League of NH Craftsmen Fair at M. Sunapee Resort

I just got back from doing two days of spinning demonstrations at the fair. Thanks to the NH Council on the Arts, I had a beautifully situated tent for demonstrations and an xcllent space to display various spinning tools and fibers. My demo tent was very busy with many visitors who had a lot of good questions about the process. The League does a very good job of providing demos and activities that give visitors a bariety of things to see and do in addition to shopping. Thre will be other fiber art related demonstrations throughout the week. The fair continues through Sunday, August 14. It is located on the grounds of the Mt. Sunapee Resort, in NH., exit 9, Newbury, off highway 89.

Fibonacci, fractals and Fibershed

When I see an image like this I always wonder if  the manmade article was copied from or inspired by its natural counterpart or are we just hardwired and so interconnected to the natural world that this iteration would be inevitable in any case. The stones that pave the way to the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland are marked with interconnecting spirals, much like Celtic knot patterns, only these were made by nature when the rocks were formed. Plants and sea shells exhibit Fibonacci sequences that are apparant in many artists's compositions. Once I have taught my students about fractals, those repeating patterns that change size but not shape and look the same at any scale, they see them in everything, because that is where they are. I also teach my students to keep a nature journal to help them develop observation skills. Again, they start to notice things thay hadn't seen before and how many things share that structure or pattern. This image was posted by Fibershed, a slow fashion, slow textile, grass roots organization devoted to keeping clothing a local product, from farm to finished product. This image was published in Selvedge Magazine, taken by Ian Lawson for an article on Harris Tweed.

In previous posts I have talked about choosing tools that are right for the fleece you want to work with. On a recent trip to Iceland I was able to pick up two traditional, Icelandic spindles. They are top whorl, with the large whorls placed very close to the hook and have long, cone shaped shafts. Even the smaller, all light wood one, is very robust compared to all my other spindles. It actually weighs more than an Ashford spindle I have, which is pretty chunky compared to a Forester or Ledbetter spindle. Icelandic sheep's wool is dual coated, but the two coats are usually carded together. The resulting batt or roving has a long staple length, without a lot of crimp. I had brought a small medieval style spindle with me in the trip. When I tried the small spindle I had brought, it was very frustrating, it would come to a halt very quickly. Same fleece did very well with either of the larger Icelandic spindles. Design is driven by what your resources are and the environmental conditions in which you work.

Iceland

2016 NH Sheep and Wool Festival

This year's festival was again held at Deerfield Fairgrounds, Deerfield, NH. Saturday the weather was warm and wonderful, Sunday it was cloudy, chilly, and breezy. I always think of this festival as one for spinners and knitters. There are many wonderful raw fleeces and rovings to choose from and tools aplenty to work the wool.

I did a one hour lecture / workshop each day. Initially I was asked to do a lecture on spinning primitive breed sheep's wool. In planning it, it was immediately apparent to me that this was not only about the history of these sheep, but about the colors, textures and charcteristics of each breed's fleece. I morphed it into a hands-on experience so that those who attended had an opportunity to feel and spin some of these beautiful fibers.

It was well attended and received with enthusiasm. I requested more time for the workshop if I do it next year. People had wonderful and thoughtful questions. When speaking to an experienced, knowledgeable, and enthusiatic group it quickly became a conversation / discussion rather than a lecture. I hope the participants enjoyed it as much as I did.

NH Sheep and Wool Festival

I will be conducting an interactive workshop, at the festival, on spinning primitive breed sheep's wool. We will explore the characteristics of these breeds' wools and what tools are appropriate to get the best results. Participants will have the opportunity to try different fleeces and types of spindles. Workshops will be held on Saturday at 2:00 and Sunday at 1:00.

Spinning with a Medieval Tool

On a recent trip to France, I picked up a soapstone whorl in a fossil shop. I have purchased fossils  from this dealer many times in the past and have found him knowledgeable and trustworthy. My husband spotted some whorls in a display case and low and behold, they were labeled accurately, not as beads. 

This one meets all the requirements for what it is supposed to be; soapstone, decorated with a carved band parallel to the edge, plano-convex, hole is beveled, the rim has a small groove so that it can be used as a top or bottom whorl. It measures18mm high, 30 mm in diameter, and with an 8mm diameter  hole. It fits nicely on several of my spindle sticks. Originally it would have been secured with some linen thread and beeswax, I'm using a small, clear hair elastic. It could be pushed on the stick hard enough to keep it from slipping, but that would probably scratch the spindle stick. 

I have been spinning Shetland on it. It is very well balanced and given its small size and relatively heavy weight (26 gms), it spins fast and for a long time. It is such a pleasure to use something that was used by another woman almost a thousand years ago and for the same purpose. 

Leiscester Longwool Sheep

Leicester Longwool, also known as English Leiscester, is listed as a critically rare breed by the Livestock Conservancy. This breed was developed by the breeder Robert Bakewell in the 1700's. His breeding program started with the Lincoln Longwool, which has a coarse fleece, is large boned and slow growing. The result was the Leiscester Longwool, a fast growing sheep, with a long staple, lustrous fleece. They are docile and easily handled. Most individuals are white, with an occasional black or silver grey. It has subsequently played a part in founding or improving many other Longwool breeds. This interested George Washington, who purchased a Leiscester Longwool ram to breed with his own flock.

This fleece is easy to spin on a wheel and it can be spun into a very fine, strong yarn on a drop spindle. I have found a drop spindle works better than a support spindle. You need the tension that the weight of the spindle provides. A long draw into a worsted yarn shows off the luster of this wonderful fiber. Leiscester Longwool makes a durable yarn suitable for outerwear and it gives good stitch definition to knitted items.

Roving from the Williamsburg flock is available in my Etsy shop: The Stone Whorl

Mabel

My friend, Ann Salter, who owns a wonderful fibers arts studio on the Isle of Skye, the Dragonfly Studio, in Skinidin, across Loch Dunvegan from the town of Dunvegan, sent me this picture of one of her lambs born in 2015, Mabel. Ann was not familiar with the Navajo-Churro and looked them up after seeing Churro wool for sale on my Etsy site. She noticed a similar facial pattern of the Churro's face to that of Mabel's. We both started thinking about what relationship this might reveal. 

After reading about Shetland genetics and colored wool and rereading about Churro sheep in M.L. Ryder's, Sheep and Man, here are some connections: they are both primitive breeds, unimproved by not having been bred with Merinos. They are small, hardy, and efficient grazers. They are both multi-colored breeds. These are generally traits shared by primitive breeds. The Churro were chosen by the Spanish to be left around their North and South American colonies because of these traits. They were food and fiber survival kits for subsequent explorers. Not only are they a similar phenotype, similar in how they look to the observer, the expression of these color patterns are due to their genotype, the Agouti gene in particular. The Agouti gene determines where color will be expressed and in what symmetrical pattern. In this case it is the Ab allele of that gene that produces the Badgerface. A Badgerface coloration pattern is the reverse of the natural wild coloration, which is light underneath and dark on the top of the body. 

Please be kind, I'm not a geneticist, if I've made a mistake in my explanation I'd appreciate input. 

I have been studying characteristics of the fleeces of primitive breed sheep for texture and finess as it influences how to spin it into yarn. This is my first foray into genetics and color patterns.

New Spindle

Out of the last kiln batch the most successful whorls were of the medieval type. The glaze colors are rustic and the feel is satiny, not glossy. They are held by friction to a shaft that has a belly, which prevents the cop from sliding on the shaft. To be on the safe side I use a tiny, clear hair elastic to make sure the whorl doesn't come off the shaft. I had linen / wool roving on hand that I had tried unsuccessfully to spin in the past.  Even after adjusting a wheel for minimal draw in and high twist, it was very frustrating, it just wouldn't hold together. The medieval support spindle is providing high twist and no weight on the yarn. It is working beautifully. The wool is merino and a little slippery, so I am spinning it from the fold. The result is a soft, but strong, lustrous yarn. 

The Right Spindle for the Job

One of the unexpected decisions I had to make, while exploring the various fleeces, was choosing the right spindle for a specific type of fleece. Originally, I was thinking that for comparison purposes the same tool should be used for all of them. It quickly became apparent that to successfully spin each into something pleasing and useable, different tools would be needed for the different qualities of each fleece. I took a Shetland fleece, one that was a middle of the road type for crimp, softness, and staple length, in addition to being something I was very familiar with and spun it on three different tools; high whorl drop spindle, low whorl drop spindle and a support spindle.  The results were noticeable but not surprising. The finest was from the support spindle, all were soft. From this point on I would sample each fleece, spinning small amounts on different tools and then deciding what worked best, which would be totally subjective. My overall goal was to explore clothing quality yarns spun from primitive breed sheep. I was looking for soft and touchable. 

Medieval whorls

Last summer I participated in an archaeological dig in Cromarty, on the Black Isle, in Scotland, on a medieval site. Although my favorite time period is quite a bit earlier, the excitement of discovering, cleaning, and handling items like those that any spinner today would recognize, was extraordinary. My favorite part was cleaning the artifacts. Washing artifacts is its own little dig, clearing away centuries of dirt to reveal amazing objects. Several spindle whorls were found. Some of them were purpose made and others were repurposed from pot sherds. It made me think of people who use CD disks, cup hooks, and dowels to make drop spindles. I love the continuity and connection that learning about textile production over the millennia gives. 

Where to Begin?

Writing about something that I feel passionate about is easy because I have a lot to say. On the other hand it is sometimes hard to focus and be succinct when there is so much to share. Having a mentor was a great help with this because she gave me feedback and suggestions for organizing this project.

The first decision to make was to decide on the breeds I would explore. I have been interested in this topic for a long time and had collected wool during travels to Scotland, England, and the American Southwest. When it came to deciding which wools to use the most important factor for me was knowing the source and that the wool I used was as authentic as possible. Bringing raw fleece into the country from across the pond was not an option, so in most cases I brought back roving that had been scoured and processed. An exception was the Hebridean wool. I purchased a lamb's fleece and scoured it myself thoroughly on Skye, maybe a little too thoroughly, and brought back rolags I had made there.

I chose to do Shetland, North Ronaldsay, Soay, Icelandic, Hebridean,  and Navajo-Churro. The Shetland, Soay, and Hebridean came from Skye, the North Ronaldsay from the Orkneys, the Icelandic from a breeder in the foothills of the Rockies, complete with genetic information, and the Navajo-Churro from the Four Corners area of New Mexico.  

TLC Project

A year ago I contacted the Handweavers Guild of America and inquired about their Teaching and Learning Through Correspondence (TLC) program. I was matched up with a mentor and began a year long investigation of primitive breed wool. This was an exploration, not a scientific experiment. To come away from this with some sort of coherent information, I set specific goals, for time of completion, types of fleece, the number and types of samples to spun for each, and determining how to keep a record of my progress.

I have been a spinner, weaver and knitter for most of my adult life. We also travel a lot, with history being a focus. The more we traveled over the years, the further back into history my interest went. My interests have pretty much settled in the late prehistoric era, the Bronze and Iron Ages. Geographically, my favorite places are in the southwest of France, famous for its prehistoric cave paintings and the Scottish Highlands and Islands, a treasure trove of henges, brochs, and standing stones. Since sheep are considered the second domesticated animal, the dog being the first, my interests led me to wanting to know more about early textiles and the animals that provided the fiber. 

I am interested in the process as well as the end product. What types of sheep were used by people thousands of years ago? What did their raw fleece look like and feel like? What methods were most likely to have been used to process it? Did different types of fleece require different tools or techniques? Depending on the type of fleece, what products would most likely have been made? Could wool from primitive sheep yield fine, next to the skin, soft textiles? These were some of the questions I had hoped to answer. Along with the answers came a wealth of knowledge, experience and  collaboration. I hope this will interest others and encourage spinners to try single breed sheep's wool as well as some rare breeds. I will be writing about this journey and how interesting and enjoyable it is to continue to explore this aspect of fiber arts.

A New Start

This is the first entry after over a year. During that time I have done a lot of traveling and research about ancient breeds of sheep, hand spinning their wonderful wool and developing spinning tools based on prehistoric and ancient artifacts. I hope you will return to read more.