‘Cat heaven. If you ever want to make a cat happy, just leave some fleece or knitting sitting out.’ – Jeni Reid
Cat heaven
on Category: wool
on Shankend Sheep Sponsorship
on In the second of this week’s WOVEMBER posts featuring Kate Graham and her farm at Shankend, Louise finds out more about the sponsorship scheme Kate runs. Earlier this year I had read an article about Ralph Lauren buying yarn from a farm in Oregon to clad the entire USA team for the Winter Olympics in… Continue Reading Shankend Sheep Sponsorship
Adventures in farming: Kate from Shankend
on Kate Graham has been the tenant farmer at Shankend, in the Scottish Borders, since September 2010. Not only has she successfully run her sheep sponsorship scheme this year (more of which we will be learning about later this week) but work at Shankend certainly keep her busy. With the average age of UK farmers reaching… Continue Reading Adventures in farming: Kate from Shankend
Which wool?
on At Wovember we take great pleasure in enabling you to wear 100% wool. Always keen to promote the myriad of breed yarns available in the UK, Louise has selected some of the UK’s more characterful wool yarns to bring out the most in a design. I get a lot of email enquiries from people who… Continue Reading Which wool?
Boarding
on Continuing from today’s WOVEMBER WORDS, this evening we have a wonderful piece by Ella Gordon on the joys of using a traditional Shetland jumper board. This piece was originally published here on Ella’s blog. If WOVEMBER readers do not already read Ella’s blog it is really an amazing treasure trove of woolly lore. She writes… Continue Reading Boarding
Friday Night Vi-EWE-ing with WOVEMBER!
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!
What a waste
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.’
British from Fleece to Finish
on Chrissie Day is a textile artist who runs Teesdale Fibres. She has made it her mission to source local wool and her pedigree Teeswater and BFL yarns have been dyed by Yarn Garden , proving hugely popular at the wool shows this year. As well as finding time to run her wool production she is… Continue Reading British from Fleece to Finish
From sheep to shawl at Beech Hill Farm
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
Wovember Words: On Wensleydales
on This evening we will learn about a flock of coloured Wensleydale sheep which I met in 2007 and their shepherd, Julia Desch. Here is K.G. Ponting reflecting in his amazing tome – The Wool Trade – on the qualities of this particular breed: Another English long woolled sheep is the Wensleydale which takes its name… Continue Reading Wovember Words: On Wensleydales