Happy Friday !
Now on with info about this amazing rare sheep breed : Romanov sheep sourced from Ukraine ! As you can imagine it has taken quite a bit of doing to get my hands on this fibre to make this very special blend but it is so worth it. Not only to handle this fibre blend but also to support the small farms who are lovingly raising and caring for these animals in the middle of harsh conditions.
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The Romanov Sheep originally hail from the Upper Volga area of Russia and were named after a town in the region. The breed first came to prominence in the 18th century. Mature male rams reach up to 80kgs in weight, with ewes averaging 40-50kgs.
The Romanov sheep are a very early maturing breed, the Romanov can reach full sexual maturity as early as 3-4 months old!
They can also breed at any time of the year and ewes are very prolific, sometimes having up to six lambs per birth. Multiple births are extremely common in this short-tailed breed.
They are very hardy and very strong and are well adapted to harsh cold climates. They are generally black in colour when born, though this changes to grey as they mature. Their face and legs are usually black in colour as well, with large white markings common on the top of their heads.
Their wool is famed for being very strong and resourceful and is double-coated. Their undercoat is about 16-22 microns and their outercoat is 40-150 microns.
The average fleece shorn from a Romanov weighs 4.5kgs in total.
From sourcing to dehairing and blending it took me about two years for me to get this blend to you. Lot sof sourcing, lots of forms and administrative rules and regulations ! And, The wool needs a lot of creativity in preparation!
Unlike most double coated breeds where the outercoat is significantly longer than the undercoat, the Romanov’s two coats are of similar length. This complicates the job of separating the coarse fibres from the fine undercoat! The right set of wool combs have done the trick but it takes a loooooong time.
You may know I love to dye over a base that is grey or brown: it makes the dye so much more interesting and deep. The colour of the Romanov is grey and absolutely amazing to dye and spin There are no guard hairs in the blend at all and because I have blended it with Silk, Cashmere, Angora and the softness is out of this world. I wanted to incorporate a bit of that shine and shimmer that you see when a fresh coat of snow has fallen and the sun shines on it, so I added mulberry silk for that lustre and shine effect. As you can imagine I only have a very limited amount available: some natural and some dyed.
Here are tonight’s exciting new offers !
Romanov Sheep Blend Tops
Romanov Sheep, Mulberry Silk, Cashmere, Angora Bunny
100+ gram tops AU$28
You can find all the colourways on the IxCHeL shop here: https://ixchel.com.au/products/romanov-tops
Orange moon magic
The Séance Society
Pebble beach
Wuthering Heights
Pussy riot
Cosmic Nature
Peacock Party
Vampire kiss
Inkheart
Natural
IxCHeL club sign ups for the 3rd quarter (July, August, September) are open !
If you want to receive a fibre, yarn or batt club surprise parcel every month then join the IXCHEL art journey clubs 3rd quarter now.
Numbers are strictly limited !
Numbers are strictly limited !
Visit the IxCHeL shop here for all the details: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/clubs
Note to all International club members: All international club parcels are shipped with tracking. There is an option of having all three of your clubs shipped together to save on shipping cost: Just ask me for a postage quote !
For all of you who would like a combination of different clubs: please contact me and I will send you an invoice with all the clubs of your choice combined, which saves you heaps on postage costs.
Here’s a teaser label of the June club. The inspiration for this month is Mirka Mora. One of the most loved artists in Australia and who has lived an amazing life, narrowly avoiding Auschwitz during WW2 and finally settling in Melbourne in the early fifties, where they had landmark cafes and restaurants becoming a magnet for artists, writers and intellectuals. Mirka was pivotal in establishing the acclaimed Heide museum of Modern Art together with the artists John and Sunday Reed. If you’d like to read more about this amazing artist I highly recommend her non conventional autobiography “Wicked but Virtuous” which gives an eccentric account of life lived to the utmost, the highs and lows of Mirkas bohemian existence, her work, her lovers, family and her love for cats and all animals, which are often depicted in her artworks.
The Artwork that inspired the colourway of the June club is her oil painting from 2004 “The Rabbit and family”.
Tweed yarn inspirations to keep you warm
isn’t it gorgeous how the IxCHeL tweed Kangaroo paw knits up?! I loooove knitting raglan sleeves too btw: makes for a perfect shaped fit
all the different coloured exciting tweed yarns are available on the IxCHeL shop here: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/tweed
Better get back to the dye pots! Something very special is brewing for next weeks shop update and the clubs are getting their dyebath as well !
Have a fun weekend !!!
Any questions? Any custom orders for yarn or dyeing fibre? : Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.
To shop the new update and all things new on the IxCHeL website click here: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/whats-new
To see what I am up to on a day to day bases, please follow me on Instagram where I am @ixchelbunny
RABBIT ON !
((hugs))
Charly
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