#If you want a tweed that's specifically from *local* sheep then Donegal Tweed is what you want

[hebrideansky]

This is all excellent and correct info except for one thing.

"Breanish doesn't qualify as Harris Tweed because it's not purely made from locally sourced wool, but it's still handloomed on the Island." The wool used in Harris tweed today isn't particularly local. Historically it was from island Scottish Blackface as stated, and as stated nowadays it's mostly Cheviot (a breed from the Cheviot Hills on the England/ Scottish border - upland and mostly very remote access), as well as Scottish Blackface x Cheviot mixes. Generally the different wools are all mixed together rather than different wool types. However nowadays the wool can come from anywhere in the UK. I guess you could call that local in the global sense, but the reason why the sheep breed part opened out is that demand outstripped supply, and the industry opted to not limit things to doorstep sheep as source. Breanish Tweed is a mixture of Shetland wool (similar environment shaping that breed's origins, but some significant wool staple differences), lambswool (from a sheep's first shearing, any breed), and the stated cashmere. And although some of it is handwoven, they also machine weave some too.

So it's the purely made not necessarily by hand part that's the detail, rather than the locality part.

The answer to "What the h*ck goes on on those islands to the North and West of mainland Scotland?" by Derek Guy @/dieworkwear on twitter [x]