#soay isle

I swear to ram I was not going to go here - yet.

"Do all the normal, easy to find, consistent wool breeds," says I (in my Midwestern whine) - but no.

NO!

We are going to Scotland!

(Because this Tik Tok creator said the magic words, essentially forcing me to info dump to my fibery soc-med accts)

There is an archipelago off Scotland's western shores collectively called St Kilda with which I became obsessed after purchasing an antique spinning wheel from a local family with a story about a someone coming over from Glasgow. This ⬇️ antique wheel to be precise. Note the # of spokes.

Fourteen - 14 spokes - so then, some bludger on Ravelry said "Oh! Cool! Fourteen spokes means it's a St Kilda wheel (blah, blah, blah) lucky number 14 (blah, blah) photo of woman and spinning wheel."

And just like that, I spent two years researching a collection of Outer Hebrides islands and the ecology there of, including:

Soay sheep. (See, we got there)

A decade ago, all this was a mystery outside of Scotland - but in the years since my obsession peaked, there have been many well researched articles written about the time and place that made Soay an ancient breed to include on your breed study journey.

One of the two breeds particular to the isles of St Kilda - the Soay is a naturally shedding, short tailed, dual purpose breed. Specialty herds have been seeded off the islands that produced their rough, hearty genetics, and for this reason you can purchase Soay fiber for spinning.

That fiber is as diverse as the sheep from which it is pucked or rooed as it is called. Could be fine enough for a camisole or hard enough for cordage ties. Really. Who knows?

The staple is between 2 & 4 inches (5-10cm) and -when a raw fleece is carded- the mixed lengths make a stable yarn where the longer fibers capture the shorter. The gathered fleece needs to be evaluated tuft by tuft (if you are lucky enough to get your hands on feral Soay) or you can go to Etsy where the North American Soay hang out.

The fiber of Soay can be ultra fine or medium micro or kemp - it's all luck of the wildish genetics draw. And, although the wool dyes well, you will usually see it left natural because the range of browns are phenomenal.