IxCHeL Fibres, Yarns & Art: Time for a rare breed

How cute is this little fluffy sheep !

Happy Friday again to everybody ! It has been a full on week !! Honestly I am starting to run around like a headless chook, trying my best to be as organized as I possibly can. The piles of yarn dyed and drying are starting to build up … I still have soooooo much to do, so I am starting to panic a wee bit …lol

I have been prepping, blending and dyeing a new blend, but most of all: lots and lots and lots of YARN for the upcoming Handknitters guild show that is held over TWO days this year, after it was cancelled last year due to the corona virus outbreak.

Obviously things in these times are still a bit …eh….fluid, but as it stands, I am happy to announce that I will be there with lots of yarns and fibres and lots more. The venue this year is the same as years before:

The Coburg Town hall on Bell street.

Saturday 15th the doors will open at 10am and close at +/- 3:30pm

Sunday 16th : Doors Open to public at 10am and close at 2pm

I would like to ask everybody to follow the covid safe rules: wear a mask please. I will have hand sanitiser at the entrance of the stall as well for everybody to use. Since I am such a big hugger ; The most problems I will have is to not hug everybody after not seeing all my friends and customers for such a long time !! LOL

Not a lot of people will have been vaccinated and even if you have been lucky enough to get your COVID 19 vaccine shot, please wear a mask, wash your hands.

There is a ticket booking site available (trybooking.com: yarn and craft market 2021) , but I believe that a few final tweaks are still being made to accommodate the two days of this show. Please let me know if you have any questions. I will try my best to help :-)

Here's a list of fluffy stuff and yarns I will have available:

YARNS

Handspun pure angora yarn

handspun angora wallaby yarn

handspun guanaco yarn

handspun angora cashmere silk yarn

hand dyed IxCHeL sock yarn merino/silk/nylon , custom spun for us right here in Victoria

Hand dyed IxCHeL Gaia DK 8 ply yarn custom spun here as well !

Hand dyed grown, processed and dyed cashmerino lace yarn , mostly botanically natural dyed !

Hand dyed IxCHeL Silver star sock yarn in a smoochy cashmere merino nylon and silver stellina

mini skeins

IxCHeL Tweed yarns in mohair/lambswool AND pure wool !

FIBRES

Angora tops

Rare breed tops

merino silk tops handdyed

Bunny Bison Bliss tops

Blue Faced Leicester SIlk tops

Camelbunny silk tops

Cashmere fling tops

Guanaco tops

Hog island tops

Magic Bunny tops

Mulberry silk tops

Nr 5 luxury tops

Rapunzel tops

Tundra Qiviut tops

Vampire deer tops

Vicuna blend tops

and

a few SALE items as well (so called "Blind dates" lol

There will be lots of vendors there and to make it easier for you all to see who and where and what I can share this planned overview (I see the blog can only accommodate a very small version of this, so please enlarge it on your computer or mes or email me for a copy) The IxCHeL stall is in the left hand bottom corner (L shape) when you come in the door: turn left and you can't miss me! I am probably looking like Cousin IT at the moment but with fluo pink hair....lol

Handknitters guild show 2021 vendorplan
(this is the planned set up but is of course Subject to change ! )

Apart from all the above I also have been doing some blending of new adventures coming up and organizing new rare sheep breeds for 2021 ! It is all happening in June: I have a few super special rare sheep breed blend adventures waiting to show and I hope that I will have them finished by June. All will be revealed on this blog ! Again, It seems that I really had no time to spare ….again!

So, before I head back to the dye room tonight: the blog update inspiration is a fabulous rare sheep breed called Castlemilk moorit. I have finally gotten my hand on some amazing fluff from this breed again and I can tell you: this harvested castlemilk moorit is truly amazing ! I only have a limited supply again sorry to say, because these creatures are really not that common ! If you want some, please do not hesitate to message me on insta or facebook or email me.

Have a fun weekend everybody! Stay safe! Be kind and have lots of awesome crafting time !

Castlemilk Moorit Sheep
(photo:RBST Caledonian Support Group)

Castlemilk Moorit Sheep

Castlemilk Moorit sheep are the cutest most feisty little things. The Castlemilk Moorit sheep breed take their name from the Castlemilk estate in Dumfriesshire, where they originated in the early 1900s. They were originally bred to provide meat, wool to make clothing for the estate workers, and also to prance around the parklands of the estate. They are graceful, elegant sheep with fine, kemp-free wool, which is mid honey brown (moorit is a Scottish word for brown) at the base and bleached to a fawn colour at the tips.

Castlemilk Moorit sheep have some Manx Loghtan sheep and mouflon sheep breed ancestry and have retained the interesting mouflon markings of white underbelly, lower jaw, knee, eye markings (‘spectacles’) and a white rump patch. They are also feisty and pretty fast!

Once clipped they look totally different – almost like deer – as they revert to the dark brown colour for a few weeks, until the growing fleece bleaches back to fawn at the tips. At one point in the early 1970s Castlemilk Moorits were reduced to only around 12 individuals and could easily have simply ‘disappeared’. However, those few remaining were rescued in two groups, including six ewes and two rams which were taken to Cotswold Farm Park. All of today’s Castlemilks, which include around 700 registered females, are descended from these two small groups.
In the past couple of years the breed has been downlisted from the ‘Endangered’ to the ‘Vulnerable” category on the RBST watchlist – a big success.

As with everything the way that you scour and process the fibre is very important. The fleece of the castlemilk moorit ranges from 28 to 32 microns and the staple length is about 6 cms. The outer edges of the staple are often bleached by the sun and the locks often have a pointy tip. I find it very easy to spin : pretty fine and pretty soft. It is not that easy to get hold of this quality fibre so I only have a limited amount, but it is oh so worth it !

Warning : There is only a very limited quantity available.

Castlemilk Moorit Sheep Tops

100+gram tops, Natural AU$23.

NEW IxCHeL Tweed Yarn

Hand dyed

Super soft lambs wool 70% and Kid Mohair 30%

Spun singles, fingering or sock weight yarn

+/- 200meters/218yards

50grams 1.76oz

AU$18

Botanical dyes

(dyed with Eucalypt, Madder root, Walnut, Elderberry, Indigo,Acorn)

Indigo

Unicorn Speckles

Jewels

To order: email or message me on facebook or Instagram, quoting the colourway and the quantity you would like, together with your postal address and I will get right back to you with all the payment details.

IxCHeL Tweed Yarn

Hand dyed

Super soft lambs wool 70% and Kid Mohair 30%