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Diane Falck’s last thoughts on WOVEMBER…
This last post comes from Diane Falck, who has been with us throughout WOVEMBER… whose Ouessant sheeps’ wool we have seen Growing;
Flick-combed (Processed);
Hand-spun and hand-knitted (Worked-with);
…and Worn.
Diane’s beautiful posts about working with her Ouessant wool convey a deep sense of connectedness – the very title ‘Spinning Shepherd’ suggests a real relationship between growing wool and making clothes, and her entire blog is underpinned by a combined approach to knitting, spinning, and keeping sheep. However for WOVEMBER 2012, Diane was inspired to write something which extends the inspiration she draws from her shepherding and textile-making activities into more explicitly political territory. In this final WOVEMBER blog post of 2012, we hear how Diane’s activities as a spinning shepherd relate to her critique of the contemporary fashion industry. Her post links back to several themes explored throughout WOVEMBER, and describes the many hands that go into making woollen textiles. Since many hands have gone into making the WOVEMBER website what it is, and doing all the work that WOVEMBER celebrates, it seemed fitting to revisit some of your pictures and words from this year and last, to accompany this shepherd-written close to WOVEMBER 2012.
Of Mushrooms, Eggs, and Plastic Yarn
There is something about being a Spinning Shepherd that so easily lends itself to quiet reflection: walking through the pasture on a sunny November afternoon, surrounded by my small flock of Ouessant sheep, I cannot help but think of the many spinning shepherds who have come before me.
Jean François Millet: Shepherdess with her Flock and Dog, 1863-65
In our busy “post-modern” world, we have too often lost sight of the essential role sheep and textile production played in the lives of our ancestors.
Once upon a time, not that long ago, a large part of domestic work was devoted to transforming fibre into garments for the family. In fact, today, it is very difficult for most people to understand the number of hours it would have taken to transform raw fleece into jumpers, socks and woolly bonnets for the family. Wool must first be grown, then shorn, sorted, washed, carded or combed, and spun before being knit or woven. It took so many hands joined together to produce all of those woollen garments.
‘Shearing Shetland sheep’ and ‘Do happy sheep make finer wool?’ – Laura, The Unique Sheep, WOVEMBER 2012
‘Required Objects’ – shearing tools at a local Sheep and Fiber Festival – Teresa Johnson, WOVEMBER 2011
Lydia Hill shearing sheep – Lydia Hill
‘Old school for good wool’ – Jimmy Gravelet, WOVEMBER 2011
‘Waiting to be Skeined’ – Rebekah Anderson, WOVEMBER 2011
‘Knitting in the wind’ – Jimmy Gravelet, WOVEMBER 2011
‘Shetland meets Kinzel’ – Susanne Kuschnarew, WOVEMBER 2011
The time and care, and dare I say love, which went into this labour intensive process of creating garments for the family produced a cherished and valued item, a garment that was not quickly discarded or replaced.
‘Mended and re-mended stockings’ – Felicity Ford
As Annemor Sundbø has so beautifully suggested in her book, Invisible Threads in Knitting (2007, Torridal Tweed), these domestically produced garments created a web of invisible threads that bind us to the memory of a place, a time, and the many hands that came together to produce a piece of clothing.
Spinners, – Dennis Walker, from The Newbury Coat
Spinners, photographed at Louise Harries’ and Rachael Matthews’ temporary art mill – ‘Murder at The Wool Hall‘
Cecilia, spindling on the road and spindling off crags
But that was then! Today we live in the 21st century. Modern technology and industrial textile production has liberated us from the long and often dreary chores involved in producing garments for the family.
Expert at Gledhills Spinning Mill industrially spinning Bowmont Merino for Finisterre – David Gray
Carding machine at The Natural Fibre Company – Felicity Ford
And thanks to chemical engineering, the modern era has ushered in a host of “new and improved” textile fibers, like the infamous polyethylene terephthalate (polyester): cheap, easy to care for textiles, made from plastic yarns.
2 for 3 knitwear items, largely made of synthetic fibres, sold on the High Street and in 2011 – Felicity Ford
Yet, I often have to wonder if we haven’t paid an extremely high price for our “modern” convenient plastic textiles.
Yes, we have gained time and convenience.
But what have we lost?
Have we severed those invisible threads that link us to all of those who create the clothes that we wear? In our rampant “throw-away” consumer society, have we forgotten the intrinsic value of things and of communities?
Textile landfill, Syria, image found online here
Of course, I would never suggest that we should go back to some imagined “idyllic” pre-industrial relationship to textiles. But perhaps we do need to rethink our relationship with the clothes that we wear and re-establish those invisible threads that connect us to time, place and people.
This year, Wovember has been addressing the theme of ‘Closing the Gap’ between producers and consumers of wool yarn.
Closing the gap between producers and wearers of wool is one way to re-establish those invisible threads that join us to others.
Lesley Prior with wool from her own Bowmont Merino sheep in her hands, standing on Saville Row, explaining the relationship between the wool in her hands, the sheep at her feet, and the garments in the exclusive tailoring outlets behind her – David Gray of Finisterre
Cecilia demonstrating wheel-spinning at Borrowdale
When we begin to understand where wool comes from and appreciate the many hands that are required to produce a finished garment, we will again understand the real value and beauty of the wool that we wear.
Darning – Diane Falck
And just like Tom and Kata we will again appreciate the loving gesture of mending and darning our cherished woollen knitwear.
Sanquhar sock darn – Tom Van Deijnin
Mended glove – Kata
Many thanks to Diane for writing this piece, and to all the many hands that work with WOOL and that have connected in one way or another through this website during WOVEMBER 2012… the copyright for all the amazing photos used in this piece lies with each named contributor. There will be housekeeping announcements and admin to come, but for now we thought we would bid you all a wonderful, woolly weekend… be warm, wear WOOL, and thank you one and all for making WOVEMBER so WOOLLY! – TEAM WOVEMBER
Diane Falck on Working with Wool…
Continuing on our ‘Working with Wool’ theme, and building on the previous instalments on WOVEMBER from the wonderful Spinning Shepherd AKA Diane Falck, today we have a lovely post on working with four different colours of Ouessant Wool…
June 3, 2012 – Sheep to Sweater Sunday n° 106 : “The Four Colors of Ouessant Wool”
According to the official breed standard as defined by GEMO (the French Ouessant Breed Society), 4 different fleece colors are currently accepted : black, brown, grey …
… and let’s not forget white !
All of these four colors are beautiful.
From these lovely naturally colored fibers, we can spin exceptionally beautiful yarn.
In the upcoming weeks I will be spotlighting four little projects to show you just how beautiful ouessant wool is, in all its colours …
… to be continued …
All content in this post © Diane Falck and used with her kind permission. This post was originally published on the excellent Spinning Shepherd blog here
Diane Falck on Processing Wool…
Recalling Deb Robson’s lovely notes on washing wool in her kitchen, and Linda Scurr’s words on handspinning 100 skeins of yarn from raw fleece, we are back in the world of processing wool domestically for this morning’s post. For this we are joined by Diane Falck, whose little Ouessant sheep we have already met with their beautiful, coloured fleeces! This is one of an ongoing series of posts that Diane publishes on The Spinning Shepherd blog, which celebrate the whole sheep to sweater process. So far in Processing Wool we have heard about carding, and we have heard about combing. Today Diane will tell us about using a flicker brush!
September 2, 2012 – Sheep to Sweater Sunday n° 115 : ” Working with a Short Staple Length ”
As a Spinning-Shepherd, I am very aware of the close relationship that exists between raw wool and the sheep that produces that wool.
The shepherd will tell you that each and every ewe and ram has his or her own personality. At the same time, the spinner will assure you that every fleece is different. To a certain extent, every fleece is the reflection of the sheep that produced it : when preparing and spinning wool, a wise Spinning Shepherd can learn and understand so much about his or her sheep.
As a spinner, when working with a fleece, a special link is created with the sheep that produced the wool, particularly if you actually “know” the sheep in question. Also, when the spinner “knows” a sheep, he or she feels obliged to make the very most out of the fleece that has been so generously offered.
One must keep in mind that every fleece is different and quite often a particular fleece can present a real challenge for the spinner. Sometimes these woolly challenges end in disaster : despite all the efforts of the spinner, a fleece is considered to be “impossible” and will end up on the compost pile. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen too often. Usually, an experienced and determined spinner can make the most out of any fleece, even a fleece that is not perfect.
For one whole year now, I’ve been eagerly waiting for the fleece from a beautiful little Ouessant ewe from Hervé Vaillant’s flock. Having already seen this ewe a number of different times, I feel as though I “know” her quite well, even though I’ve never worked with her fleece before. One must say that it is a fleece of unusual beauty …
… even so, there is a problem with this fleece …
… these beautiful locks of wool are actually quite short. They are barely 2 inches long. We can see just how short these locks really are when they are placed beside a lock of wool from Agnella des Lutins du Montana.
I cannot comb this fleece, as combing requires a staple length of close to 3 inches.
That being said, I want to get rid of any second cuts, vegetable matter and other bits of dirt and debris that is still in the fleece after washing. Additionally, I would like to spin a worsted (or at very least, a semi-worsted) yarn. In other words, this is not a job for hand cards !
To prepare this fiber for spinning, I’ve decided to use a flicker brush. My flicker brush is from the Howard Brush Company. Of course, I will have to prepare this fleece one lock of wool at a time. But the results are really worth the effort.
You need to hold the lock between your thumb and fingers, then untangle and open up the other end of the lock with the flicker brush. Then you will need to turn around the lock to brush the other end.
Locks : After & Before § Mèches : Après & Avant
And what a lovely surprise !
By prepping the fiber with a flicker brush,
the locks seem to have found a “correct” staple length.
I’m not at all disappointed !
This is truly a gorgeous fleece : a rare little treasure !
… to be continued …
All words and content © Diane Falck, and originally published here on the Spinning Shepherd Blog as part of the ‘Sheep to Sweater Sunday‘ series
Diane Falck on Harvesting Wool…
Another charming set of posts from The Spinning Shepherd, from whom we heard earlier in the month… Today, Diane gives us a glimpse of the Wool Harvest that ensures some happy spinning times ahead for this Spinning Shepherd!
May 28, 2012 – A few fleeces
Mac
brown ouessant fleece
Caramel
white ouessant fleece
Kéréon
black ouessant fleece
May 31, 2012 – Almost finished !
Whew ! Shearing is almost finished.
It’s really a lot of work …
But what a lovely reward for the Spinning Shepherd !
August 26, 2012 – Sheep to Sweater Sunday n° 114 : ” A Perfect Present for the Spinning Shepherd ! ”
Nothing but a little bag …
… that holds a beautiful present !
Nicely rolled up …
… then unrolled …
… it’s a spinner’s dream !
A big “thank you” to Agnella des Lutins du Montana, a lovely little light brown Ouessant ewe, and to her shepherd, Dominique, for such a beautiful fleece that has made this Spinning Shepherd very happy.
Photo de D. Morzynski
… to be continued …
These posts originally appeared here, here and here on The Spinning Shepherd blog. All content © Diane Falck, and used with her kind permission
Diane Falck on Growing Wool…
You may remember Diane Falck – AKA The Spinning Shepherd – from WOVEMBER 2011, as she shared the whole story of making a garment from raw wool, off her Ouessant sheep. Diane spins outstanding yarn directly from her small flock which she then hand-knits into exquisite garments. Like others whose words we’ve read here, Diane has a hand in the whole process from raw sheep to finished article. However because of its very small scale, there is a closeness between place, animals, textiles and making in Diane’s work which is the very embodiment of “Closing the gap”; there literally are no gaps between the source of Diane’s wool and the finished textiles she produces. The fleeces she takes are washed in the same rain that falls on the sheep when they graze in the fields; she watches the sheep with the eyes of a spinner; and the things she makes often in some way celebrate their specific, sheepy origins; hers is a completely joined-up system of woollen textile production! Throughout WOVEMBER we will hear from Diane about her work with WOOL and if you want to read more about the Ouessant wool which she works with, you can download her informative pamphlet here. For now, here are some glimpses into the shepherding aspect of Diane’s work, gleaned from her blog.
30th June, 2009 – The New Girls!
You know how I’ve been looking for grey ouessants for my flock.
Well, look at what I brought home 2 days ago!
Introducing Mira and Mysti, my 2 new grey ouessant ewes :
Mira and Mysti
Grey Ouessant ewes
4.5 months old
Well, what can I say?
They are just lovely.
Mira (as in Mirage) is the darker of the two : fleece color very close to shaela, a dark steely-grey.
Mysti (as in Mystique) is much lighter : fleece color very close to emsket, a dusky bluish-grey.
19th August, 2009 – That time of year …
It’s those lazy days of summer but never fear, the shepherd is already busy planning for next year’s lambs.
The ewes shouldn’t begin coming into season for at least two months … but just to be on the safe side, I went ahead and split up the flock.
All the boys are here at the Petite Lieudière, happily munching the late summer grass.
As for the girls they’re doing much the same at Le Grand Prè.
So all is calm and quiet.
Here’s my little group of boys : The black and white boys in the middle are for sale and will hopefully be finding new homes in the next few weeks.
That leaves me with four breeding rams, in four different colors! : black, grey, brown, and white.
And yes, I’m already looking forward to some beautiful lambs next spring!
12th May, 2012 – Grass in Normandy
There’s almost too much grass …
… but better too much grass than not enough !
Mira & Merope
These posts originally appeared here, here and here on The Spinning Shepherd blog. All content © Diane Falck, and used with her kind permission
Shepherds on Wearing Wool…
As you know, our theme this year for WOVEMBER has been ‘Closing the Gap’.
We wanted to do this because we believe it is wrong that textiles derived from oil are allowed to appropriate the pleasant associations of WOOL for their marketing strategies. We also feel that the more information there is in the public domain re: where WOOL comes from, the harder it is for us consumers to be misled regarding the composition of our clothes.
We also wanted to highlight the work, culture, history and traditions that make WOOL such a distinctive and exciting textile. WOVEMBER has been lucky this year to have some thoughts from several shepherds. As the people closest to the source of WOOL, their comments on Wearing Wool seem especially fitting to a ‘Closing the Gap’ theme. In one of the quotes we have here, the shepherd is wearing a sweater (mostly) made from the wool of one individual sheep!
Sue Blacker – shepherd to a flock of coloured Bluefaced Leicester and Gotland sheep, Cornwall, UK
My early yarns were all from my own sheep, before I bought The Natural Fibre Company and I still have some (I have been designing an updated version of a Guernsey-style tunic for around 8 years, which is the standing joke in the office).
The difficult bit is that most of our stuff lasts – and is intended to last – for a very long time!
I regret to say that I have and regularly wear garments which are over 10 years old!
I have been thinking of suggesting that people could consider the cost of our yarns as an investment, based on the number of years they will last compared to non wool yarns – so yarn years of possible use by a careful owner can justify the price.
Sue Blacker with her sheep, photos © Douglas Bence
Diane Falck – shepherd to a small flock of Ouessant sheep, Normandy, France
August 14, 2012 – A Future Shepherdess ?
Sporting a black Ouessant beret and holding Taygète, a black Ouessant ewe lamb, it looks like my sister Pam might just be a future shepherdess !
Only time will tell !
Originally published on the Spinning Shepherd blog here, photo and words © Diane Falck
Susan Gibbs – shepherd to a mixed flock of Cormo, Cotswold and Babydoll Southdown sheep and Angora Goats, Virginia, USA
I bought this sweater 20 years ago at a farmers market in Washington D.C. and I wear it nearly every day in the winter. I wear it to feed the sheep and work around the farm, or when I’m running errands. It’s almost like a coat for me.
When I first bought it, it wasn’t particularly soft but it has softened up a bit over the years. Most remarkably, it hasn’t pilled the way sweaters knit from softer yarns are apt to.
Originally published on the Juniper Moon Farm blog here, photo and words © Susan Gibbs
Lesley Prior – shepherd to a flock of Bowmont Merino sheep, Devon, UK
Just a simple twill with random stripes in warp and weft but it makes a really great knee blanket. Last night I used it to good effect here as the wind was whistling round under the doors despite our crackling log fire and our slate floor is cold as ice. A thin layer of soft Bowmont kept me toasty warm round the legs. The miracle to me is how something that can keep you so warm doesn’t cook you when the temperature rises. Sheep do not fry in their own lanolin when they are in half fleece growth here in the summer. 40-50mm of Bowmont Merino on their skin seems to act as insulation against the sun rather than a heating unit. Wool’s insulation properties are amazing. It’s clever stuff!
Originally published on the Devon Fine Fibres blog here, photo and words © Lesley Prior
Louise Fairburn – shepherd to a flock of Lincoln Longwool sheep, Lincolnshire, UK
Despite popular misconception the dress was extremely comfortable to wear. Although the dress is heavy, once adorned the weight is evenly spread and not at all noticeable. I also didn’t feel the heat as the dress just deflected the suns rays in much a similar way that it would protect and self-regulate the sheep in the field.
Photos and words © Louise Fairburn
Sara Dunham – shepherd to a small handspinner’s flock of sheep Kentucky, USA
Jester is one of our oldest Jacobs and a personal favorite. The sweater is homegrown, handspun and handknit out of Jester’s wool. Well, except for the last two inches up around the neck where I ran out of his white and had to splice in a little bit of one of his adopted family, Annabelly.
Mia – a lilac Jacob from Sara’s flock
The sweater turned out great. Everything blocked out just the way I’d hoped – Gotta love wool.
I tried to pick color patterns that reflected his special wide sweeping “jester hat” horns.
And I used a duplicate stitch to add a touch of dark gray to the big areas of light gray. Fun and easy to do.
Thank you Jester. I love your sweater.
Originally published here on the Punkin’s Patch blog, words and image © Sara Dunham
Sara Dunham on Working with Wool…
Rounding off the ‘Working with Wool’ section of WOVEMBER is proving difficult for the simple reason that we have just so many wonderful pieces to include here! It truly is a privilege to receive emails from people all over the world from people who want to share the different work they are doing with WOOL. Although we talked about spinning during the ‘Processing Wool’ phase of Wovember, a number of hand spinners have written so carefully about their work with WOOL that we thought we should share their work in this section of WOVEMBER. These are artisans for whom each skein of yarn is an individual story, and one which often relates back to an individual place or flock, and often even to one specific sheep. To explore this beautifully intimate hand spinning work, we commenced today with Diane Falck’s post about working with wool from her Ouessant flock. We shall spend this afternoon exploring the ideas, tools, processes and work of Caecilia Hewett, and RIGHT NOW we have this post, featuring some lovely sheep-to-yarn stories, from Sara Dunham. Sara wrote to WOVEMBER near the start of the month to alert us to her website, aptly-named myfavouritesheep.blogspot.com/ – entering a selection of her writings into our competition. You can see some of Sara’s photos in the WOVEMBER COMPETITION gallery, and there is plenty more woollen inspiration over on her site! We are so glad Sara wrote to us, and that we can share her Work with Wool with you today!
February 9, 2012 – A Scottish Surprise
Remember these cuties from last fall?
I finally got around to washing one of the Scottish Blackface fleeces. Thanks Find Five…and our friends who fixed the water heater in the wash room.
From everything I’d read, I knew it was going to be a long, coarse wool. That’s okay, I’m a coarse wool sorta girl. I wasn’t expecting quite as much kemp as I found though. See that short, kinky black fiber? There was tons of white just like it, like a full kemp undercoat. Ugh.
Just for grins though I ran a bit through the drum carder as is/was. Pretty, but hairy. I then combed some, which I thought did a great job pulling out almost all the short fibers, leaving the long, soft outer coat.
But it was very fly-away-ish (I’m sure there’s a better word) – like it was everywhere and all over my black polar fleece jacket. I misted it with a light spinning oil concoction and ran it through the carder.
Very pretty.
I then grabbed the Kromski wheel and took it out on the Wool House porch. In February (!). Betsy joined me and alternately napped and tried to catch birds (what a grumpy cat face!).
I was surprised as I started spinning that there was still a good deal of kemp in the combed and carded roving. I decided to “[spin] on with confidence” and other than ending up wearing a bit more animal hair than normal, I actually found it a fun spin.
I wound it off in a small skein and here’s where I was the most surprised. It weighed nothing. Obviously a tiny skein of yarn doesn’t weigh much anyway, but this weighed nothing. I remembered when Stella and I were picking up the fleeces as they were shorn that they were super light. I assumed then it was just a lack of lanolin thing, but after washing the lanolin out of a greasy fleece, shouldn’t the playing field be level?
I gave it a good soak in hot, soapy water, rinsed and squeezed out most of the water. Took it outside and gave it a twirl. Next surprise. Out flew three or four pieces of kemp. Gave it a good snap and more flipped out. I snapped it several times and it never let up. How much short fiber was still in there?!? Ugh. Maybe this yarn is mainly good for rugs.
But it sure is pretty. I love this picture – it’s hanging on the Lamb Camp sign. I love back lighting, straight lines, fuzzy yarn, pretty color (or lack of). Might be my favorite yarn shot yet.
And the final (well, so far) surprise. It knit up beautifully. Such a pretty bright color, good stitch definition (even with my sloppy knitting), and even with the kemp still working it’s way out, it’s really soft and not at all offensive. I think you could knit a sweater and not be disappointed. Or weighed down.
So the moral of the story is – well, I think there’s a bunch of ’em at this point.
And I guess the real moral of the story…if a cute little Scottish Blackface bottle lamb was ever looking for a home…
April 4, 2012 – Lilac Yarn (or a sheep of many colours)
This is Mia. Everything in the basket is Mia. That’s one of the fun things about Jacob sheep. With their spots, you can combine any amount of each color and get all sorts of variety.
While most Jacobs are black and white, Mia and her brother Blizzard are a rare color called Lilac. They are brown and white…or brownish/grayish and white. I guess kind of purple-ish. I thought it might be fun to set up a lilac photo shoot.
I wish there was such a thing as smell-evision. We have lilac bushes outside two doors and you can smell them all the way on the porch. The viburnums along the side sheep paddock (the white flowers) waft through the entire yard and even into the barn in the afternoon. Seriously.
Mia comes out to eat with the oldies in the a.m. And while they would never dream of leaving the barn to explore the yard, given half a chance, Mia would probably head on into town. As I came around the corner of the house, there she was on the back porch.
I quickly sat the basket of her wool down and knew she’d sniff it.
It would have been nice to try to pose her in front of one of the lilac bushes, but she’d just end up grabbing some leaves or flowers and Have To Go Back To The Barn Right Now! Which she did anyway because she ran over and topped a few strawberry plants.
Remember, there are good yard sheep and bad yard sheep. Or maybe there is just Miss Ewenice and bad yard sheep. Regardless, Mia is a bad yard sheep.
Meanwhile back at the Wool House…
I used Mia’s lamb fleece from last year and did a 50/50 blend, a 5/95 (almost all dark), an all white and two “core” combination (see the basket above). For one I took some dark and sandwiched it between two light strips and the other I did the same thing, but then ran the “sandwich” one pass through the drum carder.
…isn’t it nice here? I love how this picture draws you in to where you feel like you are in the middle of the lilac bush, watching the butterflies, listening to the bees. Take a deep breath.
Many thanks to Sara Dunham for writing to WOVEMBER – discovering your blog is a real treasure trove of WOOLSPIRATION! All images and words used here are © Sara Dunham and republished with her kind permission. These articles were originally published here and here on the myfavouritesheep blog
Processing Wool
Hopefully by now we are all more familiar with the wonderful animals and the skilled shearers that bring us WOOL from the fields! So far this WOVEMBER we have met some of the Bluefaced Leicesters whose wool is used by Laura’s Loom; some of Lesley’s Bowmont Merino sheep whose wool is used by Finisterre; Sue Blacker’s characterful Gotlands, whose wool is spun along with the wool of many other specific breeds, at The Natural Fibre Compay; Diane‘s beautiful little Ouessant sheep; Linda Scurr’s flock featuring various breed; and some of the sheep that Deb Robson has met in her wool and fibre related travels. We also heard from many skilled and generous folks about the difficult work of shearing that extracts the wool from these very animals over the last few days.
Bluefaced Leicesters – photo © Laura Rosenzweig
But how does this raw material which is covered in lanolin and which smells of sheep become something elegant which we would like to wear?
Ouessant Fleece, © Diane Falck
Natural stained glass hat, knit with Ouessant wool processed by Diane Falck, © Diane Falck
Diane wrote about the whole process here on WOVEMBER last year, and how the transformation from raw fleece to finished garment might be effected at home! This year we shall revisit this theme, also exploring how raw fleeces are turned into wool in more industrial settings.
Afterall, all factory machinery and industrial processes evolve from doing things by hand.
Could this machine at The Natural Fibre Company spin such tidy cones of Hebridean Wool yarn if hundreds of years of handspinning had not already perfected the exact balance of twist and draw required to bring out its better qualities?
Processing wool in big volumes at a commercial level is essential if the nature of the High Street is to be changed! To produce woollen textiles in quantities great enough to impact on the relentless acrylic tat that is purveyed in our country’s town centres, the knowledge that has been gathered through many centuries of processing wool by hand and several centuries of processing it with machinery must be retained and expanded.
In these wonderful photos by David Gray from Finisterre we see wool processing taking place precisely in this manner, at an industrial level. The photos are all taken from a photo essay by David Gray exploring the process of developing a yarn at Gledhill Mill where Lesley Prior’s Bowmont Merino fleeces are taken for processing, on their way to becoming wearable garments.
Photo © David Gray, Finisterre
In this first image, we see fresh cones of yarn being prepared at Gledhills for a new spinning process, where several strands of yarn will be spun at any time onto cones to produce plied yarns which will be strong enough to go through knitting machines.
Photo © David Gray, Finisterre
In this second image, we see the first results of the Bowmont wool after its first scouring; the fibre is still quite greasy and is yet to be combed and carded before it is ready to be spun into yarn, but already it feels soft and you can see the unmistakeable crimp – the wiggle of the yarn.
In both of these images we see the essential role that touch plays in determining the quality of wool and how truly essential our fingers are for processing wool! I first learned this at the Oxford Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, when Carol Thorpe gave me a touching-tour of the fleece of a Cotswold Sheep:
WOOL begins with the shepherd touching their sheep in the field and considering the texture of their fleeces; then the handling of the animal by the shearer involves more touching and yet more tactile contact with the sheep and its fleece. Once off the animal, skirting the fleece (removing all the pooey bits, second-cuts, and felted bits) involves yet more exploring of the fibres with your hands. Then come the next stages – the sorting, the scouring, (cleaning) the carding or combing, then the spinning – all of which involve hands, whether the hands are stacking cones of yarn on the factory floor or working through each stage at home with buckets, hand-carders or combs, spindles or spinning wheels. It is perhaps no surprise that the word people use to describe the way a yarn behaves once you knit with it is “hand” – WOOL passes through hands many, many times before it gets to be in your hands, knitting needles, loom, or fine tweed jacket. Processing Wool on the WOVEMBER blog will be all about how woollen textiles develop their “hand” – i.e. how the many hands that sort, wash, comb, card, scour and spin yarns shape the character of the resultant textiles.
We must think about all these hands in terms of considering the quality and cost of WOOLLEN textiles as compared to manmade textiles. Every pair of hands that WOOL passes through on its journey to becoming our clothes adds expense – and value – to its production. For each bit of the process you pay for the practise that the hands involved have had; for the skill of experienced fingers and for the touch of experts like Lesley Prior (who reglarly tests and manages her flock of Bowmont Merino sheep to ensure consistent, provable fleece quality); like Oliver Henry (who sorts and grades fleeces for Jamieson & Smith); like Sue Blacker, whose knowledge of producing millspun, breed-specific yarns means that she is able to offer advice to sheep farmers on getting the best fibre from their flocks; and like Laura, whose experience both in hand-sorting the fleeces that she uses and in hand-weaving have allowed her to develop a unique product in her British Wool throws… I could go on, but you get the idea.
Part of the cachet value of the word “WOOL” is its evocation of touch and tactility, and the close associations between “skill” and “quality”. Wherever you are in the production chain that runs from sheep to shoulders, WOOL is a living resource which comes from changeable pastures, genetics, and weather circumstances; unlike with manmade fibres derived from petrol, there is no proven laboratory formula for consistent production quality – the only way to maintain consistency is to remain continuously “in touch” with WOOL. The need for this close monitoring, experience and skill at every level is part of what makes WOOL unique and also part of what makes it expensive when compared to synthetic textiles.
Photo © Laura Valenti Jelen, sent into WOVEMBER last year!
WOVEMBER believes that the bottom line is this: if someone hasn’t picked sheep poo out of it at some point, “it” doesn’t deserve to bear the label “WOOL”!!! During this section of WOVEMBER we will look at the stages between getting raw fleece off an animal and turning it into something that can be knitted, woven, dyed, spun or felted. We are moving from the skilled hands of shepherds and shearers to the hands of the people who process raw wool into something EVERYONE loves to touch, and we shall celebrate industrial wool-processing skills beside hand wool-processing skills, because without the latter, the former would not exist.
Combed Cormo locks, © Meghan Marshall and sent to WOVEMBER last year!
Lydia Hill on Presenting your Wool Harvest to Handspinners!
This evening’s post is very much aimed at closing the gap between WOOLGROWERS and HANDSPINNERS; a gap, in fact, identified earlier today by Lesley. Touching on the issue of WOOLGROWERS receiving peanuts from the British Wool Marketing Board for their fleeces, Lesley echoed both Laura Rosenzweig and Louise Fairburn in their respective accounts of The Wool Harvest. WOVEMBER does not wish to criticise The British Wool Marketing Board, (or most especially the Campaign for British WOOL) however sometimes it seems that bypassing a central marketing system for the sale of fleece is a way for Farmers to receive more money for the WOOL that they grow. WOOL which otherwise might be deemed too coarse to fetch a high price on the global WOOL market is sometimes better sold directly to a handspinner or felt-maker who specifically values its roughness, character, provenance and presence, and who will therefore pay a premium for it.
One of the highlights of WOOLFEST for farmers and spinners alike, is the FLEECE SALE for folks wanting to buy and sell WOOL in its raw and sheepiest state! HANDSPINNERS can browse according to colour, texture, regionality, provenance, and hand. To ensure that all WOOLGROWERS get the maximum return on their hard-earned work in Growing Wool, Lydia Hill has produced this helpful article so that if you harvest your wool and want to sell it to handspinners, you can present it at its best. Of course, it goes without saying that this is the work that all experienced WOOLGROWERS and WOOLSELLERS already do, and therefore helps us to understand a little more just what goes into WOOL…
Selling Fleece to Handspinners
Are you a sheep producer thinking about selling your fleeces to handspinners? Here is some information you may find useful.
Using marker sprays
Presenting a fleece for sale to a handspinner starts the moment you pick up the can of marker spray. Before you apply hieroglyphics to your sheep stop and think. Manufacturers claim stock marker sprays wash out of wool but a handspinner washing fleece in the bath at home does not have the benefit of a scouring plant. A small patch of sprayed wool can easily be discarded but handspinners are unlikely to buy a fleece which has large amounts of spray on it.
The best wool is found on the neck and shoulders of the sheep. Before you spray a nice big blob of colour on the back of a sheep’s neck consider putting the mark either on the forehead or further back on the sheep’s body.
Shearing time
A fleece with many second cuts is a nuisance for a handspinner as the short bits of wool will need picking out, this is time consuming and frustrating.
Make sure your fleeces are rolled on a relatively clean sheet or board. Don’t let the fleeces lie on a gritty surface or on bedding.
If you just have a few sheep, avoid putting them in a stable with shavings.
Fleeces handspinners don’t want
Sticky/yellow underneath – If the fleece is sticky at shearing time and the shearer has to resort to a hammer and chisel to remove the fleece have some mercy, please don’t offer those fleeces to handspinners.
Felted on the sheep – if the fleece has felted on the sheep and comes off resembling a sheep skin rug and you can’t roll it properly, you can only fold it up and stuff it in a sack quick before it pings open again it’s no good for a handspinner.
Sheep which have had flystrike – no handspinner wants to pick scabs out of a fleece or even worse try to deal with maggots or flystrike staining. Also the handspinner will not appreciate a dose of Crovect or any other flystrike treatment.
Fleeces full of vegetable matter – the odd bit of straw or vegetable matter won’t put a handspinner off a good fleece. But however lovely the fleece if it is badly contaminated with vegetation it is likely to be rejected. For example sheep which have been fed hay from a rack may well have a mass of hay seeds and bits in the neck wool. Imagine trying to pick out every single seed by hand.
Ok I’ve given worse case examples but remember processing a fleece by hand takes many many hours and only the best fleeces are worth the time.
Fleeces spinners love
Fleeces can be assessed while they are still attached to the sheep or after shearing. Look for:
Strong staple – separate a lock of wool. Holding the lock at either end give it a sharp tug. If the wool fibres break easily the fleece is unsuitable for handspinning. If the sheep has had a bad winter, a tough lambing or been ill there may well be a break in the fleece.
Staple length – handspinners can work with a whole range of staple lengths. It depends on the spinner. A short stapled fleece such as a Southdown will be desirable to some spinners. Spinners who use the long draw technique can work with shorter staple lengths. However there is probably more of a market for fleeces with a longer staple length such as Jacob, Romney and Mule.
Colour – many handspinners also dye their fleece so a fleece which is naturally white is more attractive than a yellowy one. However handspinners do love coloured wool. All those shades of browns and greys are exciting to work with.
Open, tangle free – the fibres should pull apart easily.
Preparing the shorn fleece
Once the fleece has been shorn remove any daggings.
Roll the fleece as normal – fold the sides in to the centre then roll starting from the tail end. Avoid twisting the neck wool too much. You don’t need to include the belly wool.
Avoid storing the fleece in bags which have been used for sand or anything else which might contaminate the fleece.
To sell the fleece
If you show your sheep put up a notice advertising your fleece and take some with you. Spinners tend to lurk around the sheep lines at agricultural shows.
Many areas have a Guild of spinners. In the UK the Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers has a list of local Guilds on their website.
The Secretary of your nearest Guild will be happy to let the members know about your fleeces. You could arrange to take your wool to a Guild meeting – spinners find good fleece hard to resist!
Lydia asked if we could use a photo from last year’s WOVEMBER Photo Competition to illustrate what a nicely presented fleece looks like. It is no surprise, perhaps, that the photo she found for this purpose was taken by Diane Falck who as both a shepherd AND a spinner, knows a few things about how best to present fleeces to handspinners! For more examples of beautifully presented fleece fresh from the sheep, do check out Diane’s post from earlier today.
‘100% Natural, 100% Beautiful, 100% Wool’ – Diane Falck AKA The Spinning Shepherd
Lydia Hill runs Shearer Girl Yarns. Her blog is Tales From the Sheep Shed. She can be found on Ravelry as shearersgirl and on Twitter as @romneyteg. All content unless otherwise stated is © Lydia Hill and republished here with her kind permission.
Growing Wool
As you know, these first days of WOVEMBER are themed around Growing WOOL! Wool has its very foundations in the work of shepherds. This is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the amazing work of WOOLGROWERS!
Sue Blacker who runs The Natural Fibre Company with her flock of Gotland Sheep, photo © Douglas Bence
Generally at this time of year the rams are being put with the ewes. In Cumbria, there is talk of the ewes “holding to the tup”. It all means the same thing: sheep funtimes!
It’s obvious that without those funtimes THERE WOULD BE NO WOOL, but it seems that how a shepherd matches their sheep is crucial to shaping the quality and character of the wool they produce. Barbara Parry explains this in her wonderful piece “The Ram is half the Sweater“:
When making my breeding groups, I’m working to enhance the best qualities of both ewes and ram.
Parsley’s offspring carry his legacy of his baby fine fiber, with crimp so fine, you almost need a magnifying glass to count it. Like mini-marshmallows, his lambs bear soft, dense fleeces with high yield. I’ll pair him with ewes of more open fleeces in hopes of increasing wool productivity.
Teaberry’s lambs often have their dad’s big, dark dreamy eyes and movie-star good looks. If I’m lucky they will also inherit the luminous white fleece, dynamic crimp and super long staple length of their sire.
Ultimately my hope is that the pairing of excellent ewes with rams who will enhance wool traits will result in an awesome bunch of lambs. They will in turn carry forward the most desirable yarn-defining characteristics. That’s the goal. In yarn farming the ram is not only half the flock, but also half the sweater.
– Barbara Parry, The Ram is Half The Sweater, Twist Collective
Last year during Wovember Diane Falck – The Spinning Shepherd – also alluded to the special place of the ram in the shepherd’s schemes, musing that wool begins in “the knowing sparkle in the eye of a ram”:
The special properties of sheep’s wool ensures it a place of honor among textile fibers.
But where does this exquisite fiber actually come from ?
What is the actual source of all those woolly balls of yarn that are used to create our lovely jumpers, scarves, and hats ?
For many a knitter, it all begins with a trip to the local yarn shop.
For the spinner, it’s a freshly shorn fleece.
But for the shepherd, it begins on a crisp autumn day.
With a cool breeze blowing… leaves crunching underfoot…
and the knowing sparkle in the eye of a ram…
– Diane Falck, WOVEMBER 2011
Dagobert – a fine Ouessant Ram, © Diane Falck
Also in this vein, Lesley Prior – who many of you might know from the excellent Devon Fine Fibres blog – talks about “Ram gold“, i.e. sheep semen stored “in the (semen) bank” to preserve the precious genetic qualities specific to her Bowmont flock:
“Ram gold” is sheep semen, in this case from two of my very best rams which will be frozen and preserved for future use in my sheep flock. It’s a very expensive business but for me with my precious flock of Bowmonts, its a no-brainer. I am doing my best to preserve and develop the work of the Macaulay Institute on these sheep and the only way to ensure their precious genetics do not vanish in the next Foot And Mouth epidemic is to take this rather clinical and cold approach to the joys of reproduction!
– Lesley Prior, Devon Fine Fibres
Bowmont Yearling Ram, photo © Lesley Prior
Yet as Barbara writes, The Ram is Half the Sweater. After the ewes have held to the ram, there is still much work to be done to get a WHOLE sweater! Over the next few days we will hear from many experienced and expressive woolgrowers – and also appreciators of woolgrowing- about the shepherding activities that lie at the heart of wool.
Luckily, shepherds are as varied as wool types, so there will be many voices and styles to this sheepiest phase of WOVEMBER 2012!
WOVEMBER hopes that you will enjoy this stage in “Closing the Gap”, and that you yourself may be inspired to wear more wool, enter our photo contest with your images of Growing Wool, sign our petition, or find some other way of celebrating what real wool is and where it comes from!
Our last sheep photo for the day is Ernie – a much loved wether from the Juniper Moon Farm flock.
Ernie, Juniper Moon Farm flock, © Susan Gibbs
Unlike the other boys in this post, Ernie was not kept for his WOOL-improving genes; he was a Cotswold sheep whom Susan Gibbs bottle fed as a tiny lamb. In fact, Ernie was one of Susie’s very first sheep. She didn’t want him to go for meat, and his fleece wasn’t quite right for Juniper Moon’s Fibre-producing purposes. He became – in Susan’s own words – a very expensive pet. WOVEMBER reckons, though, that as well as picking the right genes from the right rams to make the right wool, you need a brave heart to be a shepherd. Lesley touches on that in this gorgeous post, and this moving requiem for Ernie is a powerful reminder of the bond between shepherds and the animals they watch over. Surely that love and that bond are part of the sweater too, and also part of what makes wool WOOL?
Afterall, you don’t often read of folk crying over polyester.
Team WOVEMBER
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Wovember 