Starting the great British Breeds swatchalong with my favourite sheep - the smiling, hardy Herdy. I encounter them everywhere in the Lake District and they always make me smile.

Breed: Herwick
Category: Naturally Coloured
Brand: British Breeds
Form: 100g skein
Prepared: Worsted spun in Yorkshire

Skein Squish: Feels softer than what I expected, although it definitely has a rustic feel to it. It also seems to have a tiny bit of bounce.

What It Is Like to Knit With: It sheds as you knit, so you do end up with coarse hairs about one inch long on your clothing. There is also a slight sensation that is best described as very,very, mild rope burn - just a tingling in the hands, there was no actual redness on my fingers.

I have knit an 8 inch square in the round on 4mm needles. I’ve deliberately knit on smaller needles to form a denser material as I plan on knitting a pair of (hopefully) waterproof mittens with this Herdy wool. I used garter stitch for 16 rows, then alternated in each quadrant with stockinette, a simple YO, k2tog lace stitch, 1x1 rib and a 4 row cable. Used a stretchy bindoff then crocheted one row of single crochet around the whole square.

Breakability: Very strong, couldn’t break the strand with my fingers alone.

The unwashed swatch: It felt stable, strong, coarse to the touch but not unpleasantly. Due to the different stitches and subsequent gauges, there was a bit of curling and distortion, but I don’t put that down to the yarn.

I’ve soaked it in cold water with some Eucalan wash for half an hour and then have blocked it. I was surprised for an undyed yarn how much colour came off in the soak.

After the First Wash and Block: The swatch blocked nicely though started to curl again once I took the pins off. There wasn’t a noticeable change to the texture of the yarn.
I wore it against my hip for about 12 hours walking quite a bit at work. It did feel a bit itchy, but not so intensely that I couldn’t wear it all day. There was no redness or noticeable irritation on my skin afterwards. The swatch had flattened and softened where it had rubbed against my hip.

After Second Wash and Block to the same dimensions: A slight improvement in softness. It holds its shape better when taken off the pins. As far as stitches go, the stockinette looks great as does the 1 x1 rib. Garter isn’t quite as crisp as it could be. Due to the loose fibres in the yarn, I wouldn’t use this for cables or lace - the lack of definition doesn’t really warrant it.
I’ve not noticed any pilling and I’ve rubbed it quite vigourously.

Final Notes: Final swatch measures 9.25 inches x 9 inches. It feels sturdy, still smells sheepy and is still a bit hairy - not fuzzy from felting, but hairy from the loose fibres.
I think this is a really strong, sturdy wool, perfect for outer clothing like a coat, or workhorse socks, welly tops, and warm outer mittens. Its rustic look and strength would make it great for household knitting - I can see this being turned into rugs or crocheted into wonderful baskets (I plan to turn this swatch into a pot holder). I think it would be great to use in weaving as well. I definitely would knit with Herdy again - while it certainly is not the softest of yarns, it’s much less coarse than I originally thought it would be, and its strength is really impressive.