Zwartble fleece - comparing young and older

This rare Dutch breed's fleece is a rich black and said to be great for felting and spinning. The wool looks quite brown in this picture, but you're seeing the sun-bleached ends. (all together... Aaahhhh).

I'm lucky enough to have been sent samples and can compare spinning fleece from a year-old ram with some from an older ewe.

The young fleece is very consistent in colour - inky-black (with bleached tips of course). It's very 'zingy' - crimpy and bouncy

The older fleece is less crimpy and isn't quite so black. It's a little more brown with a few silver threads in it (like me).


Surprisingly I enjoyed spinning the older fleece a little better. The fibres were longer and they were also 'tamer' and so the result has a little less of a halo. It may not end up as bouncy as the younger fibre, and not quite as black but it's no more coarse and I think I prefer the resulting yarn.


The two sample skeins are soaking now, which I hope will plump them up a bit. When they're dry in a day or two I'll compare them again and update this post.

[Update]

These are the finished sample skeins - the younger on the left and the older on the right.