. The photography is crisp enough to count crimps and shows fiber as washed and unwashed; prepped and spun, and sometimes knit or woven. The authors manage to do all of this using 2-4 pages per breed.

Spinners (and knitters) this is the book you’ve been asking for: more photos and breeds than In Sheep’s Clothing and more sheepy and animal goodness than The Knitter's Book of Wool. A labor of sheepy love and a stellar book."

Knitty.com

In this extensive volume, experienced fiber artist Robson and livestock and farming expert Ekarius introduce fiber artists to the variety of wool-producing animals. The focus is on sheep breeds and sheep's wool, but there's also a section on other animals from angora rabbits and household cats and dogs to musk oxen, yaks, and bison. Full-color photographs of each animal and its fiber, along with a breed history and specifications and suggested uses for the fiber, are included. This is an excellent resource for fiber artists curious about different types of animal fibers and how best to use them.

Library Journal