Forget everything you thought you knew about wool and come learn with me as we look at a different sheep breed each month.   First of all, all yarn is not wool and all wool is not yarn. There are hundreds of sheep species and many cross breeds within those lines.  Each breed has special characteristics that can be pros or cons depending on how you look at them or what sort of project you may have in mind.  Not all wool is itchy!  There are very fine fleeces that anyone would love to wear next to their skin to coarse wools that may feel like barbed wire and everything in between.  Click on the pictures below for an in-depth study on each breed as well as samples spun, knit, woven and crocheted into a collection of woolly goodness. 

Fine Wool

Cormo

Medium/Down Wool

Black Welsh

Corriedale

Long Wool

Romney

Gotland

Picture
Image from: http://blog.ashlandbay.com/post/128019551845/gotland-year-of-the-sheep

Lincoln

Specialty Wool

Hair Sheep

Katahdin

Bibliography:
The Fleece & Fibre Sourcebook - Deb Robson & Carol Ekarius
In Sheep's Clothing - Nola Fournier & Jane Fournier
Pure Wool - Sue Blacker
The Field Guide to Fleece - Deb Robson & Carol Ekarius
The Spinner's Book of Fleece - Beth Smith