on It is Friday night, folks, and we thought we would share some extraordinary archival footage detailing the complex relationship between WOOL and PETROL. These films are both from the 1950s and were found in the amazing Prelinger Archives. They are each very interesting when viewed from a certain critical perspective. The first film is called… Continue Reading Friday Night Vi-EWE-ing with WOVEMBER!
on ‘In the far north west of mainland Scotland is a tiny place called Stoer. This is a brown cheviot fleece that I was given when I happened to walk past the shearers as they worked. The white fleeces all go to the Wool Board and coloured fleeces are generally discarded. What a waste.’
on Continuing yesterday’s theme on tracing garment production from sheep to shawl or – as Sally put it – from back to back, I wanted to share an article I wrote several years ago about Julia Desch. I met Julia when I stayed on her farm and encountered her beautiful flock and The Wool Room. Julia… Continue Reading From sheep to shawl at Beech Hill Farm
on We promised the other day when we showed you this lovely photo of Sally Antill taken by Jeni Reid that we would share some posts written by her during Wovember. Sally Antill and her other half – Michael Baxter – are breeding Soft Fell sheep. The idea is to produce a meat carcass acceptable to… Continue Reading Sally Antill: Soft Fell sheep and their fleece #1
on One of the key themes of Wovember is closing the gap between producers and consumers of wool. There are many ways to do this as an individual; you can explore the provenance of wool in yarns you knit with or clothes you wear by learning about where and how they are produced, and you can… Continue Reading Hug a Sheep Day
on ‘Deb Robson is never happier than when she is face to face with a flock of sheep. Deb is the co-author of The Fleece and Fibre Sourcebook. These particular sheep are a Swiss breed called Valais Blacknose. They are rom a flock near Tomintoul in the a Scottish Highlands.’ – Jeni Reid
on WOVEMBER readers may remember that several posts featured Sue Blacker’s work with wool last year. Sue works across the wool industry in myriad ways, designing yarns and patterns for Blacker Yarns; Managing and Directing The Natural Fibre Company; and keeping her own flock of sheep. These posts harvested from Sue’s blog this year give some… Continue Reading Sue Blacker on Growing Wool
on [vimeo http://vimeo.com/64629692] If you followed WOVEMBER last year, you will already know a little about the work that Lesley does for WOOL! Last year, Lesley and Finisterre provided an amazing series of posts detailing how the fibre grown on Lesley’s farm is turned into beautifully soft sweaters which are made entirely in the UK, and… Continue Reading Lesley Prior on Growing Wool
on As promised yesterday, here are some more lamby words. Wovember friend Liz Ashdowne has found them all in the Oxford English Dictionary! gimmer-lamb, n. A female lamb that has not been shorn. a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 4 From lambinge time‥till clippinge time‥they [sc. ewes] are called gimmer lambes. hob-lamb, n. A… Continue Reading Wovember Words #3
on Seeing that we’re talking about growing wool here at Wovember at the moment, here are some words relating to lambs. All three words have been carefully hand-picked from the Oxford English Dictionary by Wovember friend Liz Ashdowne. She got rather enthusiastic, so there will be some more lamby words tomorrow! chilver, noun A ewe-lamb: commonly… Continue Reading Wovember Words #2