Fibre Study Pack
These fibres are very interesting in that each has its own distinctive characters, I wouldn’t say which one is “better” per se, but I can certainly see their uses in different ways.
Breed Study: Zwartbles
Zwartbles originated in the Netherlands, they were developed by crossing two of the main types of native sheep: a hornless and short-tailed Friesian milk sheep and a horned Drenthe with hairy fleece.
Breed Study: Manx Loaghtan
Manx Loaghtan is a small primitive breed with big horns, some can have as many as six! And not just the adult rams, ewes and lambs have them too. This is a protected rare breed because it has been on the cusp of extinction a few times.
Breed Study: Marsham
The sheep breed Marsham got its name from the town Marsham in North Yorkshire, England. It is a cross breed produced by crossing a Teeswater ram with a Dalesbred or Swaledale ewe, sometimes a Wensleydale ram is also used.
Breed Study: Lleyn
Pronounced “hleen”, Lleyn is a heritage Welsh breed that has creamy white and bouncy fibre. The breed was developed in northwestern Wales in the early 1800s, Border Leicester bloodlines were introduced to the local sheep on the Lleyn peninsula.
Breed Study: Galway
Galway is currently the only native sheep of Ireland, although it was largely influenced by English Leicesters, in particular Dishley Leicesters, which was introduced by Lord Roscommon in the late 1700s hence they were once called the Roscommon.
Saint Distaff’s Day
January 7th is known as Saint Distaff’s Day, but there isn’t really a saint or person associated with this day.
Pain By Numbers - fibre minis
I’ve been inspired by all the mini skeins in hand dyed yarns and also the self striping yarns. So I started by designing a fibre blend that would work well for socks but also soft/versatile enough for other projects, and I came up with this blend…
Burstling - the making of a pattern and yarn kit
The colours are really bright, I went out of my way to make it outlandish but I think the gamble paid off. The colour interactions in these combos are really striking, they take my breath away each time I look at them… given that most of my wardrobe consists of plain dark colours I think these pops of colour would work really well 🥰
Yarn over Yarn and Kai Fella Sweater
I made a sweater for Mr. Cat for Christmas. It was actually quite a last minute thing as I hadn’t intended it to be his Christmas present, not for 2022 at least.
Fibre Focus - Cheviot
Cheviot is a lesser known fibre in the hand-spinning community nowadays but it has a long history and its breed can be traced as far back as 1372. It got its name from The Cheviot Hills where it was originally found.
A woven scarf and some thoughts on bamboo fibre
“The finished scarf is incredibly soft and squishy, I could snuggle up to it all day long - but here is the dilemma, the yarn is a merino/bamboo blend and bamboo is problematic.”
Fibre Arts Friday
I have some finished projects to show and made progress on my Shawlography
Fibre Arts Friday - one stitch at a time
Stitching my life back together, one stitch at a time…
Fibre Arts Friday - crafting through crisis
This post is a little unusual as I don’t normally write about personal stuff but this week has been unusual, and I feel that I need to record it. So buckle up and hold on tight, for it is a bumpy ride. Oh and grab a cuppa because this is a rather long read.
Fibre Arts Friday Resurrection
I’m bringing back my Fibre Arts Friday blog posts to record my fibre-ry pursuits. This week I will show and tell a few projects that’s been consuming me in the past two weeks ☺️
Eucalyptus camaldulensis
One of the hardest things I found from my experiences with eucalyptus is the identification. There are said to be around 900 species of eucalypts that have been identified and they come in all sizes and shapes…