WAL updated!
A flurry of emails later, we have an updated WAL gallery of projects to share – look at all the glorious creativity with wool that has happened this WOVEMBER… hurrah! We will announce the winners soon.
HO-HO hat knitted from Jamieson’s Spindrift and fulled; Retro Norwegian Hat by Tanis Gray is made from vintage 100% wool; Hat and mittens made from vintage 100% wool.
HO HO HO hat worked in 100% WOOL Shetland yarn, then fulled
Three hats and one pair of mittens – Diane Gerlach (who says “I guess it must be all these hats that have prevented me from finishing my Wovember jumper!”)
I started keeping Leicester longwool sheep last year due to them being such a rare UK breed.
They are such fantastic sheep, each brimming with their own personality.
I had my first lambs this year
And my first shearing – This was done by a young man in his final year of agricultural college – a fantastic chap George who really knows his stuff and coped very well with my girls (who are all rather large)!
I’m determined to make full use of my lovely longwool fleeces but am pretty novice at all things creative, so this is my first project:
Dyeing the fleece
And then weaving it onto a pegloom to make a rug.Photos of sheep and progress enclosed.
Hope to move on to trying felting and spinning when the rug is finished.
– peg loom rug by Lee Hawkins
My Wovember WAL project was my Wovember Icelandic. The photo is attached, and details are on my Ravelry project page http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Lindragon/iunn
Made with 100% Icelandic wool.I felt that I learned a great deal with this project, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
yoke cardigan worked in Icelandic Lopi
– cardigan by Linda Drage
Wool cowl with Noro yarn
– cowl by Leslie Bryan
This year for Wovember 2014, I used up some Foula Wool from a Kate Davies “Tea Jenny” kit to make myself a hat. This was my first try at a corrugated ribbing, and I found that I loved doing it.
hat made from foula wool
This tunic is made with artisan spun New Zealand wool that I found on eBay a few years ago. The pattern for this tee is my own. I can’t seem to stop knitting the feather & fans pattern. It goes well with any kind of yarn from lace to the bulkiest. The tunic took me just 4 days to knit up. I still need to wash and block it, but I’m happy with how it turned out.
tunic made from new zealand wool
– hat and tunic by Kathy Burnett
I designed this Loon hat last year using Quince and Co American wool, and am looking forward to knitting several more.
hat worked in Quince and Co American wool
hat worked in Quince and Co American wool
This the first half of a pair of mittens that I am making. The yarn in this mitten is from Icelandic sheep wool raised in Denmark. I bought the yarn directly from the farmer at a festival in Roskilde, Denmark in 2013. I also got to meet a few members of the flock! I associate this wool with my memories of an especially wonderful day, and am exciting about wearing my mittens this winter. More information is on my Ravelry Project page (http://www.ravelry.com/projects/ErinJoelle/viking-mittens).
mitten worked in Icelandic sheep wool raised in Denmark
– hat and mitten by Erin Redding
Inside Castle Fraser (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) is a little room, with a woodcarving of a standard-bearer sheep in a recess on the wall. Of French origins, the Fraser family descends from continental settlers, as part of the Norman infiltration in the 12th century. The Scottish standard-bearer sheep is strangely similar to the emblem of a large city in Normandy, France.
These cosy mittens link both sheep, as they face each other and proudly stand on the back of the hand.
Stranded throughout, with a thin knitted lining, The Woodcarving mittens are worked with Shetland wool, as a nod to the French standard-bearer sheep, symbol of the guild of drapers and woollen cloth traders.The Woodcarving, by Aurelie Colas (pattern to be published early December 2014 – using Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift in 12 colours for the outer shell, and Jamieson’s Ultra for the lining)
mittens worked in Jamieson’s of Shetland wool
– mittens by Aurelie Colas
I have nearly finished making a rug from a Blue Texel fleece and I shall call it Dappled Thing.
This has been a huge pleasure of headlong spinning and never mind the lumps, yarn fatter or thinner as the mood of the evening took me; crocheted to go with the flow of a skein, it holds my glory in a landscape plotted and pieced – for anyone else, it’s a bathmat.
I will be completing it tonight and blogging about the process this Friday on wooltribulations.blogspot.com
bathmat worked in handspun and crocheted wool
– bathmat by Fran Rushworth
Hand spun Shetland wool knit in to squares to make blanket. Using natural colours of Shetland wool.
Great experience as only started spinning in February.
– blanket by Liz Fraser
Wovember 
Wow what a beautiful collection of goodies!! Thank you for another great post. I love that sheep breed mug too! I wonder where i might find one of those-?
I am guessing you are referring to my mug? The one behind the mittens? I found it at my local coffee roaster shop last year, but they never got anymore afterwards. However, the bottom of the cup says “McLaggan Smith Mugs – Scotland”, and I believe you can still find this design (called Tyrell Katz) in their online shop: http://www.msmugs.com/
Woolly yours,
Aurelie Colas / spinnygonzalez
Reblogged this on onestitchbeyond and commented:
Wonderful knitting projects going on here; very inspiring!
The “standard bearer sheep” described by Aurelie Colas based on an image she saw in Castle Fraser – the carved image is an image of Christ the Lamb of God as described in the Book of Revelation in the Bible – if you look closely at the drawing accompanying the mittens you will see a Christian Cross holding up the standard and a cross on the flag itself. I assume this drawing is of the carving in the Castle. Christ the Lamb of God with a flag or standard is an ancient icon of Christ used in churches and in chapels – was the room in which the image was found previously a chapel or prayer room? Towns and cities also used the image as protection from harm and proclamation of their faith. So – there’s a lot more to these mittens than a good design – there’s a long narrative of faith and iconography.
yours,
Heather Short
Thanks for this extra information and context for the wood carving, I have been looking at imagery of sheep and you are right that they are used throughout Christian religious imagery. I am sure Aurélie Colas – the designer of the mittens – will appreciate it.
Thank you for the added infornation. The sheep is known in French as the “mouton pascal” and has indeed been used in connection to religion and iconography throughout history. Interestingly, it is also used to represent the guild of woollen cloth traders (in Ancient France at least) from what I gathered here and there, and is the emblem of the city of Rouen, France, The cross that can be seen at the top of the “pole” and on the flag is actually square (so not exactly a Christian cross). The woodcarving would deserve more attention, but I am not an historian. Thanks again.
Aurelie Colas (aka spinnygonzalez)
Dear Aurelie,
Is “mouton Pascal” translated as Easter Lamb or Sheep? Christian crosses are not always drawn square – there are many many ways Christians have depicted the Cross depending on their own cultural heritage – the Roman Cross is not universal. Crosses from Taize in France look like flying birds for instance! Sheep and shepherds are highly important in the Christian story culminating in the depiction of Christ as the sacrificial Lamb who is resurrected and stands on the throne in heaven. Your mittens are inspiring!
Heather
Dear Heather,
Yes “mouton pascal” would be something like Easter lamb/sheep. Thank you for sharing your knowledge about crosses shapes, and Christian history in general. Like I said, I am not a history/religion specialist by any means, and I appreciate your input very much.
Thanks again,
Aurelie
Fantastic projects! But Where oh where do you get the Jamieson’s Spindrift Wool? I can’t find it on the JS website, still looking as the colours are my favourites!
Try the Jamieson’s of Scotland website: http://www.jamiesonsofshetland.co.uk/
Spindrift comes in cute 25g balls.
oopsie “Jamieson’s of Shetland”
Thanks Spinny! They have fabulous colours in lace-weight too, which is the main reason I’m looking for anything other than J&S, who are so great. **guilt guilt***
Sorry – just found it! Realised it’s not the same as J & S – Sorry