We are very happy to have found our winners!

However there were *so many* beautiful photographs amongst your submissions, that we thought there may be some added benefit to sharing our process of selection, and also revisiting the long list and the short list which we have deliberated over in the past few weeks.

We wanted WOVEMBER to highlight the origins of WOOL during Wovember, and to showcase the real world of sheep-rearing and wool-production that is devalued when purveyors of false, non-woollen goods bandy the word “WOOL” around willy-nilly. Many of your photographs reflect your collective interest in linking the substance that is WOOL back to its source – the sheep – and I want to thank you all very much from the bottom of my heart for putting together a gallery which is so full of ovine celebration. This evening I shall talk to you about the sheep photos submitted to the gallery, and attempt to contextualise the photos taken by the winners who will each receive vouchers to spend in the Blacker Designs web-shop. When Sue Blacker offered some prizes for this site, she wrote that she felt we should select some sheep pictures because “they are where it starts.”

There was a definite sub-category of sheep photos detailing the life of flocks. These photos speak of landscapes transformed by the presence of animals; transhumance; and of the life of working sheep. I love how these photos depict the lives of different herds in different places, and for the global perspective on sheep and land which they offer when looked at together.

Melissa Ricketts, “800 fine wool merino wethers barrelling down the paddock for hand feeding (oats mid drought). We were desperate to keep them alive for their sake and ours. Every time I buy wool I remember these guys and how tough and resourceful they were.”

Cindy Steinesen, “Sheep sorting in Auðkúla, Iceland. This was taken in Iceland last fall, on our journey from Hveravellir to Blönduós. In the fall, the sheep must be brought in so they can spend the harsh winters in the shelter of their respective farms.”

Georgina Gallivan’s “Baah” is also a wonderful depiction of flock-life, picturing a moment in the Lake District where many Herdwicks (several recently mated, I think, judging by their red behinds!) were gathered together.

Georgina Gallivan, “I took this picture in Summer 2010 while on holiday in the Lake District.”

Also, there is something very charming about this depiction of a roaming flock of sheep in France, insouciantly wandering where they will, submitted by Satu Salokannel.

Satu Salokannel, “The sheep of Ushant-island in westernmost France roam free through the winter. They go where they want and eat what they want.”

Showing a slightly smaller flock, Bettina Becker’s photo of Shetland sheep demonstrates the huge range of different fleece colours in that breed very effectively.

Bettina Becker, “Shetland Wool Colours.”

Also, there is a seasonal, arcane magic to these snowy herds, photographed by Joyce van Heerdeen and Willemijn in ‘t Veld. Somehow both of these images are powerful testimonies to the tough togetherness of a flock in winter, and to my eyes they convey the ancient bond between man and sheep which nature’s harshest weather has made necessary.

Joyce van Heerden, “Warm Wool.”

Willemijn in ‘t Veld, “Schaapskudde in Schin op Geul.”

Finally, Jess’s photos taken in the Yorkshire Dales offer a cheerful, contemporary, glimpse of everyday life in the hills, lending another version of flock life to the Wovember Gallery.

Taken together, these pictures are a profound and moving statement regarding the omnipresence of sheep on our planet, and their abiding strength and endurance in all climates and circumstances. Looking at these photos, one senses that sheep live and survive in all weathers, from the boiling summers of Australia to the frozen, wintry conditions of colder, Northern climes. Because of the collective power of these photos, it is hard to choose a single flock or group over the rest.

In the end, it was Lucy Razzall’s flock photograph which stood out for us in particular because of the way that – as well as showing the ancient spectacle of sheep grazing in the landscape – this image also speaks about our cultural relationship with that spectacle. As well as showing the classic pastoral scene of sheep grazing in the fields, Razzall’s image – and Henry Moore’s ‘Sheep Piece’ – speak of humankind’s quest to incorporate sheepiness not only into our wardrobes and landscapes, but also into our consciousness.

Lucy Razzall, “Henry Moore’s Sheep.” Lucy says: “I took this picture a few weeks ago at Henry Moore’s home in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire. Moore thought sheep were the most beautiful of all animals, and made ‘Sheep Piece’ especially for his beloved sheep field. When you get close to the sculpture, as Moore wanted people to, you can see where the sheep have rubbed their woolly coats against the bronze, making it glow.”

We love that Henry Moore made a piece of art which was specifically designed to invite the participation and interaction of sheep and which quietly sits in his gardens, highlighting the behaviours and qualities of the animals grazing there. The combination of materials is poetic and elemental; Moore’s cast bronze forms react with and highlight the physical qualities of lanolin-rich greasy, sheepy fleece. The sculpture – which is dependant on the activities of the sheep in order to glow as Moore intended – is round, tactile and inviting, referencing some of the qualities which reside in wool, and the piece belies Moore’s sincere, lifelong fascination with these creatures.

Drawing things is a way of deepening our relationship with them; in the acts of finding and making lines and translating what we see through pen and paper, we learn how to represent the world on our own terms. Being an artist is about prioritising which elements of reality you will choose to focus on in your lifetime, and how you will convey and describe them. For Moore, sheep were a vital theme, and he has created many drawings of them, all of which evidence his love of this creature as an integral element of the British Landscape. It is perhaps only through Moore’s earnest studies of sheep – the long hours spent observing and considering them in the act of drawing – that he was able to conceive of an artwork like ‘Sheep Piece’ which could add an extra dimension of meaning to the spectacle of the grazing flock in the field.

Razzall’s decision to photograph Moore’s sculpture – and her wonderful accompanying text – provide ways into thinking about sheep as being more than part and parcel of the agricultural landscape. Lucy Razzall’s photo of Henry Moore’s artwork is part of an ongoing exploration of the cultural relationship between man and sheep; it is not just a photo of an artwork, nor is it purely a flock of sheep; it is about where imagination, culture, sheep, art, agriculture, history and landscape meet. We thought it stood out for those reasons.

Another category of sheep photos which we received a great volume of concerned the working relationship between people and sheep. There were a great many entries celebrating the process by which the sheep out on the fells/fields/mountains/pastures/hills become wool to wear, and the relationships which develop between people and animals along the way. Where the flocks above detail the life of flocks and the place of sheep within the context of the landscape, this second sheep image category seems to be more about the realities of farming and rearing animals.

We received, for instance, some amazing entries featuring shearers at work.

Amy Karasz, “Shearing Cyo.”

Bettina Becker, “Shearing.”

The only photo in this short list which didn’t feature people and sheep together is Teresa Johnson’s “Required Objects”. However, I feel that the references to the work of the shearer in this photo justify its place here. The tools needed for shearing sheep and depicted in Johnson’s photo feel serviceable, utilitarian and necessary – and they could even seem a little mechanical or cold were it not for their worn appearance. The patina of time and labour upon the tools is instead warm, and speaks somehow of the practiced hands and experienced fingers which have put them to use. I love the absent shearer evidenced in this photograph; the imprint of their work upon these objects; and the humble circumstances in which they have been photographed.

Teresa Johnson, “Required Objects”

Riet Andreas’s photos, too, show the working life of animals in a particular way. The tractor, shepherd, working dogs and flock in these photos relate sheep very directly to wool as a working trade; to wool as a substance with connections to jobs, livelihoods and industry.

Riet Andreas, “After shearing, back to the fields. (Scotland).”

We also loved Louise’s photo from the Rare breed show at the Weald and Downland Museum, which showed the relationship between pedigree breeders and their animals in the context of our British, agriculturel heritage.

Louise, “Rare breed show at the Weald & Downland Museum.”

However in terms of picking a winner from this sub-category, we kept thinking about how people develop the precious working knowledge of sheep which must be required for good sheep-farming, and of the sheer love for the work which must be necessary to sustain one through the hardships. I am thinking in particular here of Susan Gibbs’ incredible comment on a blog-post which I wrote during Wovember:

As a wool farmer I can tell you that we are constantly striving to grow wool we can be proud of while taking the best possible care of the animals in our charge. It is hard, dirty work, and no one is getting rich raising sheep.

Given the hard work and lack of financial reward associated with sheep-farming, some serious love and passion for the job must be necessary to keep it going and sustain one through the hard times. I have often heard sheep-farmers expressing their concern at the lack of young people entering the profession, and there is a real necessity to inspire young people to continue the work of older generations if sheep and WOOL are to enjoy a lengthy, extended, indefinite future as the UR TEXTILE. For all of those reasons, we love this photograph for its celebration of a growing bond between two young girls and their lamb…

Betty Walker, “A new friend.”

…and this, from Jody van Dooijewaard.

Jody van Dooijewaard, “this is me with my Finn lamb Lacey (taken last spring).”

However in the end our favourite photo depicting an inspirational relationship between a person and their animal was taken by Amy Karasz and features Neve and Wren. We especially love this photo because of the pure joy, excitement and inspiration it contains, and because we think we see a future shepherd right here. I love the confident, protective way that Neve is embracing Wren, and her jubilant smile.

Amy Karasz, “Neve and Wren.”

The other sub-category of sheep photos which we identified was The Individual Sheep Portrait. If you have looked in the WOVEMBER gallery, you cannot fail to have seen the huge quantity of gorgeous faces, wise eyes and deliciously textural closeups of individual, wool-clad sheep. Here are some of the sheep which made our short list;

Amy Undercoffler “as wooly as they come!”

Dan Sattler-Reimer, “Lamb.”

Kate Knight, “Look into my eyes.”

Kate Cheeseman, “Woolly enthusiasts.”

Lorna De Bono, “Cormo lamb born into the Juniper Moon Farm flock in 2009.″

Annie Cholewa, “Woolfest Wensleydale.”

Daisy Donut, “Baa from woolly Wales.”

Charlotte Mårland, “100% Royal Wool.”

Jeni Reid, “Sheep.”

Denise Floyd, “Soay Sweetheart.”

Joanna Kenny, “Wensleydales in the Winter stuffing themselves with hay.”

Kate Ali, “Pure Wool: Pride of our Islands.”

Lynn Harris, “Wool Producer.”

As with the flock images, it has proved difficult to select a single animal above the others; what makes these photos so incredible are the particular differences between each one, and the collective effect of seeing them all together. There is an impact associated with seeing these different, individual sheep side-by-side in one gallery; of seeing the different shapes, expressions and fleeces of all these different breeds. We found ourselves once again consulting the original WOVEMBER manifesto to help us to make a decision re: a winning sheep portrait, and we chose “Goldilocks” by Helena Callum.

Helena Callum, “Goldilocks.”

I confess that I am not 100% certain whether this breed is a Cotswold sheep, (as suggested by it wide, white nose) or a Wensleydale (I don’t think so, because normally the Wensleydale’s have a darker skin, but its locks appear very Wensleydale-ish) and I would be very grateful if someone with some expertise could help me to identify this fine animal. Either way, this sheep belongs to the English Longwool family of sheep, on which the British Wool Trade was historically built, and in this photo it is uniquely possible to see the long, curly tendrils of fibre which comprise wool on the sheep, mixed up with the straw and hay which are part and parcel of its life as a working animal.

I hope it has been useful and fun for you to see how we have thought about the sheep-photos which you all submitted to the WOVEMBER gallery… it has been very thought-provoking to think about all the entries. I hope you will agree that in the end we have selected photos which speak broadly across the sheep category of photos about our cultural, agricultural, emotional and historical relationship with these wonderful animals.

Deborah Barr, “Encounter on Gamle Strynesfjellsvegen, Norway”

Congratulations, Deborah! You win a £100 voucher from Jamieson & Smith!

Best sheep photos: sponsored by Blacker Designs

Lucy Razzall, “Henry Moore’s Sheep”

Helena Callum, “Goldilocks”

Amy Karasz, “Neve and Wren”

Congratulations Lucy, Helena, and Amy! Amy wins a £20 voucher from Blacker Designs, and Helena and Lucy will receive £10 vouchers.

Three Bags Full: prizes for the best creative uses of wool

Jenni Byers, “Baa-me!”

Antje Hackius, “Tangent”

Meredith Small, “Time for Tam Frames”

Congratulations Jenni, Antje and Meredith! You each win a special “3 bags full” box of British woolly goodies!

We had a very difficult time choosing our winners, and were really inspired by everyone’s photos. Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter, and made the WOVEMBER gallery such a varied, vibrant place!

I chose agriculture.

My amazing tome of assembled images has long since been lost in the annals of time and many house-moves, but the artist whose work has stayed with me from that early research project is Jean-François Millet. After trawling through the endless (and vague) scenes of pastoral idylls in the background of many a Western painting, Millet’s detailed and visceral depictions of agricultural labour were a breath of fresh air. The people in his paintings were real; they had muscles and sweat, and their labour was clearly and precisely rendered in his depictions of life in rural France. Millet was one of the key artists who founded the Barbizon school of painters in France, and that group of artists were specifically interested in contesting the dominant, syrupy Romanticism of the era. Working in this way, Millet and his buddies founded the movement in the mid-nineteenth century which we now call Realism. In 1900, Estelle M. Hurll wrote that Millet’s paintings “have a peculiar quality of genuineness beside which all other rustic art seems forced and artificial.”

Jean-François Millet: Haystacks: Autumn, 1874

Although Millet is very famous for his figurative paintings depicting the lives of French peasants, it will come to you as no surprise that my favourite paintings of his involve sheep and the activities of Shepherds and Shepherdesses.

Jean-François Millet: The Sheepfold: Moonlight, 1856-60

These paintings seem quaint and old-fashioned to modern eyes, but at the time in which they were painted, they radically challenged the established ideas about what could be considered ‘beautiful‘. Millet’s paintings made a strong, articulate case for the world to reconsider what was and wasn’t worthy subject matter for ART, turning his eyes away from the established visual fare (models draped in silk and dancing cherubs,etc.) to document everyday life in rural France. Millet saw no value in dolling reality up and said “Let no one think that they can force me to prettify my types… I would rather do nothing than express myself feebly.” Prettiness he may have eschewed, but it seems to me (and my admittedly very limited experience of farming) that Millet nonetheless carved out an expressive and beautiful language for telling it like it is when it comes to farming life.

I remembered all this when Diane – whom we heard from earlier in Wovember – sent me the link for this post, and offered to let us republish it here. Thinking of Millet, I began to fancy that his important ideas live on in some small way here through the many photographs which you all have sent in, and in the stories that we have heard throughout Wovember on this blog regarding wool, labour, industry etc. I feel all projects which search for meaning in the everyday (for instance the everyday meaning of clothes or sounds) are indebted in some way to Millet and the founders of the Realism movement.

I like to think that – were he alive today – Millet would find this site a worthy testament to the animals and landscapes and workers from whom woollen clothes ultimately come. And I like to think that Millet would have eschewed the misuse of the word WOOL by the fashion industry and called it a “feeble” and “prettifying” approach to the truth.

So here is Diane, talking – as a contemporary shepherdess – about her own relationship with Millet’s picture, “Tondeuse de Moutons” or “Sheep Shearer.” In the spirit of Tom’s wonderful post on the relationships between Dutch and English words for sheep and wool, I have left this post as Diane originally published it – in both French and English – because I am sure there are many words in both languages relating to sheep and wool which hold important ideas that cannot be completely translated.

Women, Sheep & Shearing

Since the dawn of time, a very important bond has existed between sheep and man. Sheep were one of the very first animals domesticated by man, providing a source of meat, milk, and of course wool. Additionally, the importance of this special bond between sheep and humans is seen in the many sheep metaphors that can be found in literature, religion, and politics. Think about the 23rd Psalm (“The Lord is my shepherd …”), Panurge’s sheep in the writings of Rabelais, and of course black sheep in the world of politics.

Depuis l’aube de la civilisation, il existe un lien très profond entre l’homme et le mouton. Un des premiers animaux domestiqués par l’homme, le mouton sert comme source de viande, de lait, et bien sûr de laine. D’autres part, l’importance de ce lien particulier entre ovins et humains est mise en évidence à travers de nombreuses métaphores ovines qui se retrouvent dans la littérature, la religion, et la politique. Pensons, par exemple, au 23ème psaume de David (“Le Seigneur est mon berger …”), aux fameux moutons de Panurge chez Rabelais, et aux moutons noirs de la politique.

To a certain extent, the bond between man and sheep is even closer when it’s a question of the link between women and sheep. It is often the shepherdess who watches over the flock. Moreover, for centuries, it’s been women who have been in charge of spinning wool into yarn, either with a spinning wheel or a hand spindle.

D’une certaine façon, cette relation ovine-humaine est encore plus étroite quand il s’agit du lien entre la femme et le mouton. C’est très souvent la bergère qui surveille le troupeau. Surtout, depuis des siècles, c’est la femme qui est chargée de transformer la laine en la filant, soit au rouet, soit au fuseau.

Jean-François Millet (1814-1875), a French painter from Normandy, is well-known for his painting “The Gleaners”. Millet’s paintings depict scenes from rural French life and a number of his paintings testify to the special bond between women and sheep : for example, “The Shepherdess with her flock” and “The Spinner”.

Jean-François MILLET (1814-1875), peintre normand, est surtout connu pour son tableau, “Des glaneuses”. La vie paysanne s’avère le sujet favoris de Millet et à travers plusieurs de ses tableaux, il témoigne de ce lien privilégié entre la femme et le mouton : par exemple, “Bergère avec son troupeau” et “La fileuse”.

Jean François Millet: Shepherdess with her Flock and Dog, 1863-65

As shearing time is just around the corner, I would like to share with you an engraving of one of Millet’s paintings entitled “Sheep Shearer” which was published in 1862 in Le Monde Illustré.

Aujourd’hui, comme le moment de la tonte s’approche, j’aimerais bien vous proposer une gravure du tableau de Millet intitulé “Tondeuse de Moutons” qui a été publié en 1862 dans Le Monde Illustré.

Jean François Millet: Sheep-shearer, 1862

I really like this picture. To be quite honest, I have always thought about shearing as a “man’s job”. Nonetheless, as Millet shows, it’s in fact the woman who is holding the shears!

Je trouve ce tableau très sympathique. Pour être honnête, j’ai toujours considéré la tonte plutôt comme domaine de l’homme. Pourtant, comme le montre Millet, c’est bien la femme qui tient les forces.

I have just started shearing.
What a beautiful reward for a spinning shepherd!

Chez moi, la tonte est commencée.
Quelle belle récompense pour une bergère-filandière!

White fleece : Caramel
Toison blanche : Caramel

Grey fleece : Jasper
Toison grise : Jasper

Brown fleece : Mac
Toison brune : Mac

…I thought we should end WOVEMBER with some nice fleeces. But if you are missing your sheepy fix, check back over coming days to see our gallery and the entries as they are published. Thank you everyone… we hope you have had a Wonderful, Woolly Wovember!

’til next year…

Thank You all so much for your amazing contributions; for your thoughtful comments; for your incredible photographs; for the posts you have done and the tweets you have sent; for the photos you have taken and for the wool you have worn. We started out this month feeling so excited about WOOL and SHEEP, and I don’t think either myself or Kate could have imagined how much that excitement would deepen and grow by sharing it with you all here. So thank you for contributing to that and for giving WOVEMBER momentum and depth with your insights.

You are superb.

Noble Rough Fell Ram, Woolfest, 2009, photograph by Felicity Ford

Some housekeeping…

It will take us a wee while to get all of the photographs uploaded to the gallery page as you are some enthusiastic and prolific photographers! The quantity of entries we have received is impressive, inspiring, and well worth the wait, so do bear with us and we promise you will not be disappointed! Everything submitted before midnight GMT November 30th 2011 will make its way there, but it will take us a few day, as will the judging of all your wonderful photos for the competition. Prizes and winners will be awarded in due course, so stay tuned for further news on that front.

There is still time to buy badges feat. 100% WOOL from my Etsy store; approximately 4 hours of time! All orders placed by midnight GMT November 30th 2011 will be posted out by the weekend. I have applied a 15% discount to all Wovember badge orders placed in the last hours of WOVEMBER; to avail of the offer, type WOVIFYME when prompted to enter a discount code at the check in. Orders of 5 badges and over will also get an additional wool-covered badge for free. All orders placed since Monday will also receive a free WOVEMBER badge.

Finally, there will be one last WOVEMBER post; it will go out later tonight and will be ready for you to read on the run into December.

Wovember — our month-long celebration of WOOL is now drawing to a close. Today, it is very easy to use the internet as a platform for a campaign, but in the 1950s, the Woolmark Company / International Wool Secretariat had a rather different idea to publicise the virtues of wool. They held a competition in which members of the public were invited to send in poems, ending with the line “There is no substitute for wool”. Winners received £5, and their poems appeared as illustrated advertisements on trains and London Underground carriages. These verses quickly achieved a sort of national currency and people who grew up in the 1950s still clearly remember the rhymes of the ‘no substitute’ campaign today. In the majority of winning verses, popular historical figures extoll wool’s many virtues: Leonardo da Vinci fails to invent a sheep; Guinevere knits stockings for the knights of the round table; Nelson insists that his crew are completely wool-clad; a naked Venus is told to wear woolly underwear to ward herself against the chill night air. Other verses — with their references to sputniks, Danny Kaye, ‘squares’ and ‘hipsters’, and a very particular sense of Britishness — speak of their moment in an often intriguing way. In 2005, Richard Proctor compiled the “no substitute” verses into a book which he published in association with the Worshipful Company of Woolmen in 2005. The book once had a website, which no longer seems to exist . . . but I urge you to seek it out. In the meantime, here are some of our favourite ‘no subsititute’ verses.

“What weather,” shivered Master Will,
“Ye ink is frozen in my quill.
I’m sure I’m getting ‘sniff’atchoo’
A dose of 16th century flu.”
Anne Hathaway produced a sweater,
“Ah, Wool,” said Will, “My word that’s better,
By keeping warm, I’ll play it cool
There is no subsitute for wool.”

(Note the scooters and London transport logo)

Yon canny highland crofters keep
A breed of crease-resistant sheep.
They weave wee woollen skirts and slacks,
And sell them to the Sassenachs.
Wool keeps its shape, it’s bound to please –
You’ve nae seen sheep with baggy knees!
At birth bairns learn the highland rule:
There’s still no substitute for wool.

(This next one is intriguing. See Tom of Holland’s earlier post regarding ‘pulling the wool over one’s eyes.’)

When Ministers begin to grouse
At awkward questions in the house
When politicians face distress
At odd disclosures in the press
We look for stuff of fitting size
For pulling o’er our master’s eyes
We then recall the golden rule:
There is no substitute for wool!

“Man, dig that crazy square,” they breathed,
When May grooved in, in woollies sheathed.
“A mouldy fig, no hipster she;
A longhair of pure pedigree.”
But May is gone; she hears them not ,
Because her jive is really hot.
She knows that when the music’s cool
There is no substitute for wool!

I love the frequent references to literature – either novels or knitting literature – which surround Tom’s inventive knitting practices; there are often books, texts or stories connected with the things that he makes, and letters often appear in his knitting.

Sanquhar pencil case for Anthony, by Tom of Holland

I first met Tom at a private view in Prick Your Finger where he was showing a selection of gloves inspired by characters in literary novels, and a few months later I noticed that he had created a knitting pattern for a pencil-case, using Sanquhar letters and techniques. Here is the original design, made for Anthony.

Sanquhar pencil case for Anthony, by Tom of Holland

…perhaps it is this preoccupation with letters and words and knitting and language, which have prompted Tom to write about some of the words in Dutch and English which relate to Wool! All content © Tom of Holland.

ABOUT SCAEP & SCEAP, WOLLE & WULL

Having moved from The Netherlands to the UK over 11 years ago, I am fluent in both Dutch and English and I often find words in one language that appear to have a strong connection to a word in the other. How does this relate to Wovember, you may ask? Well, I hope this will become clear by the end of this post.

Sheep shearing from a Book of Hours by Jehan de Luc, 1524

Wovember is all about WOOL (‘WOL’ in Dutch) and SHEEP (‘SCHAAP’). I think you will agree that there appears to be a similarity between these words, so I opened a few dictionaries to see if my hunch was correct.

This is what www.etymonline.com has to say about the word SHEEP:

Old English sceap, scep, from West Germanic. *skæpan (compare with Old Saxon scap, Old Frisian skep, Middle Low German schap, Middle Dutch scaep, Dutch schaap, Old High German scaf, German Schaf), of unknown origin. Not found in Scandinavian or Gothic, and with no known cognates outside Germanic. The more usual Indo-European word for the animal is represented by ‘ewe’; and, unsurprisingly, this word is related to the Dutch for EWE, which is OOI).

And this about the word WOOL:

Old English wull, from Proto-Germanic. *wulno (compare with Old Norse ull, Old Frisian wolle, Middle Dutch wolle, Dutch wol, Old High German wolla, German wolle, Gothic wulla), from Proto-Indo-European *wele- (compare with Sanskrit urna; Avestan varena; Greek lenos “wool;” Latin lana “wool,” vellus “fleece;” Old Church Slavonic vluna, Russian vulna, Lithuanian vilna “wool;” Middle Irish olann, Welsh gwlan “wool”).

For Dutch readers, you can look up the words SCHAAP and WOL on www.etymologiebank.nl, the entries of which are so similar to etymonline.com for SHEEP and WOOL that providing a translation feels unnecessary.

However, additionally it does give the following quote from 1265-70: “hi stont bi sinen schapen” (he stood next to his sheep). All four words have a veritable heritage, going all the way back to before 1100CE! I love the fact that the word SHEEP is unique to the Germanic language family, and that both English and Dutch use the more usual Indo-European word for the animal for the female SHEEP.

Whenever I look up words in a dictionary I invariably get distracted by the sayings usually found at the end of an entry, and SHEEP, SCHAAP, WOOL and WOL don’t disappoint. What’s more, there are a few sayings particularly apposite to what Wovember is all about:

A wolf in sheep’s clothing / een wolf in een schapenvacht: someone who hides malicious intent under the guise of kindliness.

Both Aesop’s Fables and the Bible contain explicit references to wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Thomas Bewick, ‘The Wolf in sheep’s clothing’ illustration for Fables of Aesop and others, 1818

Geldwolf (direct translation: money wolf): somebody who tries any means to acquire more money.

These two sayings illustrate for me what I love about being bilingual. The wolf in sheep’s clothing could well be a ‘geldwolf’, an association you could only make if you’re fluent in both English and Dutch.

Vijf poten aan een schaap zoeken (direct translation: trying to find five legs on a sheep): trying to find something that isn’t there.

Dyed in the wool / door de wol geverfd: EN: extreme or unchanging in attitude, opinion, etc. NL: 1) experienced, 2) very impudent.

Derived from processes wherein wool is dyed before being woven into cloth, as this makes the fabric more colourfast and therefore more enduring.

Interestingly, this saying has a different meaning in English than it has in Dutch – this is called a “false friend” in linguistic circles – and of course it is the second Dutch meaning that came to my mind here.

Pull the wool over someone’s eyes: to deceive, to hoodwink someone.

The natural assumption is that this phrase derives from the wearing of woollen wigs, which were fashionable for both men and women in the 16th and 17th centuries. The phrase itself is of 19th century American origin, by which time the fashion for wigs had largely died out.

Black sheep of the family / het zwarte schaap van de familie: a worthless or disgraced member of a family.

Possibly because black fleece cannot be dyed so it had less value, although in certain parts of England (Somerset, Kent, Derbyshire, Sussex) a shepherd regarded a black sheep as an omen of good luck for his flock. Of course nowadays wool-geeks positively celebrate the natural colours of wool, be they black or otherwise.

Veel geblaat/geschreeuw maar weinig wol (direct translation: much bleating/noise, but little wool): pretending something is much more substantial than it really is.

Separate the sheep from the goats / de schapen van de bokken scheiden: separate the good from the bad (from the Bible, Matthew 25:33)

Jesus separating sheep from goats, Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, 5th century

Nu heb je het schaap aan het schijten (direct translation: there you have it, the sheep is having a s**t): here comes trouble! I’ll leave it up to your imagination where this saying might derive from…

Als er een schaap over de dam is, volgen er meer (direct translation: if one sheep crosses the weir, more will follow): if one person tries something new, than others will follow.

This probably relates to the herding mentality of sheep and their fear of water. Holland has many canals and ditches separating farmers’ pastures, and if they have to move their flock the sheep are afraid of crossing them. However, once a farmer manages to get one sheep across a weir or bridge, he knows the others will most likely follow suit.

I think I don’t have to spell out for you how many of these sayings can be related to the fashion industry’s misappropriation of the terms WOOL, WOOLLY and WOOLLEN to sell garments that bear no resemblance to the real stuff!

What sayings do you have in your language that contain the words WOOL or SHEEP – or indeed ULD, VILL, LAINE, WOLLE, OLLA, LANA, ULL, BOBHA, GWLAN, OVCE, LAMMAS, MOUTON, SCHAF, DOMBA, SAUER, OVINOS or TUPA? Post them in the comments below. Translations encouraged!

Wool is . . . by Ooey Ollie

Wool is different things to me at different times of the year.

In the summer, wool is hearing the distinct engine noise of a 4 X 4 pulling up outside the wool store, covered in mud and usually connected to an Ifor Williams trailer, full of wool.

The next bit involves greeting the crofters and farmers at our big green doors and dragging in the wool bales before weighing them in, and remembering to mark on the grading number that allows us to track our wool right through processing. We store the bales by piling them up to the roof, usually pulling them up by hand. This gets harder each year as time is catching up with me!

(Oliver drags in bales, and starts to grade. Photo by Billy Fox)

On opening the bales to start grading I have to take a deep breath – how the wool is presented can have a serious effect on my mood!

If the wool is properly presented, all rolled up with the neck displayed, it is a pleasure. However, if it is packed in heels overhead, it becomes a hard chore, especially when packed too tight. Shetland wool can lack uniformity of quality and staple length, so seeing the best part of the fleece at a glance makes the grading much easier to give the best price back to our local wool producers.

(Oliver demonstrating sorting (he doesn’t have his gansey and hat on so it can’t be the real thing!). Photo by Billy Fox)

In the Winter the wool store doors are firmly shut to keep out the storms (we’re being battered today).

This is the time of year when we retreat inside to sorting the various qualities of wool. Sorting involves unrolling each one of our coloured fleeces and separating fine from rough, with four grades in between. These different qualities of wool each have their own special use: rough for hardwearing carpets and the finest, most silky parts for our fine lace yarns.

(Winter’s work – coloured Shetland wool waiting to be sorted. Photo by Jared Flood)

Sorting is both challenging and rewarding. Sometimes a coloured fleece will take the breath from you when you least expect it to, like when you come across a rare marking or a beautiful crimp. But the best bit of my job is seeing the fruits of our efforts come back into the wool store transformed into everything from yarn to scarves to carpets to beds.

(Finished wool products. Photo by Sarah Laurenson)

I think that telling the story of our wool – and the heritage and culture, people and communities behind it – is one of the most important bits of my job. It’s important for the future of the industry in Shetland, and for a new generation of budding crofters and farmers, to tell people why Shetland wool is so special (and has been for centuries) and what an honour it is to be involved with one of the finest natural fibres in the world.

We at Wovember say: hear, hear!

We believe it is wrong to use oil-based or high energy input fibres when wool and other natural fibres are sustainable high-performance raw materials providing warmth, insulation and comfort.

I think there is something very forward-thinking about The Natural Fibre Company. The emphasis on producing sustainable, breed-specific products is akin to contemporary trends within the culture of Farmer’s Markets; if you know exactly what you are buying, where it has come from, how it has been produced, the product has an added value. I love that on The Natural Fibre website for example, you can watch videos detailing the journey of fibre spun there from sheep to shelf. I also like how – as a knitter – you can learn about sheep breeds and their difference fleece qualities by knitting with breed-specific yarns. Blacker Designs provided much of the yarn for an amazing class in knitting with rare breed wool which I attended, and which was run by Deb Robson (whom we heard from earlier in Wovember). I was amazed by the different natural sheep shades which exist, and also by how differently the wool from each different breed behaves when you knit with it.

Close up of Layter, a knitting design by me, using the different sheep breed yarns available from Blacker Designs

You would think that running The Natural Fibre Company, Blacker Designs and Blacker Yarns would be enough for one person, but Sue Blacker – the tireless Managing Director of the company – set out last year to additionally establish WOOLSACK – a London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Inspire Project. Woolsack gives WOOL a notable presence in the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, 2012. The idea is that personal, handmade 100% wool cushions will be given as welcome gifts from the people of Britain to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic athletes. The wool cushions are being produced en masse around the country by knitters, weavers, crocheters, felt-makers etc. according to these guidelines, and stuffed with 100% British Wool at a number of prominent events around the country. An event is currently taking place at Harrogate, to coincide with the knitting and stitching show there. The British Olympic Association requested 40 special red, white and blue cushions for the young athletes representing Britain in Innsbruck, January 2012, and Volunteers are now racing to finish these 40 special cushions by the end of the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate (24-27 November);

At the show, the finished cushions will be stuffed with British wool stuffing and there will be a race against time to finish the last few, to get them to BOA in time. These cushions will be given to the young athletes to encourage them through the final weeks of their training.

- Woolsack Press release, Sue Blacker

The Woolsack website is very comprehensive, reminding visitors that Britain is a country built almost entirely on the wool trade, and that the Lord Speaker in The House of Lords Chamber historically sat on a sack made of wool in recognition of this; it also provides an enormous list of different UK suppliers for 100% British Wool;

Athletes who may be competing in the London 2012 games have already seen sample cushions. Their comments show how much they appreciate the personal nature of this gift handmade entirely from a British grown product. Sue Blacker said, “This gift really is a little bit of Britain to take home with them, while reflecting the importance of wool in England’s history.”

- Woolsack Press release, Sue Blacker

Woolsack puts an emphasis on engaging different communities all around the country with the Olympic and Paralympic Games;

People of all ages and backgrounds, individually or in school, WI, and craft groups across the UK are already busy making up to 14,000 cushions from British wool to be given as personal welcome gifts to the athletes competing in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The project enables everyone including carers, the disabled and those with challenges in their life to have a personal connection to the 2012 Games through making a Woolsack cushion.

Cushions are given to athletes in a very personal way, and the emphasis throughout the project is on celebrating – and finding a fitting use for – the Wool grown in Britain;

Each cushion has the special Woolsack label stitched on and carries a label with a personal gift message from the maker(s).

Moving messages on the cushion labels show how much the makers appreciate the opportunity to have a personal involvement with the 2012 Games. Anyone of any age can contribute towards making a cushion. Several schools in the north of England are learning new skills to enable them to make cushions from British wool, with some donated by local farmers.

- Woolsack Press release, Sue Blacker

It is interesting to consider Woolsack in relation to the other cultural projects proposed by artists to celebrate the woolly heritage of the UK as part of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Consider – for instance – Shauna Richardson’s Lionheart project, in which 3 giant crocheted lions will be toured around the UK, as a reminder of our once-powerful wool trade;

These powerful sculptures reflect the region in both symbol and materials. Richard the Lionheart’s three lions crest is created using locally sourced Peak District wool, celebrating our rich textile heritage.

- Shauna Richardson’s official Lionheart Project website

There was also an excellent proposal by Nancy J Clemance based around Shepherd Huts which sadly did not get chosen by the Cultural Olympiad as a major, regional project;

Nancy J. Clemance proposes Hutliving Project, commissioning artists from a wide range of disciplines to make a creative response to individual shepherd huts across the region’s countryside. These dwellings are currently in varied states of repair, with some being permanently occupied and others in the process of being brought back to life. The specific location of each hut will inspire the shape and look of the artistic commissions and reveal a historical map that reflects a slower pace of life in contrast to our overloaded-consumer generation. From this a new map will emerge to encourage visitors and, by June 2012, it will feature a trail of the finished commissions. Each will be located at least within or nearby their hut and help to provide a new interpretation of England’s rural history, complemented by a series of public events at regional galleries.

- Nancy J Clemance, Thurgarton Iron Works

The idea of the giant lions clad in Lake District Wool is definitely impressive, but Nancy Clemance’s project held the possibility for deeper community involvement with the physical evidence and geography associated with wool production in the UK. I am slightly obsessed with the different types of huts connected with different regions of Britain, and with the Shepherd’s hut as a sort of makeshift and necessary dwelling for minding animals during difficult lambings or harsh winters. I felt that a project which invited artists to look at the spaces which Shepherds historically used would give insights into the poverty and difficult realities often associated with this thankless work – on which England’s great Wool trade depended – whereas the idea of the giant, crocheted lions does somehow allow that side of things to be overlooked in favour of offering woolly novelty and spectacle.

Looker’s Hut, Romney Marshes, photo by Felicity Ford. There are a number of falling-apart dwellings like this, scattered around the marshes, and a very interesting article about the “Lookers” here

When I read about Hutliving – Nancy J Clemance’s proposal for the Cultural Olympiad – I was encouraged by the idea that interest in some of the most neglected, historic spaces in the British landscape – Shepherd’s Huts – might be revived through public engagement. But alas, it was not to be.

Shepherd’s Hut, spotted at Worth Matravers, whilst scouting out the route for Mark’s Walk 2012 project, photo by Felicity Ford

My own modest, woollen contribution to the Olympics will mostly consist of creating woollen socks and walking accoutrements to clad myself and Mark while we undertake his long-distance walk – Walk 2012 – during the London 2012 Olympic Games. We shall walk from the sailing area where the Olympics begin, (Weymouth) to the stadium in Stratford, (London) in time for the closing ceremony. This 180+ mile walk – scouted out entirely by my gorgeous, wool-wearing partner, Mark Stanley – will take in many traditional sheep-farming areas, and I am sure the long hours of walking will be full of talk of Britain’s former flourishing wool trade as we trek through the various counties covered by the walk.

Mark Stanley, looking decidedly beardy (Movember-ish?) after checking out the Walk 2012 route last Summer, photo by Felicity Ford

Incidentally, the socks I knit Mark for the purpose of celebrating his long-distance route-finding skills – and the sweater he is wearing in the photo above – are made in Blacker Designs Yarn, and Mark has written about wool as the bet material for walker’s base-layers here.

Walk 2012 socks, featuring fairisle depictions of many of the sites of interest found between Weymouth and London! Design and photograph by Felicity Ford

However, in considering all the ways in which wool has been associated with cultural plans re: The London 2012 Games, for community involvement credentials it really is hard to beat Woolsack. People have been gathering in dusty halls around Britain for centuries to weave and knit and talk and make such humble things as cushions. For its connection to existing networks of craftspeople, and for its links to a history of Village Fairs and Church Bazaars, I love the idea of the Woolsack project. I also find Woolsack to be an excellent example of the fact that Art and Culture do not just happen in the great cities of the UK, commissioned by ACE, but that people are making things in their houses and their community centres now – as always – and that this too is absolutely as much a part of British Culture as public commissions and gallery exhibitions.

Many people are involved in Woolsack, and it is absolutely connected to the British Wool Trade as it stands today – right from the enthusiastic yarn-purchaser and hand-knitter through to the mill-operators, scourers who wash wool, and all the shepherds with flocks whose wool is suitable for spinning into yarn. It is easy to be cynical about the Olympics – about the time and resources and space that are taken up by hosting the games in London – but they are happening whether you care about Athletics or not. I for one am absolutely delighted that – through the efforts of everyone involved in Woolsack; through Shauna Richardson’s spectacular lions; through the wool we shall wear as base-layers and hats on Walk 2012; and even through the proposal for Hutliving – WOOL will be a part of that.

All the quotes in this post relating to Woolsack have been taken directly from a press-release issued by Sue Blacker, who has also contributed some extra prizes to our Wovember competition (see the competition page for details). Sue suggested that we award vouchers for the best sheep photos entered into our gallery, “because sheep are where it all starts.” We couldn’t agree more, Sue.

Sheep photographed by Mark Stanley, near Itchen, on the Walk 2012 route

I feel strongly that the more transparent this process is, the harder it is for advertisers and marketers to describe non-wool textiles as wool, and the more we can understand the true value and provenance of what it is that we buy and wear.

We heard an industrial spinning story on Sunday from the wonderful Susan Crawford, detailing the whole story of sheep-to-skein from the perspective of developing a commercially-available, mill-spun knitting yarn. This was extremely exciting to me, as it means that – as a handknitter – I can now knit with yarns that can be traced back to a flock of sheep, a spinning mill, and a UK dyer. I also love this fact about the yarns stocked by Prick Your Finger.

However this evening, we shall hear about an even more small-scale and localised sheep-to-skein operation from talented Diane, AKA The Spinning Shepherd. It’s idealistic of me, I know, but I like to think of Diane’s stories covering the journey of sheep to shawl as being a kind of microcosm for the whole wool industry. In a perfect world, all wool be traceable back to animals with names like “Nougatine” and “Praline;” all sheep would be as doted on as Diane’s small flock clearly is; and all textiles would be made with the same eye for detail and quality craftsmanship which is evident in Diane’s knitted projects. Although we cannot realistically ever live in such a world, I think that large-scale textile production has much to learn from the smallholding, where care and attention are placed on every stage of the process, and where the whole journey from sheep-to-shoulders is rendered visible.

Excelana yarn is a brilliant example in which the same appreciation for animals, landscape, sustainability and heritage evidenced in a smallholding like Diane’s can be scaled up for the production of ethical, sustainable, commercially-available yarns; so, too, are the yarns produced in the USA at Juniper Moon Farm where the shearing of the sheep and the spinning of the yarn are shared and explained openly to the CSA share holders and to the general public via the blog…

…but I am running away here to bigger operations… let us return to the inspirational smallholding, where wool doesn’t even leave the farm in its journey from sheep-to-shoulders.

If you do not subscribe to Diane’s blog, I would like very much to suggest it as a necessary enrichment to your virtual, woolly library. Diane’s useful and thorough posts on topics such as how to remove suint from stored wool sit between posts about her ouessant sheep, and details re: her gorgeous knitted projects (Ravelry link) whose development can be traced back to them. I find Diane’s affection for her animals especially moving, and for me the clothes that she makes from her animals are special in ways which nothing anonymously produced and on sale on the High Street ever can be. My favourite thing about reading Diane’s blog is the slow sense of seasonal progression which emerges through following weeks and months of her writings.

“Wintry” window displays on the High St. featuring masses of polyester machine-knits – while referencing a system of seasonal clothing – have nothing to do with it in reality and the seasons of Fashion no longer run in time with the actual seasons and the way that things grow in accord with the sun and the rain. Following Diane’s blog is a great reminder that wool is a slow textile belonging to a slow wardrobe and that it is produced in accordance with the weather and the land. Perhaps this sense of the timings of the natural world is the one that Fashion industries and High St clothes shops can learn most about from smallholders, so that “this season’s Fashion” can once again have a connection to the real timings of plants and animals.

Diane keeps a small flock of ouessant sheep and kindly sent us some photos and words detailing the sheep-to-shoulders process as it occurs on her smallholding in Normandy. I asked her to write a bit about how wool begins life on a sheep and ends up as a hat or a shawl, and to provide dates, so that we may get a sense of the timescales involved in growing and processing one’s own wool. I was in for a lovely surprise, because Diane started with The Ram being introduced to the Ewes. This is when the wool begins, echoing Barbara Parry’s brilliant phrase “The Ram is Half the Sweater“. Here is Diane, The Spinning Shepherd. All photos and words © Diane.

All in the twinkle of an eye!

I love wool : 100% natural, 100% beautiful, 100% wool !

It’s true that I do have a bit of a preference for Ouessant wool. But, I have to say that I love wool in all of its many forms : from the unbelievable fineness of Merino to the beautiful luster of Lincoln Longwool. And let’s not forget Shetland and Corriedale and Romney and ….

..oh yes …. I love them all!

The special properties of sheep’s wool ensures it a place of honor among textile fibers.

But where does this exquisite fiber actually come from ?

What is the actual source of all those woolly balls of yarn that are used to create our lovely jumpers, scarves, and hats ?

For many a knitter, it all begins with a trip to the local yarn shop.

For the spinner, it’s a freshly shorn fleece.

But for the shepherd, it begins on a crisp autumn day.

With a cool breeze blowing … leaves crunching underfoot ….
and the knowing sparkle in the eye of a ram …

Time Line : November 2009

Yes, it’s breeding season ! In French we call it the “Season of Love” : La saison des amours !

After much thought and consideration, the shepherd has put together the breeding groups. And just 5 months later … the first lambs will be born.

Time Line : April 2010

With green pastures in the summer and plenty of hay in the winter this little lamb will grow and mature under the watchful eye of the shepherd, producing a lovely fleece. And the following spring, this lamb will be shorn for the first time.

Time Line : May 2011

Ultimately, every fleece is the end result of 12 months of wool growth and everything that is involved in caring for the sheep during this period.

In many respects it is a labor or love.
But what a beautiful reward for a spinning shepherd!

Although there are many different ways to prepare a fleece for spinning, I would like to show you how I work with my ouessant fleeces.

Before spinning, this fleece is skirted to removed any undesirable bits and pieces. Then it is left to soak in a large tub of cold rain water for 1 week. This will gently remove the suint from the wool and leave only the small amount of lanolin that is naturally found in an ouessant fleece.

Time Line : June 2011

Then, the wool is rinsed in rain water and dried outside on a screen. Even with just cold rain water, this fleece has come out sparkling white.

Time Line : June 2011

Once dry, the wool is ready to be prepared for spinning. I personally prefer combing wool which removes any lingering vegetable matter and short cuts from the longer wool fibers.

Time Line : July 2011

Now that the fiber has been prepared, it’s time to spin !

Time Line : August 2011

Fortunately for the Spinning Shepherd, ouessant sheep come in many lovely natural colors.

Time Line : September 2011

Of course, just the right knitting pattern is needed to show off such a lovely selection of naturaly colored wool. I chose the “Stained Glass Hat” from Green Mountain Spinnery.

Time Line : October 2011

And whether you prefer the subtle charm of naturally colored sheep’s wool or the stunning beauty of dyed wool …

Time Line : November 2011

… remember that it all begins on a crisp autumn day with the knowing sparkle in the eye of a ram.

Sheep Fleece Knowledge + Spinning Knowledge + Distinctive Creative Vision = Amazing Textiles

As proof of our maths, we have a Q&A session with the hugely talented Susan Crawford, in which Susan shares the story behind Excelana – a British yarn developed specifically for knitting vintage inspired garments. I hope you will enjoy seeing how vintage inspiration, a knowledge of yarns past, 2 distinctive UK sheep breeds and worsted spinning expertise from Fibre Harvest come together in this tale of sheep to skein.

Excelana by Susan Crawford and John Arbon, photographed in Prick Your Finger by Felicity Ford

A Lady’s Cardigan from A Stitch in Time Vol. 2, knit in Excelana. Image © Susan Crawford, and used with her permission

Susan is well known for her work with vintage knitting patterns, and at some point in her collaborations with Jane Waller on A Stitch in Time Vol. 1 and A Stitch in Time Vol. 2 - and on her own book of Vintage Gifts to Knit - she decided to apply her knowledge of writing and designing such patterns to developing a yarn specifically made for knitting them.

To this end, Susan has been collaborating with John Arbon of Fibre Harvest to produce a specialist yarn. Excelana is the result of their work together and was launched in March this year. It is a yarn distinctively shaped by Susan’s knowledge of vintage knitwear and John’s expertise in Worsted Fibre processing and spinning. Team Wovember sent questions to Susan, hoping to learn more about how Excelana came about.

Fibre Harvest spinning mill in Devon, Image © Fibre Harvest/John Arbon and used with his permission.

1. Could you say a little about some of the vintage yarns you encountered while researching your book? What, for you, makes them different from many commercially-spun yarns spun today?

Many of the yarns were somewhat coarser than the average commercially-spun yarns we find in shops today, but with that comes longevity – hardwearing, long lasting items could be made from these yarns that lasted many years and could be easily darned to continue even longer or unravelled to be knitted again. There were more finer ply yarns than thick with 2 and 3 ply probably being the most common, although in the 1930s there was a surprisingly wide range of yarns available – even ‘Miss England Knitting Wool for Bathing Wear’ which included self-colours, marls and also space-dyed effects!

Vintage Ballband Images used courtesy of Susan Crawford

Whilst there were some blended yarns – such as wool and artificial silk the majority of yarns were pure wool – the breed of sheep often uncredited but wool nonetheless.

Vintage Ballband Images used courtesy of Susan Crawford

Vintage Ballband Images used courtesy of Susan Crawford

Most yarns tended to be solid colours with some marls and tweeds but the space dyed yarn mentioned above was rather unusual.

2. What, for you, are the distinctive characteristics of a good vintage yarn?

Stretch, recovery, definition, strength, body, warmth.

3. How did you begin to develop Excelana? What was the process?

John had been experimenting with the Exmoor fleece for some time, and discussed with me the possibility of working together to develop the fibre into a commercially viable knitting yarn, rather than it continuing to be used in generic British wool carpet production, as it was usually overlooked for knitting yarn production. I was initially sent samples of the undyed yarn. It had been spun but was not conditioned so had a different feel to the final product. However when I first began sampling we found that the fibres were still a little short overall producing a slightly uneven finish. It was at this point that John decided to combine it with 30% Bluefaced Leicester. This gave the yarn a longer staple and made it a more stable yarn for hand knitting.

Excelana yarn in production, Image © Fibre Harvest/John Arbon and used with his permission.

Once the composition was decided upon it was then my job to choose colours and name them. I went through many old pattern books, shade cards and promotional leaflets to pick names that reflected those that I found but hopefully, without exactly replicating them. ‘Powdered Egg’ has proved to be the name that everyone notices. The dyeing stage followed and we nervously waited to see how well the yarn took colour. I wanted strong, solid colours that echoed the colours I had seen in the old shade cards and balls of yarn that I had studied, but until it came back from the dyers we had no idea how successful this process would be. In the end we had nothing to worry about as the yarn takes colour superbly and the colours matched the various swatches I had sent to the dyer perfectly.

Next came branding, which was again done in-house by my husband, Gavin who is a Graphic Artist. I particularly wanted the phrase ‘vintage yarns for fashion lovers’ to be incorporated onto the ball band as I felt this strap line explained the concept behind the yarn exactly.

Excelana Logo, Image © Susan Crawford, and used with her permission.

The yarn was then put to work in garments for A Stitch in Time, Vol. 2, and really began to show itself as a great yarn for hand knitting, working well on textural, stocking stitch and colour work designs equally well.

A Fairisle Cardigan design from A Stitch in Time Vol. 2, knit in Excelana. Image © Susan Crawford, and used with her permission

4. Was it important to you to use that the yarn be grown as well as processed in the UK? Why?

It was, yes. The entire concept of the yarn was to use an under-utilised product living on the moors in North Devon and to show that wool manufactured from British breed sheep, living on damp, cold moors, can produce a commercially viable yarn that is a pleasure both to knit with and to wear and can be used for fashion knitwear as in A Stitch in Time, where I used the yarn extensively.

The Farmer from North Devon whose Bluefaced Exmoor Sheep provide 70% of the wool used in Excelana, Image © Fibre Harvest/John Arbon and used with his permission.

I don’t think it was ever even a consideration to source yarn from outside of the UK, but if we had the entire purpose of the endeavour would have been undermined to be honest. It is sad that so many people have bad memories of scratchy ‘wool’ jumpers that has put them off ‘wool’ (and in particular, british wool) for life, and we wanted to try and break that association and encourage the use of British breed fleece as hand knitting yarn.

5. Could you say a little about why the Exmoor / BFL blend makes a yarn so well-suited to it’s ‘vintage’ purpose?

Many vintage patterns rely on stretch, recovery, memory, strength, definition and body and the Exmoor/BFL blend has all these characteristics in abundance. Its stretch and recovery is incredible, making it suitable for vintage designs with quite extreme negative ease (where the finished garment is made considerably smaller than the intended wearer so that the garment has to stretch on the body to show off the pattern). The use of features such as gathered, box head and puff sleeves for example, require the yarn used to have some body so that these three dimensional features retain some shape without help, which again Exmoor/BFL blend does very well. There is a lot of colour work featured in vintage patterns, both intarsia and Fair Isle, and the stitches formed by the Exmoor/BFL cling together, making it a perfect yarn for colour work.

A Fairisle swatch for one of the designs in from A Stitch in Time Vol. 2, knit in Excelana. Image © Susan Crawford, and used with her permission

6. Could you tell us about some of the different processing stages of the yarn, and where they take place?

The Exmoor Blueface sheep live on Exmoor and are shorn on Exmoor. John’s mill is also in North Devon and this is where all the sorting, cleaning, processing and spinning takes place.

Carding wool for Excelana, Image © Fibre Harvest/John Arbon and used with his permission.

Combing wool for Excelana, Image © Fibre Harvest/John Arbon and used with his permission.

It is only when it leaves the mill to be dyed that it travels a relatively short distance to the Midlands. It goes from the dyer to the baller who is also in the Midlands, and then back to Devon. So it really is a ‘local’ yarn.

7. Could you say a little bit about the process of collaborating with John Arbon?

It was great fun and an easy collaboration. John and I have a very similar point of view and a shared lifelong love of ‘vintage’ so we understood what each other was looking for. We met as often as possible in Devon to discuss the project but a lot of the work was done ‘remotely’ with John in Devon and myself in Southport, communicating by email, telephone and post. The ‘big’ decisions however where usually made face to face so we could talk things through properly.

8. And a little about how the finished yarn behaves when knitted up?

The finished yarn is an absolute pleasure to knit with. It moves very smoothly over the needles – it flows. The finished fabric contains phenomenal stretch and memory, bouncing right back into shape. It is hardwearing with a slight halo unlike Shetland yarns, however when used for Fair Isle the fibres cling together in a very similar way to Shetland. It is fabulous for textural patterns creating real three dimensional structure to a cabled garment for example. And it is very, very warm. Over the limited tests I have done I would actually say it is warmer than Shetland which has quite taken me by surprise!

9. What influenced your decisions regarding the colour palette for the eventual yarns?

I did a lot of research into colours from the 1930s onwards both in clothes, interiors and knitting yarns of the time. I had access to an amazing shade card at the Shetland Museum which also gave me an insight into the incredible range of colours available in the 1930s. Coupled with this was a need to choose only 7 colours plus the undyed natural wool that would work together when knitted up. This resulted in great deliberation over certain of the choices. A scarlet red for example, whilst appropriate and popular did not work at all when placed with the other colours so hard choices had to be made. I think the colour that was the driving force for the others was Nile Green closely followed by Persian Grey and then Powdered Egg. There is a lot of grey in all the colours which is what unites them and really makes them a palette to work from.

10. Has being involved in developing Excelana given you unexpected or new ideas for patterns/design projects?

Very much so, particularly using negative ease which works so well in Excelana. And also, maybe more surprisingly, the limited colour palette has ‘forced’ me to be very creative with the colours I had available and I have particularly enjoyed experimenting with Fair Isle patterns using different combinations of only 8 colours. The changing results are very satisfying. The colours almost work like paints reacting to each other when partnered next to each other.

A Fairisle swatch for one of the designs in from A Stitch in Time Vol. 2, knit in Excelana. Image © Susan Crawford, and used with her permission

11. And just for fun: what is your favourite sheep?

Ooh, thats a toughie. In the past I would always have said Shetland as having spent a lot of time there in the last couple of years they are what I see in my head if I think ‘sheep’. However the Exmoor Blueface has proven itself to be an equally wonderful sheep that I don’t know whether I can choose between them I’m afraid. However, I’m going to go with Exmoor Blueface as without it there would be no Excelana.

Exmoor Blueface Sheep, Image © Susan Crawford, and used with her permission

That’s the end of the Q&A; we hope you agree that our mathematical equation is proven! For a review of how Excelana wears, you can read this from earlier in the month.

Please note: Excelana is available to buy online at www.susancrawfordvintage.com, where you can also buy copies of her wonderful books.