on The practice of putting bells on one’s sheep is no longer widespread in the UK, however there is some evidence that it was once much more popular in the UK than it is today, and sheep bells still seem to be used in other parts of Europe. The sounds of sheep bells featured in a… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Canisters and Cluckets
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 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 We do not have very many posts on the subject of ‘Wearing Wool’ this year, as there seemed to be so much more to say about ‘Working with Wool’ and so many people doing amazing stuff with this textile, that we extended that section. That WOOL is amazing to wear is very evident in the… Continue Reading Lesley Prior on Wearing Wool
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 Some of you may remember that last year during WOVEMBER we featured a Q&A with Marion Woolcott about WOOLFEST? WOOLFEST is organised by The Wool Clip – a co-operative of 15 members who share the work of running a shop through which they are able to sell their woollen goods. The Wool Clip – photo… Continue Reading Pam Hall on Growing Wool…
on It seems that every member of Team Wovember has a soft spot for Magnus and Justyna Holburn’s Foula Wool. Kate has designed a hat/tea-cosy knitting pattern called Tea Jenny. Tom is working on a men’s Fair Isle cardigan knitting pattern, to be launched later in Wovember, and Felix is a general admirer and desperate to… Continue Reading Foula Wool Q&A