Shearing and Knitting

An extract from the book 40 Humourous British Traditions

Wales has a glorious tradition of producing garments made from wool and the fur of other animals such as weasels and badgers. These animals became particularly important during the great sheep blight of the 1710s, when the wool of the sheep became unusable for clothing because the lanolin content was almost nil.

However, there were a number of problems using weasels and badgers as substitutes. The first was that weasels and badgers are wild animals and are hard to catch humanely. Secondly, they are rather attached to their coats and put up a huge fight when someone tries to shear them. Thirdly, you have to be able to knit a useable garment from the fur quickly and easily.