Johan Uhlås - a new generation sheep shearer.

Johan is the sheep shearer who gave me the first wool. The wool that sparked the thoughts about Wool Rebel. It has been some time since we last met, and a lot has happened since then. The wool has gone from being carded by hand to being industrially carded FÅRTEX®.

During the high season, Johan shears sheep six days a week, so arranging an interview with him during this period is difficult unless you come to the shearing. We are meeting at Bögs farm outside Stockholm, where he will shear about ten sheep.

Hi Johan! It’s great to see you again at a shearing! What do your shearing seasons look like?

I have two seasons, from January to June and August to November. In between, I have the entire summer off in July and December. I think it's really worth it to have the summer off.

Tell me about your background as a sheep shearer.

We have been sheep shearing for generations; we are the fifth generation. We have a photo of my grandfather's mother shearing sheep on our family farm with a hand shears. My grandfather sheared his own sheep, and my father sheared his own sheep. About 25 years ago, my brother took over the farm and the sheep, and that's when my father started shearing for others. For about ten years, both my brothers and our father sheared together, and it was great fun! Now it’s me, one of my brothers, and his two sons who shear the sheep. I tell my son that he can do whatever he wants, but sheep shearing is there as an option. He sees how I live – I shear a lot during the peak season, but I'm free in the summer, meeting people and working with animals, which I love.

When did you shear your first sheep?

I sheared my first sheep when I was about 13-14 years old. My father was going to show me how to do it, but he wasn’t a very good teacher, so I thought, “I’ll never do this.” I started driving a taxi instead. But then one day my brother called me and said, "Now I’m going to shear Dad's 150 sheep, I can show you how to do it, I think you'll enjoy it." I was very skeptical; I wanted to focus on music and didn’t want to be a sheep shearer at all. Erik is incredibly calm and pedagogical. Before we started, I had to watch instructional videos from New Zealand. I sheared 5-6 sheep the first day and was completely exhausted; I couldn’t walk for a week. After that, I went to another shearing and earned my first money, faster and more than I ever did driving a taxi.

Are there enough sheep shearers in Sweden?

There are quite a few sheep shearers spread out across the country. We prefer to stay within our area since we also have to charge for travel. South of Lake Mälaren, there are both more sheep and shearers. My area stretches from Södermanland to Dalarna, while the rest of the family covers Uppland and northwards.

Do you have your own sheep?

No, we live in a house. I could imagine having a few sheep if I had a yard that needed grazing, but not an entire farm.

What’s the best thing about Swedish wool?

The variation! It’s fun to shear different types, silver, brown, white, and black. The same shearing technique is used no matter the color. If the wool is long and only sheared once a year, it pulls on the skin, and I have to use a different technique.

How big are sheep farms in Sweden?

A large sheep farm in Sweden has around 100 sheep. A really large farm I’ve worked on had 400 sheep, and I set my personal shearing record with 156 sheep in one day. Not many have that many sheep; the average flock is around 15-20 sheep. Small-scale farming might be the future; it's good to have variety and diversity. There's a lot of talk about Sweden's self-sufficiency and how unprepared we are if, for some reason, there are issues with imports, such as food. Soon, we’ll realize how important farmers and domestic sustainable food production really are.

Do you have a lot of wool clothes?

Today, I’m wearing a Wool rebel vest, wool sweater, wool socks, and wool long johns that were passed down from my grandfather. Wool clothes never smell bad and hardly need washing. The pants I wear now are shearing jeans, with slits so the pants stay over the shoe. They also have double fabric on the knees to prevent the fat from the wool from seeping in.

Do you have any tricks for dealing with a rowdy sheep?

Sheep are flight animals and prefer to run away when they’re scared. If a sheep is fidgety, I take a gentle but firm grip to show who’s in charge.

Do you have soft hands?

Yes, I have hands as soft as a baby’s! It’s the lanolin that makes them so soft. Lanolin is both moisturizing and antibacterial, and is used in things like eye drops. The slippers I wear when I shear are full of lanolin. If it’s cold outside, the lanolin freezes, but it softens up when I use them.

What do you do to make everyday life more fun?

I listen to a lot of audiobooks while I shear and travel between farms. I listen to all sorts of things, both crime novels and fiction. I can’t always focus while shearing, so sometimes I listen to the same book twice.

What’s the most rebellious thing for you as a sheep shearer?

The most rebellious thing was probably when I moved to Stockholm and worked at a record store in Åhléns City, and right in the middle of all the city folk stood a farm boy who sheared sheep!