About this yarn : Named for their beautiful gray-blue skin underneath their lustrous wool, the story of Bluefaced Leicester sheep is also the story of how England contributed to a revolution in livestock breeding. Bred from crossing dark skinned, fine-wooled Border Leicester sheep with a variety of other English sheep, including the dark-blue skinned Wensleydale, the breed was part of a long challenge by English sheep farmers to compete with the Spanish Merino. The Bluefaced Leicester is best known for fine white wool, but some produce a color that’s called brown — although it mostly looks silver-gray — and others produce black. Sometimes genetic hiccups produce patterned sheep; but those traits tend to vanish quickly as they are considered undesirable and bred out again. Blueface Leicester Gray is actually a fine layering of black and white hairs until the eye sees gray. This particular yarn, Blueface Ash, is made from the natural brown wool of this breed.