Border Leicester Wool

Today I combed a small amount of some of my Border Leicester fleece that I got at the Maryland Sheep and  Wool Festival. Border Leicester is a breed in the luster longwool category of wools. The staple length is long and it has a nice luster. The staple length of my fleece is at least 6".

Here is washed lock from the fleece:

And here is some of the washed fleece:

 

 

I spun a small amount up into some laceweight yarn and knitted a small swatch of lace. I suspected that a Border Leicester lace yarn would have very good stitch definition, and it does:

 

 

 My little ball of two-ply yarn was about 15 yards long. I've only used a little bit of it on this swatch, which is about 2.5 inches long right now. I might be able to get a cuff-length piece of lace edging if I continue until the yarn runs out.

 

 I'm not sure if you can see the bit of luster in the yarn in this picture, the lighting came out funky, but I think you can see it on the lace in the background (click on the pic to see it larger):

 

 So I think I will definitely use a portion of my Border Leicester fleece to make laceweight yarn. I'll have to think about if and how to dye it.