Fibre of the Month JUNE - Finn sheep / PIIKU

This month I am working with another of my Wonderwool Wales 'treasures'.. PIIKU.  Piiku is Finnwool..  reared, sheared, cleaned, carded and dyed on a family run farm in Finland.  

I brought mine from Felt in the Factory, unfortunately they don't have many details on the website, but they do carry the full range of beautifully dyed batts - which you can see here on the Piiku website.  If you're in the UK it's probably more cost effective to buy from FITF (postage from Finland pushes the price up) if you email Nina I'm sure she will be happy to sell you some :)

I love this picture!
This Finn ewe in the USA gave birth to 7 lambs.. aren't they all beautiful?!

Finnsheep landrace sheep are renowned for being prolific, it is common for them to have 3 or 4 lambs at a time.. with the record being 9 lambs born to a ewe in Finland.  

Their fleece is classed as medium grade, but it is fine and lustrous with a micron count between 24 & 31 and staple length between 3" & 6".  Colours; black, grey, white and brown, piebald & spotted.

Sampling

Finnwool Piiku sample

Laid out to the same size as previous samples (20cm x 20cm), with three layers of fibre and thoroughly felted to achieve maximum shrinkage.

Observations:

The layers peeled off easily and were nice and even.  This is such an easy felter it's unreal!  Very, very nice to work with.. the finished felt is strong and feels like it will be hard wearing, while still being soft to touch. It has a nice tight finish, very tactile.   

Findings:

Finished sample size: 13cm x 14cm

Weight: 9.3g

Shrinkage: 35% x 30%

I will definitely be using this again..  In fact I am planning to buy more batts in July when I shall be attending a workshop at Felt in the Factory.  (I'm making Lizards with Judit Pocs - I'm so excited!  I have been told there are a couple of places left if anyone is interested..)

Next time:  My Piiku project