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Animal Fibres - sheep, alpaca, cashmere etc
The Wild Fibres website is about natural fibres from animals and plants and their use for weaving, spinning and dyeing.
It covers wool and hair from sheep and other mammals such as alpaca, goats and rabbits, and silk from insects, amongst others.
Sheep are the principal source of natural animal fibre and there are more than 200 breeds of sheep worldwide. Modern breeds of sheep may be descended from the Mouflon, possibly the Asiatic Mouflon (see OSU reference).
The largest number of breeds in one country is in Britain, around 65, and we shall consider these further on the sheep breeds page.
There is a substantial difference in origin and structure between wool or hair on the one hand and silk on the other. Therefore, silk is treated separately whilst recognising that silkworms and other insect or arthropod silk producers are animals...
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