FLEECE TERMS A TO P

AFD: Average fibre diameter, a calculation of the average of the diameter of the fibres measured in a fleece sample, usually expressed in microns.

Bird’s Nest (hay mow): a portion of the fleece found at the base of the neck (and may extend along the backline of the animal) which often becomes highly contaminated with feed. It should be removed. Good compost material.

Blanket (saddle): prime quality fleece usually found from neck/shoulder through midsection, extending down past the halfway point on the sides of an animal and back until the fleece becomes coarse at or near the tail. Edges of the blanket are characterized by a change in the grade of the fleece. This area of prime fleece may vary greatly in size, depending on the fleece uniformity.

Blow: one pass or stroke of the shears.

Britch: coarse fleece, usually on the lower thigh of rear legs.

Broken Fleece: a fleece that has a very weak spot or actual break in the same area of each fibre. Likely caused by a health issue, lack of feed or severe stress.

Classing: grading and sorting fleeces into consistent groups or uniform lines of fibre using qualities such as micron, colour, hand, staple length and crimp.

Clip: the total amount of fleece harvested by a producer in one growing period (which is usually one year as fleece left longer will deteriorate significantly).

CV: Coefficient of variation, a calculation using SD and AFD, expressed in percentage. It represents uniformity of fibres in a fleece sample and is useful for comparing between samples. Fleece with a low CV is more uniform and usually spins better and finer than a fleece with a higher CV. Often, fleece with a low CV will have a better hand than fleece of similar AFD but with a high CV.

Comfort Factor: percentage of fibres under 30 microns. 30 microns is the diameter at which most people feel a poke from the end of the fibre. The higher the Comfort Factor, the less prickle or itch from the fleece. Very important.

Crimp: the degree of corrugation or regular wave found in locks of fleece. This can vary from an extremely tight crimp with many closely spaced corrugations to a lock that is completely straight with no wave or crimp whatsoever. The presence of crimp may give more elasticity to the fleece once it is processed into yarn and result in better performance of the yarn.

Crinkle: is related to crimp and describes the wavy characteristics of individual fibres as opposed those characteristics of crimp found in all fibres in each lock.

Dag: is a tag or lock of wool contaminated with manure.

Fineness: the diameter of an individual fibre, often measured in microns with extremely precise laboratory instruments. Genetics, nutrition, health, stress and age may affect this measure and it can change dramatically from year to year.

Follicle: the structure in the skin that produces the fibres. May be found in clusters or groups with each group producing a distinct lock of fibre.

Grid Sample: gives a good indication of the characteristics of the whole fleece; a large piece of mesh with 4" x 4" holes is placed on the shorn, skirted fleece. One lock is taken from each hole of the mesh to form the sample for testing.

Hand (handle): a subjective assessment of the quality of the feel of the fleece. Not quite the same as fineness. Fine fleece may also feel dry, brittle or harsh and so would have a poor hand. Fleece with a poor hand may be downgraded to a coarser micron category during classing.

Mean: average fibre diameter of the sample, usually expressed in microns.

Micron: a unit of measurement of diameter equal to 1/1000 of a millimeter.

Midside: a point approximately midway between the front and rear legs and just lower than halfway down the side of an animal.

Open Wool: is wool that is not densely grown and it may part down the back line along the spine. This may cause tenderness in the back wool and may not provide sufficient protection for the sheep in inclement weather. Not desirable.

Percentage of Fibres Over 30 Microns: a measure that is related to comfort. 30 microns is the diameter at which most people feel a poke from the end of the fibre. The higher this number, the more prickle or itch. Very important.

Plain Wool: wool with little crimp.

Primary Follicle: the structure in the skin that produces the main fibre in the cluster, often the fibre from a primary follicle has a larger diameter than the fibre from a secondary follicle.