Breed Study: Coopworth

You can find out a lot by using Google. Unfortunately, you can also find the holes in information online by using Google. Coopworth is a breed that I started out not knowing anything about. What's the heritage of the sheep? What kind of wool is it? What are good traits in a Coopworth sheep? What colors do they come in? 

Did you know that there are different Coopworth registry systems and standards? There's the Coopworth Society of New Zealand, the Coopworth Sheep Society of North America, and the American Coopworth Registry, and the Australian Coopworth standards... lots! And each one has their own ideas of what the breed traits are. Overall, the breed is known for high productivity. Coopworths can have different types of fiber depending on where they're from. Micron count ranges from 30 - 39. Some fleeces might be soft enough to be worn next to the skin for some people, while on the whole it isn't going to be as soft as Merino, BFL, or Cormo. Think harder wearing outerwear type garments for this sheep breed. 

Coopworth sample cards - carded waste on front card, combed top on back card

I began my Coopworth exploration by sampling. Standard staple length is 5 - 8 inches, which is a bit long for carding. I used a set of borrowed combs and combed all the fiber that I had. I started with about 200 grams of washed fleece. I combed and ended up with about 170 grams of combed top. That means that there was about 30 grams of combing waste. I feel like that's a pretty acceptable amount of waste! But, my exploration wasn't over! I decided to card the waste and see how much it changed the feel of the finished yarn from combed top to carded waste. 

carded waste on top, combed top on bottom

The yarn from the combed top is nice and smooth, while the yarn from the carded rolag is all hairy and has a few slubs. It isn't as slubby as I was expecting, but it definitely doesn't feel as nice. For a fiber that has a micron count between 30 and 39, I definitely prefer the yarn from the combed top. The prickle factor is much lower on the yarn from the combed top. 

In my sampling of the combed top, I wrapped a length of singles, a length of 2 ply, and a length of 3 ply around my little sample card. Based on my sampling I decided that I liked the 2 ply the best.

The fiber was a nicely bouncy fiber to comb. I loved the crimp in this bit of fleece, and thought that the fiber was both floofy and spongy at the same time. Spinning the fiber was a pleasure. I think that it would be a good beginner's fiber - there is definitely some toothiness to the fiber, but not enough that it is uncomfortable. I spun the singles with a moderate amount of twist, made a center pull ball, and plied it back on itself with a barely higher than necessary twist than the singles called for. I wanted to make sure that the yarn didn't get rough and ropy. 

I ended up with about 320 yards of heavy fingering/light sport weight yarn out of the 109 grams that I spun. I'll be sending 60 grams of combed top and 25 grams of carded waste rolags to one of my friends so she can experiment with Coopworth too! I can't wait to hear what she thinks of it.