Script for

Episode 153:

Getting to Know the Fine Wools

Hello, my friends. Welcome to Episode 9 of the Sheepspot Podcast. I'm Sasha. I'm a spinner, spinning teacher, and a dyer, and my fiber company, Sheepspot, offers hand dyed wool and the information and support you need to make those fibers into beautiful yarns. 

Today, I'm really excited because we're going to be talking about one of my absolutely favorite wools, Rambouillets. And I want to first start off by talking about just the history of the Rambouillet breed of sheep. And it's... I think this is one of the reasons I love the breed so much. They have a very romantic kind of backstory. So Rambouillets are descended from a group of about 350 Spanish merinos that were purchased by Louis XVI from his cousin, Charles III of Spain in 1786. 

And at that point, the quality of marina wool, merinos only existed in Spain, and the quality of merino wool allowed the Spanish to completely dominate the international wool trade. And so the Spanish government prohibited the export of marina sheep to any other country. Somehow though, and I have read suggestions that perhaps flattery was involved, Louis managed to prevail on Charles, who was actually his cousin. I think I've said that already. Louis managed to prevail on Charles to lift this longstanding prohibition against exporting merinos. 

And so 318 ewes, 41 rams, and seven weathers went to live at the Royal farm, just out of Paris. And there they were crossbred with long wool sheep from England. So Rambouillet staple length is typically a bit longer than merinos, but they are still, their fleeces are still very fine. So they really kind of have the best of both worlds in terms of a somewhat longer staple, but really, really fine fiber. So typically, Rambouillets are very fine. Rambouillet fiber ranges from 18 to 24 microns, so it's right there in that merino range. 

Continuing on with my history though, in 1840 Rambouillets were first sent to the United States and they quickly spread throughout North America. They are very hardy sheep. They can survive on a vast variety of kinds of qualities of forage and they do very well on the western ranges of North America, so both in the US and Canada. 

And one of the reasons they do so well is that they have a very strong flocking instinct which protects them from predators because they like to sleep all kind of bunched up together. And so they're, in that sense, it's harder for predators to kind of pick them off than it is with sheep that are more isolated when they're asleep. Nowadays, you can find Rambouillets being raised successfully all over North America. There is actually a flock about 30 minutes north of me here in southwestern Ontario, but they're very popular among ranchers in the west. 

And they are considered a dual-purpose breed, so they produce both meat and very high-quality wool. And they can live on a variety of feed and in a very wide range of temperatures. They're also naturally resistant to parasites. They are actually the largest of the fine wool sheep, with the rams topping out between 250 and 300 pounds, while mature yews range from 200 to 275 pounds. The average yew will have one to two lambs in each lambing period, and some actually lamb more than once a year. 

So for all these reasons, they're very attractive to shepherds. The yews have a very strong maternal instinct, and they're good milkers. And despite their size, ramblades are pretty easy to handle in part due to their strong flocking instinct. Their fleeces can range between 8 and 18 luscious pounds, with a wash yield of 35 to 55 percent. So they're quite greasy fleeces. They're staple lengths range from 2 to 4 inches. And as I said, the micron count is from 18 to 24. 

The locks are square and rectangular. Sorry. They're not square and rectangular. They're square. They're flat tipped so that all the fibers in the lock tend to be the same length. And they're very dense. They have a well-defined cramp, although not as sort of crisply defined as merino. And this is absolutely a fiber that you can wear next to your skin. The wool qualities of Rambouillets have made them attractive to breeders seeking to develop other dual-purpose sheep. 

So we can find Rambouillets genetics in lots of other breeds. They've been crossed with Dichly-Luster's to develop the Ile de France in France, with Lincoln's to develop the Columbia and Panama breeds, with Romney's to produce Rommeydale CVMs, and with Quarrydale and Lincoln to produce the Targhee, which is my other favorite fine wool breed. 

In terms of spinning Rambouillet, Rambouillet is a really lovely fine wool that's not only next to skin soft, but it has a beautiful character and bounce. So unlike Merino, which can be temperamental to spin on one hand or kind of limp and boring on the other, Rambouillet is both a fairly cooperative spin, and it always has a real presence to it that makes Rambouillet yarns plump, elastic, and in my view, generally delightful. 

In other words, it's interesting to work with, but in a good way, it's easy to draft because the fibers like to stick together a bit. They like to bring their friends to the twist party, and it's just a delightful wool. 

So if you're starting with a fleece, wash thoroughly because this wool has lots of grease, and if you're carding, do so gently. Use as few passes as possible, or you may want to comb it or flick card it. It works really well with any of those prep methods. When you're spinning commercially prepped fiber or regardless, whether you're spinning commercially prepped fiber or fiber you spun yourself, spin your singles a bit finer than you think you want them because Rambouillet yarns plump up quite a bit when they're washed. 

This is particularly the case if you get the fiber prepped as comb top and the fiber has been steamed on its way through the top machine, which takes out, which kind of flattens out the crimp. So when that fiber hits water again, it's going to plump up a lot. So always sampling is your friend. Spin a bit in different ways with different amounts of twists, different diameters. Make sure you wash your samples. That's crucial because they're going to change in the wash and then knit some swatches to make sure that the yarn you dream of is actually the yarn that you're getting. 

In my experience, Rambouillet is a happy spun, either worsted or woolen. And if you haven't tried it... do make a point to spin some as soon as you can. I promise that you will love it. That is it for me this week. 

Thank you so much for listening. Join us next week when I'll have some tips for spinning more consistent singles. And if this episode has left you dying to spin some Ramble-A, there is quite a bit available at the moment. 

11 colorways worth in my shop at sheepspot.com. So head over there and check it out. Pick some up for yourself. It is a truly joyful spinning experience. Be well my friends and I'll see you next week.