on One of the wondrous things about WOVEMBER is how much WOOL information comes through in your comments. A few years ago several remarks on this post informed me that a Bellwether is a castrated ram that wears a bell around its neck and leads the rest of the flock about. The bell enables the shepherd… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Bellwether
on Yesterday Kate Graham talked about the successful sheep sponsorship scheme she ran this year. Having read the sponsorship thread on the Shankend Farming group on Ravelry and seen the sponsors excitedly chatting about their sheep and fleeces Louise asked for some of the fleece fosterers to talk to WOVEMBER about their experiences of the scheme.… Continue Reading Sponsors of Shankend Sheep
on ‘Cat heaven. If you ever want to make a cat happy, just leave some fleece or knitting sitting out.’ – Jeni Reid
on Following from this post about sheep counting words in Cumbria, TEAM WOVEMBER have been doing some sleuth work re: other sheep-counting words in different places and regions. According to a source quoted below, a variation on Yan Tan Tether Mether Pip was used in Lincolnshire, with a further version was reported to have been in… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Een Teen Thuther Futher Fipps
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
on ‘My chilly legs modelling leg warmers. The blue is Aran yarn, possibly Rowan Magpie and the stripes are handspun BFL which was dyed with little packets of Kool Aid. They smelled marvellous.’ – Jeni Reid
on We shall be hearing more from Kate Graham this evening, and as we were thinking yesterday about coloured fleeces and their sale and use, I came across the phrase “Hodden Grey” in K.G. Ponting’s worthy tome, The Wool Trade. Herdwick photo, © Kate Davies The Herdwick is a very hardy breed found in Cumberland and… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Grey Hodden
on We shared this photo by Jeni Reid here a few days ago. This beautiful coloured fleece was discarded with only the white ones from the clip being sent on to the Wool Marketing Board. Many of you commented that you would have found a use for the fleece and that this lovely wool really shouldn’t… Continue Reading Nature's Natural Colours
on ‘Fair Isle jumpers on sale in Jamiesons, Lerwick. Ideal for people like me who struggle with colourwork.’ – Jeni Reid
on Stella Sutherland is a writer from Bressay, Shetland. She has written four collections of poetry, contributed to a number of anthologies and written articles. I have always enjoyed Stella’s poetry which connects to animals and the landscape – a landscape very recognisable to me, as a Bressa’ lass myself. I was reading through one of… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Shetland Ewe