last december i had a booth at the toronto one of a kind show where i was selling my handspun yarn and knitwear. the first question people inevitably asked was "is this newfoundland wool?" and i had to say no. newfoundland fleece has been surprisingly hard to get. there are few sheep here now compared to in the past and they are raised mainly for meat. when the sheep are sheared the fleece is discarded and would be in too rough a state for a spinner to do much with it. after my interview last week when i put out a call for a source of fleece, i got quite a few calls and emails. i needed a source that was fairly close to where i live so that shipping wouldn't be too expensive. and i also needed someone to wash the fleece for me. this is not a big job if you're only washing a few ounces but a big job if you're dealing with pounds. early in the week i got a call from kay in daniel's harbour (if you're not from here you've probably seen daniel's harbour on the news - it's the community that is eroding into the sea and there was amazing footage a couple of years ago of a house seemingly being swallowed up). kay has fleece and she's willing to wash it (she needs to wait till the weather changes because she washes it in tubs and dries it outside). she sent me a sample yesterday. the sheep are "newfoundland heritage" a hearty breed that's been in the province for centuries. the fleece is soft and wirey (kind of like newfoundland men!)- a perfect combination for spinning and knitting.
last december i had a booth at the toronto one of a kind show where i was selling my handspun yarn and knitwear. the first question people inevitably asked was "is this newfoundland wool?" and i had to say no. newfoundland fleece has been surprisingly hard to get. there are few sheep here now compared to in the past and they are raised mainly for meat. when the sheep are sheared the fleece is discarded and would be in too rough a state for a spinner to do much with it. after my interview last week when i put out a call for a source of fleece, i got quite a few calls and emails. i needed a source that was fairly close to where i live so that shipping wouldn't be too expensive. and i also needed someone to wash the fleece for me. this is not a big job if you're only washing a few ounces but a big job if you're dealing with pounds. early in the week i got a call from kay in daniel's harbour (if you're not from here you've probably seen daniel's harbour on the news - it's the community that is eroding into the sea and there was amazing footage a couple of years ago of a house seemingly being swallowed up). kay has fleece and she's willing to wash it (she needs to wait till the weather changes because she washes it in tubs and dries it outside). she sent me a sample yesterday. the sheep are "newfoundland heritage" a hearty breed that's been in the province for centuries. the fleece is soft and wirey (kind of like newfoundland men!)- a perfect combination for spinning and knitting.
5 comments:
ooohhh it looks gorgeous! and it looks like it will be fun to dye too!
luck you to find someone with the right kind of sheep! good luck with your spinning!
oh...you are funny! I wonder how it would felt? and of course, dye?
Great Shawn. I actually know that lady I think. I am glad you found someone. My parents are not at home until another week or so, and I haven't been talking to them about the wool. I will let you know though.
Wow, I would love to source some local wool for toy stuffing! It looks great!
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