Quote Originally Posted by Steve Ashton View Post
Wow, you have really opened a BIG can of worms with this.
Never mind the fact that there are many breeds of sheep with many different types of wool... some of it has a quite long staple, some quite short; some is very crimpy and some is hardly crimpy at all; some is very fine in the size of the individual "hair" and some is more coarse... there's a can of worms just in keeping to sheep's wool!

Then it comes down to how it's spun. Just a difference in the preparation and spinning method can make a difference whether you get a "harder" worsted yarn or a "softer" woolen yarn, and there are so many nuances in a whole spectrum of types of yarn...