Sheep for fibre - What are the best breeds for knitting, felting, and stuffing wool?

I do wet felting, needle felting, knitting, and waldorf doll making and I'm interested in keeping sheep for my own source of wool - are there any breeds that produce wool suited to all these purposes?

I've heard Suffolk are good for making wool for stuffing dolls and pillows. Corriedale are good for spinning wool. I've heard lovely things about Icelandic and Shetland sheep, but there aren't any of them on this side of the world. What other breeds are good for fibre?

I'm spinning, dyeing and knitting Shropshire wool right now. It's short, which makes it a little tricky, but soft and nice. Doesn't felt but looks good for a blanket or even a sweater. The greenish knitted thing on the left is dyed with moss and apple cider, the reddish in the middle is with red onion and lemon acid, and a little bit of original white is on the spindle.

It's going to be tough to find a breed suited to diverse uses--different breeds were selected for different fleece characteristics to fit specialized uses, and people wanted consistency within most commercial breeds.

You may want to look at some of the heritage/landrace breeds that have keep more fleece diversity. My Shetlands have that (ranging from finer than Merino to almost Blue Faced Leicester in characteristics), and it's one of the reasons I chose them. Alternatively, you may want to think about a "spinner's flock" where you keep sheep from different breeds for specific purposes (so a Merino for a fine fleece, Blue Faces Leicester for a long lustrous coarser fleece, etc).

I am a huge fan of Polwarth, to be honest.  To be honest, Romney (especially any from older lines, as the newer lines aren't as good) is pretty close to all-purpose.  Finn, as well.  

I'd forgotten about Romney and Finn. And the need to look for older lines....

If you're buying sheep, ask the breeder about how they manage them. If they're raising their sheep, regardless of breed, in conditions with a lot of grain, human intervention at lambing, etc and your system is dramatically different that could be an issue since the sheep have been selected to work in their system and may not work in yours.

I've purposely selected for "survivability" in my flock: grass and hay with little grain, parasite resistance (sheep that need to be wormed often don't stay in the flock), easy lambing/good mothering, etc. I bought a few ewes several years back that physically had the characteristics I wanted (fleeces and conformation), but I ended up culling them and their offspring from the flock because they didn't have the survivability factor--the flock they came from fed a lot more grain, wormed all the time (so they weren't selecting for parasite resistance), and bottle fed lambs regularly (not the case here--it's really rare for one of my ewes to refuse a lamb even if it's a twin).

Oh, survivability. That is a key point!

Honestly, the ones I would buy are a crossbreed that a former teacher colleague has come up with. Sturdy, often twin, low incidence of hoof rot, gorgeous fleece with variable micron counts (and so many uses each fleece). That sounds like what you're looking for.

Carina, what you're describing sounds like my Shetlands :)

I'd add longevity to the list as well. Too many commercial breeds, at least around here, are no longer productive after 4-5 years. My senior Shetland ewe turns 11 this year, still has all of her teeth, is the fattest thing in the flock, and is due to lamb any day. While this will be her last lamb, I know that she will still give me lovely fleeces for the next 3-4 years. Ditto for my senior (turning 10!) ram, who will be retiring in the next year or so if his sons prove out.

Personally I'd rather raise a breed with this ability to have long, productive lives than something that has to be replaced more often. It means I'm picky about what I keep, but it also means I don't have to hold back as many potential replacement animals each year--or breed as often if the market for my culls dries up.

Shetlands can vary, but I have been blessed to work with gorgeous Shetland fleeces in the past. Gorgeous stuff! 😍

Carina, one of the nicest Shetland flocks that I know if is in Michigan. Windswept is the flock/farm name if I remember. Gorgeous sheep with great fleeces.

I'm partial the the longer and silky/luster type fleeces, though I keep a few of the down type and double coats in my flock for variety. And all colors--the brown/moorit and mid-grey fleeces seem to be what people like around here.

I know Windswept! Gorgeous fleeces, lovely people!

I haven't had the privilege of meeting the family that owns Windswept, but know them through their articles about Shetlands, and their reputation among other people who keep the breed. And from their sheep--one of the breeders here bought their foundation animals from Windswept and the quality blew me away. Saving my pennies to purchase sheep from them in a few years for my own flock.

Since I'm a total need when it comes to genetics and selective breeding programs, I think this sounds like a great project to develop a bloodline of stock with the traits that fit your needs. :D
Find animals which are really strong in one or more areas you desire, and linebreed to solidify the desired traits and eliminate the stuff you don't want. While it will be slow progress the first few generations as you cull out the undesirable traits, you'll eventually start seeing consistent results in the line as the herd's genetics become more homozygous, which will make it easier to see what things you feel you need to improve. Then its just a matter of bringing something new in that is strong in the area you are improving and repeating the linebreeding process to cull out introduced undesirable genes, while introducing/spreading the desired ones throughout the line.
Then its just "rinse and repeat" every few generations until you start consistently producing lambs which have all of the traits that are ideal for your situation. :)

Kc that's exactly what I've done with my line of Shetlands. I'm now at the point where most of the flock has the hardiness/survivability that I want to go with the conformation and fleece characteristics. Still working on horns on the rams, but that seems to be a sex-linked trait and sometimes it's tough to tell what the ewes are carrying it they're polled. I'm very selective about what I bring into the flock any more, because you're right that you can bring in traits you don't want to go with the good stuff that new animal brings in.

One caveat about close breeding" homozygosity means you'r concentrating both positive traits and deleterious traits, so you have to be willing to cull pretty stringently, which isn't the easiest thing to do. And the more traits you select for at once the slower going it will be to reach your goals.

I do think we've lost a lot of the "sustainability" characteristics from a lot of our breeds, because those are things that aren't really needed in high input/production agriculture. But for low input/sustainable systems we need those traits. I refuse to raise sheep, for instance, that need large amounts of grain to maintain body condition, and now have a flock that will fatten nicely on good pasture or hay. But that's my personal soapbox, and what works for my system....

I love hearing about all these awesome lineages.

As a true Permie I look to stack functions. Are any of these great for milk too, quantity/quality and lactating for a long time without freshening?

Thank you for your knowledgeable responses.

Stacking functions is a great way to put it. Shetlands were originally a multipurpose breed, primarily for fiber but they're fine boned (build like a dairy animal) and produce a lean carcass that's some of the best tasting lamb I've ever had (and that's from the ram that was 3 when we put him in the freezer because he was an idiot). I have a line of ewes that are very heavy milkers, though I've let them raise fat twins rather than stealing their milk for myself....

I really think when we talk about "best" breeds, we need to make sure that we define our production system and goals: fleeces from hardy sheep raised on grass with minimal intervention is my foremost goal here--meat or milk are byproducts. So Shetlands make sense for me, but they might not for the person on the next farm over, because their production goals and system might be quite different....

I raise Icelandic sheep and they are a hardy, triple-purpose heritage breed. They produce a highly versatile double fleece that can be combined through combing or carding. Or the 2 fleeces can be separated for endless variety. They come in a huge variety of patterns and colors.
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My ewes lactate for ~5 months and usually twin after their first year. Most Americans don't milk their sheep, but they used to be the primary dairy animal of Iceland. I make sure to always buy ewes with large udders with quality ligaments and good size forward-facing teats for hand milking, or their daughters.
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My potential breeding rams are the most scrutinized of all. They must have excellent fleece (soft, strong, long tog with decent curls); dense, soft and crimpy thel; thick, wide horns (though they also come in polled); good body structure and muscling; a mother and grandmothers with fantastic udders, and a calm temperament. I also bred for parasite and disease resistance, lambing ease, various colors and patterns, and friendly ewes.
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My goal is a small flock of well-rounded triple-purpose sheep. We eat most of our ram lambs and none of them are neutered. They taste amazing and are ready to harvest before breeding season. This breed also grows fleece so fast that you get 2 harvests of wool (spring and fall) every year.

Hi Jaden, and welcome to permies! Icelandic sheep are amazing, and I love the traditional sweaters that people make from their fleece... and that knitting seems to be popular also among Icelandic men, not only women :D
Do you live in Iceland?
I didn't know that people also milk these sheep! I still haven't tried sheep milk but I heard it tastes great.

Jaden, I'm interested in what you say about Icelandic being good milkers. We live where sheep are the prime agricultural product (mostly for meat), although don't keep them ourselves. I might be tempted by a triple purpose breed. Do you know if they tend to be good foragers too? Our grazings are poor moorlands, so a browser would do better. Most keep Blackface or Cheviot with a few Texel and Hebridean.

Jaden, your production goals sound similar to mine, just in a larger package.

For those not familiar with Shetlands and Icelandics, both are from a group of sheep known as northern short tailed (naturally short tails, so no need for docking which is another plus in my book). I can't speak for Icelandics as far as foraging ability, but in my experience with my Shetlands they are great at using marginal forages (think brush, brambles, unimproved pastures).

When I was deciding on which breed of sheep, I worked with some Icelandic samples and found them enjoyable to spin and knit. However, knowing that I would be the only person working with the flock and wanting to do finer yarns (think sport weight or finer), I opted for the Shetland instead which tends to have finer fibers and a smaller size (ewes run 75 pounds, rams around 100). But that's what works for me and my production goals, so for anyone thinking about sheep I'd recommend figuring out what you want to do with them (fleece? meat? milk? combination? pasture clean up?) and how you want your system to work (are you going to pasture? Feed grain? Lamb in January? Bottle feed?), then go and talk with as many breeders as possible and see what breeds fit your system.

Be aware, too, that if you're looking at sheep raised in a very different system from your planned one you may find the sheep have difficulty adjusting. Case in point: one of the Shetland breeders in my area raises gorgeous animals with an emphasis on fine fleece and unusual colors and patterns. However, this flock is also on a very heavy worming schedule (lots of commercial wormers in use) and receives fairly large amounts of grain daily year round. So, the selection pressure has been away from sheep with parasite resistance and foraging ability which means that they don't do as well in my more challenging conditions of pasture with little grain and less aggressive worming schedule. So when I add an animal from that flock to my own I have to watch carefully to make sure it adjusts and be prepared to cull its offspring if they don't have the "survivability" to do well in my system.

Hope this makes sense!

We've had Shetland and Icelandic sheep and we're now looking at Finns.  My fave wools to work with, though, have been Leicester and Corriedale and Peruvian Highland (which is a Corriedale cross).  I also love Angora (goat).  Our Icelandic and Shetland were excellent for felting.

If Corriedale didn't require so much maintenance here where we live, they'd be my top choice.  But we need super easy keepers and Finns seem to be a good fit.  Also, I love their triple purpose.

I love my sheep. I have Icelandics, Gotlands, Bluefaced Leicesters and Jacobs. I also raise alpaca, llama, and my sweet angora rabbits & angora goats (mohair). One of my favorite books is The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook: More Than 200 Fibers, from Animal to Spun Yarn https://a.co/d/i6t0Y20 which has an extensive list of fibers, origins, fiber pictures and more. My bible!

I also shear ruminants for others and love Shetlands

Romney, imho. Though I am biased, being a a Romney breeder. However I say that for the following reasons:
- staple length (4-9 inches, depending on if you shear once or twice a year)
- low grease (easy to clean compared to fine-wool breeds)
- easy to felt (compared to medium-wool breeds)
- great temperament and mothering abilities are part of the breed standard (American Romney Breed Association)
- 8-12 lb fleeces are common at shearing (raw weight)
- easy to spin (Romney wool is commonly referred to as amongst the easiest wool to spin, and can be spun woolen or worsted and is extremely versatile, though not as versatile as a primitive / double-coated (Shetland, Icelandic, etc) fleece).
- makes a gorgeous yarn from every put-up
- will make a next-to-skin soft yarn in the hands of a skilled spinner

I adore Shetlands and they’re the “sheep for all seasons”, but as noted elsewhere they’re very lean and if you would like a dual-purpose breed you won’t get much meat from them. But what you get will be tasty. Suggest you avoid feeding grain - stick to grass and hay, whatever breed you choose, and only worm when you see evidence of parasites and not “prophylactically”, and that you select animals from a management program with minimal inputs. You’ll have far fewer headaches, lower vet bills and hardier sheep!

Good luck!
Kelly Bell
Ovis Aries Farm
Mossyrock, WA

What does anyone think about cotswolds? I met a woman years ago who taught our daughters 4-H group about dry-needle felting. She showed us her flock of cotswolds and I thought they were adorable. She made amazing and colorful dolls and sculptures and felted ktems with their wool. Are certain fleeces better for wet vs dry felting? I’m new to this and really curious, thanks.

Kate, I wish I had a clue. Felting is kinda my jam, and I've learned a fair amount about the fleece available here - but... I haven't a clue what might be available, in Tasmania. However, if you can get an idea of what's available, maybe we/I can help you narrow it down?