‘How to use up small scraps of handspun yarn – make a very thin scarf. The purple yarn was dyed with logwood. I may have bought the green yarn.’ – Jeni Reid
How to use up small scraps of handspun yarn
on on Wovember Words: branks, yokes, pokes or bjoags?
on Last week TEAM WOVEMBER featured sheep bells in Wovember Words. This prompted Louise to look into something touched on in Stella Sutherland’s poem (also last week) with the Shetland Ewe wearing her “hard triangle of sticks”. As a small child I was often surrounded by sheep on our croft on Bressay and was quite familiar with their… Continue Reading Wovember Words: branks, yokes, pokes or bjoags?
Washing Fleece with Freyalyn
on Continuing from the wool care posts we did last week, this evening we are joined by Freyalyn who is the amazing force of life and WOOL behind Freyalyn’s Fibres, who shares her method for washing raw fleece. How *I* wash a fleece. There are as many ways to wash a fleece as there are breeds… Continue Reading Washing Fleece with Freyalyn
Ronnie's Rams
on ‘Ronnie Eunson’s Rams. Ronnie is one of the members of Shetland Organics, an organisation promoting organic fleece and wool from the Shetland islands.’ – Jeni Reid
Wovember Words: Waulking
on Here at WOVEMBER we have already looked at some of the actions and words which have historically been associated with shepherding. Here we have another action associated with wool working, which has it’s own unique method and measure. The ends of a length of newly woven cloth are sewn together to make a circle, and… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Waulking
A story about turning into yourself and coming full circle
on One reason for posting here about yarn production, the origins of wool in the landscape and so on is that these articles help recall what wool is and why it is special. However they also reconnect the textiles that we use and wear in daily life to the daily lives of shepherds, shearers, spinners, mill… Continue Reading A story about turning into yourself and coming full circle
Handspun scraps from making a PI Shawl
on ‘Handspun scraps from making a PI Shawl (pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman) I made the shawl from handspun BFL singles which were dyed by using local leaves and plants. And some onion skins from the supermarket.’ – Jeni Reid
Wovember Words: Where it begins
on Earlier this year I read Knitting Yarns, (Norton, 2013), which is a beautiful collection of essays from authors such as Anita Shreve, Sue Grafton and Elizabeth Berg. It is a superb anthology exploring relationships with wool and knitting and is truly worth a browse in your library or bookshop. One of the absolute stand out… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Where it begins
OneHutFull: Friday night Vi-EWE-ing!
on Sam the Ram, Whitefaced Dartmoor sheep from Paula Wolton’s flock In contrast to the historic films presented last week which reveal the story of how wool suffered with the advent of artificial textiles in the 1950s, this evening WOVEMBER shares the trailer for a very different sort of film: one that celebrates the lives past,… Continue Reading OneHutFull: Friday night Vi-EWE-ing!
The Wool Man
on ‘The Wool Shed, Jamieson and Smith Woolbrokers, Lerwick, Shetland. These are the hands of the managing director, Oliver Henry, or as he is more commonly known – The Wool Man. Oliver’s talks about sorting and grading fleece are one of the highlights of Shetland Wool Week.’ – Jeni Reid