>>>> 1: Does the thickness of the wool matter? As in, I just bought a 82% Lambswool, 8% Cashmere jumper from a charity shop for £10 (Sooooo comfy
). Its thin, but tightly woven. Will the weave make up for the thickness? Should I be looking for thicker as a standard?
The weave, or knit, is very important. The thicker, denser the weave the better the wind resistance. Your lambswool/cashmere is perfect, it will be very warm. Thicker is not necessarily better, it depends on the wool, the weave is more important.
>>> 2: Does the type of wool matter? Apart from fineness of the fibres, is there any thermal difference between lambs, alpaca, new, or standard wool? Or any of the various types out there? Can I buy one type and expect just the same performance?
Types of wool are important, different purposes ... the fineness and length of the fibres makes quite a difference to the warmth, how comfortable it is, how hardwearing it is. It's best to have a look through the info below and choose, say, Herdwick outer socks over shetland or mohair inner socks for instance; think the same way with hats, jumpers, etc. Woven cloth is different to knitted as well, different purposes and good points. Wool is different to mohair and cashmere which are hair from goats instead of sheep. Wool is fire resistant too. Alpaca is different again and similar tto mohair. Merino wool is vastly publicised as being the best thing since sliced cat-food but that's much of a marketing ploy from the firms selling the kit. It is good stuff, but not for everything. Mixing natural fibres with synthetic can be useful but don't go for more than 10% of synthetic or you lose the good of the wool.
I know I put this up somewhere last year but can't find it, so here it is again ...
Wool Types
Merino 18.5-25.5 microns so it is the finest wool in terms of strand thickness, 75-80mm length of staple (i.e. each strand length). Good for thin garments like underwear, delicate jumpers and machine knitting. Often from South Africa
Blue Faced Leicester 26 Micron so very fine, 85-90mm and medium long. Good lustre with good resilience and highly prized for its likeness to mohair.
Shetland 29-31mic thickness so thicker than Merino, 90mm staple so longer than merino: fine, soft and silky to the touch with a good, bulky down characteristic, has good lustre. Good for
anything, jumpers, vests, socks, gloves, can be knitted very fine or thicker for gloves and socks, outer garments.
Welsh 31-35 microns so thicker than both Merino & Shetland, 80-100mm so longer than both Shetland and Merino. The only pure black sheep in the UK. I find it works best for socks and jumpers.
Jacob 33-35 Micron so fairly thick, 85-95mm so short. Rough, tough stuff, good welly-socks. It’s not as “carpet” as Herdwick!
Icelandic 34-36 Micron so thicker than all the above, 90-100mm so similar to welsh in length. Good lustre, one of the best felting wools in the world; lightweight, water repellent and breathable. Good for outer garments.
Herdwick 40 microns so thick, 85-90mm so short. A coarse quality hard wearing wool commonly known as “carpet sheep”. It makes great boot socks that are really hardwearing – even my husband doesn’t get through the heels !!!
Teeswater 40-60microns so very thick, 150-300mm staple so
very long, it’s also curly and lustrous. It’s long length makes it much nicer to the touch than Herdwick although it’s thicker. Makes good thick wool for tough outer garments.
Cheviot 30-35microns so about as thick as Welsh and similar in length, 80-100mm. The fleece varies in quality from fine to coarse, not too crimpy and quite resilient, so good for filling purposes, like cushions.
Devon 40-60microns so quite thick but very long at 200-250mm. It’s very heavy wool, good for felting and excellent for knitwear and woven fabrics.
Swaledale 35-45microns and length, 100-200mm. Predominantly used in carpet yarns and rug yarns due to its excellent resilience and hardwearing properties. Not tried it but I suspect it might make good boot socks too.
Wensleydale 40-50microns and 200-300mm long. It’s a lustrous long-wool, often blended with finer but shorter stapled wools, where a strong yarn is required.
Hebridean Micron count from 33-38. Staple length of 2-6 in/5-15cm but can be up to 9 inches. Their black or dark brown fleece ranges from fine to coarse, depending on age and turns gray as the sheep ages. The frizzy undercoat gives wonderful bounce and resilience to the wool. Came to Britain in the Bronze Age about 4000 years ago. A fleece weighs about 3-9 lbs/1.5-4 kg. Itt enables them to withstand the severest Atlantic storms!
). Its thin, but tightly woven. Will the weave make up for the thickness? Should I be looking for thicker as a standard?
