The Ouessant sheep of France

Today we are thrilled to have a Wovember Words post from Diane Falck AKA The Spinning Shepherd. Long term Wovemberists will remember Diane from Wovembers past, for which she has provided many fantastic articles and photos of her Ouessant sheep. In this article, representing France in our European tour of sheep and wool, she tells… Continue Reading The Ouessant sheep of France

Wool in the Czech Republic

For today’s stop on the EU sheep breed tour, we’re in the Czech Republic. We found some of our links for this piece via the cesky a slovensky Ravelry group, and others through extensive use of Google translate services, through which we learned that the Czech word for wool is vlna, and the Czech word… Continue Reading Wool in the Czech Republic

From the Wovember Archives: Sheep as Propaganda

This post was originally published on the Wovember blog on the 6th Wovember, 2011. It was written by Kate Davies and we are thrilled to republish it here as one of our “from the Wovember archives” pieces. We all probably know that knitting socks for “our boys” became a part of the war effort during… Continue Reading From the Wovember Archives: Sheep as Propaganda

Bulgaria’s endangered Karakachanska ovca

Continuing our tour of Europe for Wovember words, today we are in Bulgaria, discovering the endangered Karakachan sheep. In Bulgarian the word for sheep is овца, or – for non-Cyrillic readers – ovca. This breed of sheep – along with the Karakachan horse and the Karakachan dog – is a focus for The Bulgarian Biodiversity… Continue Reading Bulgaria’s endangered Karakachanska ovca

Q&A with Rare Breeds of Canada Shepherds: working at the (literal) grassroots to maintain rare breeds

Nancy MacMillan is an avid knitter with an interest in Rare Breeds and working with wool straight from the source. Pam Heath is a Shepherdess whom Nancy first met at the Ottawa Knitting Guild some years ago. Pam is a wonderful resource for all things Rare Breeds, and she and Elwood Quinn kindly agreed to do… Continue Reading Q&A with Rare Breeds of Canada Shepherds: working at the (literal) grassroots to maintain rare breeds

Clara Parkes on Describing Wool

Earlier today we heard some of the words that participants in the KnitBritish Breed Swatch KAL have found for describing wool from different sheep breeds. This evening we continue that theme in an article by seasoned swatcher and yarn critic, Clara Parkes. Author of many treasured tomes and the wondrous Knitter’s Review newsletter, Clara is… Continue Reading Clara Parkes on Describing Wool

Wovember Words: Tups and Tupping

This evening we shall be meeting some lambs. However in order to have lambs, you must have rams or tups as they are often known… Here are Jane Cooper’s characterful Boreray boys in a post by Jane which gives meaning and context to the terms ‘tup’ and ‘tupping’. Introducing, from left to right, Bollocks, Bede… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Tups and Tupping

WOAH-vember !

An extra WOVEMBER post today with an important announcement. YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY GOT IT ON THE NOSE THIS WOVEMBER!   We asked you for your WOVEMBER contributions this year and we have had such an incredible response to our call for submissions. We have been OVERWHELMED with woolly contributions and, staggeringly, we have now come to… Continue Reading WOAH-vember !

Celebrate single breed wool this WOVEMBER!

LOUISE is here tonight to tell you a little bit more about the KnitBritish Breed Swatch-along and how you can get involved with discovering the deep wonders of swatching – and WOOL – this WOVEMBER. I took this picture at Shetland Wool Week 2014. It is a fine (prize-winning) fleece and, to me, it speaks… Continue Reading Celebrate single breed wool this WOVEMBER!