You'll love this soft 100% wool cap from Scotland. Perfect for your winter wardrobe or for the perfect holiday gift. Strathtay has been making knitwear for the fishermen of Scotland for generations and are one of the few true 'cottage' knitters still around today . The hand-knit cap perfectly showcases their expertise, always made from 100% Wool to an exceptionally high level. -------- About Blue Faced Leicester Wool Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) is an English long wool breed sheep with a light blue face, developed from the Leicester area in the early 20th century. According to the BFL Breeders Association, their fiber is 24-28 microns, up to 6″ staple length. So not quite as fine as Merino and an inch or two longer, which is why it gets that “Easy to spin!” label attached to it so often. Long wool sheep breeds are known for long, curly, lustrous fibre. As you can see it the photo, while the Merino is fluffy the BFL has ringlets. The BFL is plenty soft enough for next-to-skin wear. Because of their curly locks, BFL wool doesn’t have the same super crimp as Merino. This means yarn spun from it is a bit less elastic, less fluffy, with less memory. But it’s got two things that Merino doesn’t – drape and shine. Drape is kind of the opposite to memory. Instead of springing back into place, it hangs where it’s put. Think of . . . a ragdoll cat vs. a hyperactive kitten. So a shawl sweater made of BFL will drape over your shoulders and elegantly stay put. It doesn’t have a mind of its own. The shine is a bonus feature. It’s terribly scientific, which is something I’m not good at, but basically all the crimpiness of the Merino refracts light all around every which way, and the smoother BFL doesn’t so the wearer is illuminated by the BFL wool. Merino: Super fine and crimpy. Very very soft, not very strong. Shorter than average staple length. Fluffy and warm. Blue Faced Leicester Wool: Quite fine, more curly than crimpy. Very soft, stronger than Merino..
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