Felting Southdown Wool
I am starting a new series of blog posts focusing on needle felting with different types of wool. We raise Romney, Blue Faced Leicester and Wensleydale at Bear Creek but I thought it would be fun to try out many different breeds. I often get asked what my favorite wool to use for needle felting is. To be able to answer that as honestly as possible I need to try them all. 🙂 I have started on this adventure by purchasing a variety pack of wool from Woolgatherings on Etsy. I would love to try as many breeds as possible. Also, if you would like to felt along with me using these different breeds of wool I would love to see and share your pictures and thoughts. Felt along with me on Instagram @prairieshepherd and Facebook.
Southdown Wool
I didn’t know what breed to start with, so I stuck my hand in the bag of wool and decided to go with the one I grabbed first. I have to admit I didn’t know much about Southdown sheep up to this point. I learned quite a bit about the wool and sheep in the Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook by Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius. If you have ever been to a county or state fair in the US you will be familiar with Suffolk and Hampshire sheep. The Southdown is in the Down family of sheep with the Suffolk and Hampshire breeds. The Down wools have a shorter staple length of 2-4 inches generally. Down breeds have colored faces and legs and are primarily raised for meat. The Southdown is the breed from which all the other down breeds were developed. Today there are different types of Southdown sheep one is a the medium sized pictured here in this post. There is a much smaller type called Babydoll Southdown and there is also a Toy Southdown that is less than 24 inches tall. The Standard Southdown is raised mainly for meat and the smaller Babydoll and Toy Southdown’s are raised as pets and for their fiber. I think they are adorable sheep and are known for their affectionate dispositions. They resemble my Romney sheep in many ways. In fact I have been at art shows displaying pictures of my Romney’s when I am told that they look like Babydoll sheep.
Felting Southdown Wool
This was my first experience needle felting Southdown wool. I found the wool to be very springy to the touch, not extremely soft and not much luster. I liked the creamy/off white color of the wool.
I am a spinner as well and had some of the wool left over, so I decided to spin it into yarn. It spun easily, not as smoothly and quickly as others I have used but it definitely was a pleasant experience for me. The yarn on the other hand feels course, not something I would want to knit into a sweater. Although I didn’t get a chance to dye any, I have read that Southdown dyes easily. We need to remember that every fleece of the same breed is different and I only used a 1 ounce piece of roving for this assessment.
I give Southdown wool a rating of 7 on a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the best.
The pictures of the Southdown sheep are used with permission from Wolfhanger Southdowns.
Look for more upcoming posts on felting with different breeds of wool.
- Icelandic – 6
- Jacob – 3
- Blue Faced Leicester – 6
- Corriedale – 7
- Southdown – 7
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Have you ever felted with Valais Blacknose wool?
No I have not, but can’t wait to try it someday.
What a fun post! I’m a needle-felter looking to start raising some sheep. I do love the Southdowns’ temperament and look, glad to hear their wool is good, I think they’ll stay in the running for now! Thanks for the great post!
I’d love to know what you think of Finnsheep wool if you’ve tried it.
Hi Lita,
I haven’t tried Finnsheep wool yet, but definitely plan on giving it a try and adding it to the series in the future.
I finished the sheep I bought from you late in 2017. He came out great and I am very happy with the results. The kit was everything and more than enough wool. Thanks so much!
Happy to hear you enjoyed the kit and making the sheep! What’s your next project?
wondering what your rating scale was for this one.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I forgot that I didn’t rate this wool because it was my first post in the series and didn’t have a rating scale set up when I wrote it. I fixed it, gave it a rating and even put together a comparison scale with the other breeds.
Thanks!
I am looking forward to see what you think of other breeds. We raise rambouillets. If you don’t have any I would be glad to send you some.
Hi Susan,
I just dug through my wool and did not come up with any Rambouillet. I would love to try felting with Rambouillet, if you would like to send me some that would be awesome!