Counting Sheep

[BroosterB1]

According to my dearest mother, who has been a spinner and a weaver for over 40 years, your answer is......it depends.

Depending on the size of thread, the tightness of the spin, and the weft and weave of the twill. But she did say a normal fleece (as judged by fleecing standards) should produce a similar weight in yardage of thread less waistage of 30-40%(plus loss of weight due to loss of lanolin so say 50% is usable weight). That said to weave thread into yardage the modifier is about 60 to 1 (ie 1 yard of fabric needs about 60 yards of warp). @ 16 oz per yard 9 yards = 148 oz. To get 148 oz of yardage from raw wool you need 433 oz of fleece or 25-30 lbs of raw fleece.

So, depending on how heavy your kilt is, will depend on how many fleeces (sheep) you are wearing. The question is what does a fleece weigh? the answer is...........5.8 pounds per sheep http://jas.fass.org/cgi/reprint/15/1/218.pdf. This means for your 16 oz 9 yard full dress tank you are wearing the product of about 6 sheep.

For one of McMurdo's 22 or 24 oz er's add another sheep or two.

No Baahther. Ewe(s) are welcome.