Magical new sheep blend adventures

A new sheep blend adventure ! Shetland dream!

 

Happy Friday ! The last Friday of August! Can you imagine!?! This year is flying by at lightning speed! 
This week has been super busy here! Again..lol Thankfully I am almost over the remnants of the flu that have been haunting me for the last three weeks! For two weeks I could hardly do anything, definitely not dyeing and standing over dye pots all day like I am used to, which put a huge pressure on me because the august clubs had to be sent out! A bit of a delay there for that reason, but I am happy to say that all the clubs were shipped last Tuesday morning. I have put a teaser up on my socials and on my YouTube channel ( I am Ixchelbunny there too..surprise surprise…lol)

After all the dyeing and carding and packing of the August clubs, I immediately got started on dyeing the adventure I have on offer for you today! You can immediately tell by the new  colourway names what I have been inspired by and reading during the time I could hardly do anything but…read …and you will know exactly what I’ve been up to…yes… Terry Pratchett’s Discworld…and watching Good Omens series 2. What an inspiration it obviously was.

here are some previews: 

There be Dragons colourway

The Unseen University Colourway

and ….

one of my favourites: Mort

I have also concocted a bit of a different rainbow colourway I called “magical rimbow” and for all of you Terry Pratchett fans out there here’s a quote on that infamous pot of gold at the end of the rainbow:

“But, in truth, it had not exactly been gold, or even the promise of gold, but more like the fantasy of gold, the fairy dream that the gold is there, at the end of the rainbow, and will continue to be there forever - provided, naturally, that you don't go and look. This is known as finance.”   

 

 

Paul has been super busy again making some gorgeous phang support spindles! Phangs are very nice spindles to spin yarn on: they spin  much “slower” than say Russian or Tibetan spindles but they are great to create anything from fine to bulkier yarn. Support spindles are my go to spindles whenever I want to relax: they are, what I consider, very “zen” type spindles, spindles with an almost meditative effect. Saying that, everybody is different of course and thankfully so! They are not quite finished yet, but I am hoping we can finish them this week so keep an eye out on the IxCHeL shop!

Please don't forget the sign ups for the next clubs, starting in September, are open! You can find all the information right here when you click on the link: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/clubs

oh yes, before I forget!! There be Stitch markers as well on offer this week and they are super cute!!  There are honey bee stitch markers and kitten and cat stitchmarkers! Here are some photos:

The new Shetland Dream tops update can be found here : https://ixchel.com.au/collections/whats-new

Shetland Dream blend with a gorgeous fine Shetland blended with Mulberry Silk and a dash of super soft Cashmere.

I am still dreaming of going to the Shetland Wool week sometime, but in the meantime I am armchair travelling and reading lots of fabulous Shetland stories and hoping to be as accomplished as I can knitting colourwork and spinning beautiful Shetland fibres. I am a big fan of colourwork and all things Scotland, including the books by Ann Cleeves and the tv series “Shetland”..of course !  The new Shetland wool week issue nr 9 is out for pre order btw! 

Here is the link if you want to order your own Shetland adventure : https://www.shetlandwoolweek.com/annual/

Also: did you know that the IxCHeL tweed yarns are PURRFECT to knit fair isle and colourwork! Lots of colours available and you can find them on the IxCHeL shop in the yarn section!

The story of Shetland wool and textiles is intricately entwined with the people and the place. Remote and rugged, Shetland’s ancient landscape has been home to the unique sheep and inspired craftspeople for centuries. Textiles have been key to the shaping of Shetland’s society, economy and culture and the story continues to this day! 

Shetland has something that makes it truly stand out amongst other places - there’s a rich, vibrant knitting, spinning and textile scene and the industry has been revitalized in the last decade. People care more about the provenance of their clothing, are interested in hand made and the stories that it holds. A decade ago, not many people would have imagined that knitting and spinning would go through such an incredible resurgence and that Shetland and Shetland sheep would once again become a very important place.

Sheep have lived on the Shetland Islands for well over 1,000 years, adapting to the harsh environment and thriving in the cold, wet climate.

The sheep of Shetland were an important part of subsistence agriculture of the islands, and the rugged habitat and geographical isolation produced a breed that is distinct and significant. The Shetland breed likely descends from ancient Scandinavian sheep, and it is a member of the northern short tailed sheep breed family. Historically, only a few Shetland sheep were exported, and it was not until recently that large populations were established on the British mainland and in other countries. Though fleece continues to be the breed’s primary product today,

Shetland sheep are fine boned and small in size. Rams weigh 90–125 pounds, and ewes weigh 75–100 pounds. Most rams have spiraled horns, while most ewes are polled. Shetland sheep are calm and charming in disposition, docile, and intelligent. The Shetland breed is especially prized for its wool, which is fine, soft, and strong. Fleeces average two to four pounds and vary in crimp from wavy to straight. Other characteristics of the fleece vary according to recent selection history.
Populations of Shetlands in Britain, for example, have been selected for more standardized characteristics. These sheep tend to be single coated with fiber diameter averages of 23 microns and staple lengths of two to five inches.

Landrace populations, such as those on the island of Foula, include a greater range of fleece types. These sheep may be double coated, with coarser outer wool of 30-40 microns and finer inner coat wool of 12-20 microns.

Eleven colors and thirty color patterns are recognized in the Shetland breed. This diversity is a great asset both to the breed and to the fiber artisans who enjoy using its fleeces. A few importations of Shetland sheep are documented in North America during the past two centuries. For example, Thomas Jefferson, owned a small flock of Shetland sheep at Monticello. None of the historic flocks, however, survived as purebred populations. Most Shetland sheep in North America descend from a 1980 importation of 32 sheep by the late G.D. Dailley of Ontario, Canada.

Unfortunately there are no Shetland Sheep in Australia. I have been very fortunate to secure this supersoft batch of 18,4 micron Shetland which is truly extraordinary to spin, felt, knit and wear.

The Shetland Islands were originally settled by Neolithic farmers over 4500 years ago. The horns of the sheep they raised have been found in archaeological digs on the islands, providing evidence of their presence. 

When the Vikings invaded and settled the Shetland Islands around the year 800, they brought over some short-tailed sheep from their continental herds, which interbred with the local sheep to produce further variation in an already hardy breed. 

By the year 1200, farmers began breeding the sheep of the Shetland Islands with some of the long-woolled sheep that had been brought north by the Romans. Either by accident or on purpose, this developed wool that was both longer and softer, and was therefore quite desirable for woolen goods that could both be used at home and that could be traded. 

 In 1468, the Shetland Islands were mortgaged to Scotland to raise a dowry for the marriage of Margaret, a Danish princess, to James III of Scotland. A few years following the marriage, the Scottish decided to just go ahead and annex the islands. Despite the protests of the Danes, they succeeded and the Shetland Islands became a part of Scotland. Trade in wool from the Shetland Islands was already occurring by this point, although it was likely happening only with Scotland and the Nordic countries. However, by the early 1600s knitted stockings from Shetland sheep wool, well known by then for its softness and comfort, were available through trade to the English and the Dutch populations. 

 In 1707 the Shetland Islands officially became a part of the Kingdom of Great Britain when the Acts of Union united England and Scotland as one country. At this time, wool from Shetland sheep was already widely known as a quality wool that was already softer than much of the other wool that was available. Except, of course, for the wool from Spain’s Merino sheep, which was highly regarded throughout Europe as the softest wool available on the market. 

As the late 1700s arrived, Great Britain set their sights on disrupting Spain’s firm grip on fine wool market. It is important to understand that the wool industry in Europe during the 1700s and early 1800s was as beneficial to a country’s economy as industries such as steel, aluminum and technology are today. A country that could produce fine wool in great quantities was a country that would have a solid financial base, and with a solid financial base came power and influence. Great Britain wanted to be that country, and believed that by acquiring Spain’s Merino sheep to breed with their own, the British wool industry would as least be equal to Spain’s – if not outright exceed that of Spain’s. Unfortunately for Great Britain, Spain simply didn’t want to give them any Merino sheep. Spain tightly controlled their Merino sheep and while Spain had made gifts of Merino sheep to some countries beginning in 1735, England was not on their list. Who could blame them? Prior to Spain’s development of Merino sheep, the English had been dominant players in Europe’s wool industry and Spain certainly did not want them to regain their position in the wool market. Enter King George III of Great Britain, Sir Joseph Banks, and Sir John Sinclair. 

By the 1880s, King George III had commanded Sir Joseph Banks to either find or develop a sheep that could compete the Spanish Merinos. At this point in history, a revolution in English sheep breeding using methodical, scientific and selective techniques had been going on within Great Britain for a couple of decades (see the article on Bluefaced Leicester). So, King George III and Banks had good reason to believe that by identifying and breeding just the right sheep, they could come up with something that would allow Great Britain to compete with Spain’s wool industry. With Merinos unavailable, Banks looked around the globe for sheep that would be suitable for wool-improvement purposes, even going so far as to examine sheep from Tibet. Sir John Sinclair of Scotland, a friend of Banks, had identified Shetland sheep as a promising breed. King George III was already a fan of having his stockings made of Shetland wool. The question was, could Shetland sheep be bred for the qualities the British wanted to have without Merinos, or would Merinos be required? Banks and Sinclair began a long correspondence by letters during the late 1780s through the 1790s exploring the possibilities. Sinclair sent samples of Shetland wool to Banks, but Banks was doubtful that the samples being sent to him, while fine and soft, were representative of the entire breed. He had noted that “stichel hairs,” longer and coarser hairs, were found in samples procured elsewhere. In fact, this was because many of the Shetland sheep of the time, like Icelandic sheep, were double coated and could produce both fine and thicker wool. Some Shetland sheep today still retain this trait. 

 Sinclair pressed Banks for many years to consider Shetland sheep as what Great Britain needed to breed for fine wool, describing what he referred to as the “kindly breed” of Shetland, or Shetland sheep that did not have the double coat with longer hairs that Banks disliked. He gifted Shetland wool to Banks that was “properly dressed and prepared” to exclude the long, rough hairs, making sure to include separate samples for Banks’ wife. He continually sent letters to Banks reassuring him that many of the Shetland sheep were free from the dreaded “stitchel hairs,” and then sent more letters discussing how he was looking at sheep from Denmark without long, coarse wool that might be bred with the Shetland to further reduce that trait. In another letter he describes how it is the method of gathering wool that produces the soft locks that Sinclair is looking for – Shetland sheep at the time, and many even today, will molt which allows the wool to be plucked off of the sheep. Sinclair let Banks know that this process, called rooing, meant that the wool was sorted between the fine wool and coarse wool as the plucking occurred. Despite all of Sinclair’s efforts, Banks was unconvinced that Shetland sheep were the answer. He continued to look for ways to get Merino sheep to breed with the sheep of Great Britain, which he was certain was the solution to improve the wool qualities in British flocks. 

In 1787, Banks managed to get two Merino rams and four Merino ewes out of Portugal, which became the base of the royal flock. Around this time, it can been seen from Sinclair’s letters that he gave up on the quest to convince Banks that Shetland sheep were the way of Great Britain’s future. Instead, Sinclair began to focus on breeding newly acquired Merinos from the royal flock to other sheep, and the Shetlands’ moment of glory began to fade. The Shetlands, like several other breeds of British sheep from that time, started to disappear as interbreeding for wool improvement resulting in the development of other lines of sheep. 

By the early 1920s, there were not many purebred Shetland sheep left. The wearing of Fair Isle sweaters by the British royal family in the early 1920 may have saved Shetland sheep from extinction. Fair Isle knitting is a stranded colourwork technique named after Fair Isle, one of the Shetland Islands, where distinctively patterned sweaters were knit using the technique. 

These sweaters began their rise to popularity in 1921, when the Prince of Wales (later Edward III) wore his in public. Knitted mainly with the many hues of naturally colored wool produced by the sheep of the Shetland Islands, along with some dyed wool accents, these sweaters began to become immensely popular with the broader public. 

The Fair Isle sweater hit the height of its popularity in the 1950s, although by that point it was often just the technique and design that made a sweater a Fair Isle sweater; it was no longer necessarily expected that the wool of the sweater be from the Shetland Islands, although if it was it did give the sweater that extra authenticity. With the burgeoning popularity of Fair Isle sweaters, it is perhaps not surprising that a group of 1920s Shetland islanders were motivated to preserve the few remaining lines of Shetland sheep. 

The Shetland Flock Book Society started in 1927, and around the same time the government was approached for assistance. The Department of Agriculture for Scotland agreed to support the effort by providing subsidies for purebred Shetland rams. The breed recovered slowly, though. Even the Fair Isle sweaters that were still knitted in the Shetland Islands during the 1950s did not necessarily use wool from the Shetland breed of sheep – there were still too few purebred Shetland sheep around, and the style of the day required bright dyed colors rather than the variety of natural colors provided by Shetland sheep – and dyed wool could be gotten from any sheep with white wool, not just white-wooled Shetland sheep. 

 By 1977, Shetland sheep were still listed as an endangered breed by the Rare Breed Survival Trust. However, interest in the sheep blossomed over the next several years, and by 1985 Shetland sheep were removed from the endangered breed list. It was perhaps not coincidental that the 1980s also marked the time during which Shetland sheep became popular among small farmers in United States. Although a few Shetland flocks had existed in the U.S. prior to the 1920s, it wasn’t a popular breed in the country until the 1980s, a time when many farmers in the U.S. were experiencing a renewed interest in rare breeds. 

A few Shetland flocks are on record as having existed in the United States during the early 1900s. However, from 1921 until the 1980s, Shetland sheep were not allowed to be imported to the United States, which prevented U.S. farmers from acquiring Shetland sheep during those decades. Today, though, a number of U.S. farmers are making up for lost time by raising Shetland sheep. It is a rare county fair, state fair, or fiber animal show that does not include these adorable little sheep among its ranks of livestock. 

Shetland sheep come in a wide variety of marking and colors – they include white sheep, black sheep, and a wide range of browns and grays. As a heritage, unimproved breed, Shetland sheep have one of three different kinds of fleeces: kindly/single-coated, long, and double-coated. The kindly/single-coated is the finest and shortest of the fleeces at only about 2-4 inches in length; it is used for fine knits such as lace, shawls and finely worked socks. The long fleeced Shetlands with soft and long staple wool between 4-8 inches in length are the most common these days, and much of the available yarn on the market is spun from their fleeces. 

The double-coated Shetland sheep are even more versatile than that of either of the other types, having a remarkably soft undercoat of wool and long and lustrous outercoat of wool that can reach lengths between 6-10 inches or more. The coats of the double-coated sheep can be separated, or spun together. Generally, Shetland wool has a thickness of 23-25 microns, but is can be even finer or thicker depending upon where it is gathered from the sheep. Wool between 10-20 microns can be gathered from the neck and shoulders, while wool between 25-30 microns can be gathered from the britches. Like Merino, many people who find wool to be irritating to their skin discover that wearing clothing made from the wool of Shetland sheep to be quite comfortable and not itchy at all. The wool is graded from Fine at its smallest diameter of 10 microns to Medium at its largest diameter of 30 microns, making it a very comfortable wool to wear.

Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable❤️💕❤️

Have a wonderful, fun and creative week! Do what you LOVE and do it often 💕

Big hugs

 Charly

Yarn Sale Extravanganza

 

Happy Friday everybody! What a week it has been again! I am slowly but surely getting over my flu. This one has really set me back a week at least but I can see a silver lining appearing at the end of the tunnel…or is that a mixing of two metaphors?! Lol I’m so good at that kinda thing🤣

I have finished dyeing the august clubs finally, with a weeks delay to get them shipped out. I am so, so sorry about that! My sincere apologies to all club members. After getting the August clubs shipped out next Monday, I will immediately start dyeing the September clubs, so keep your eyes open for a teaser label for that one with some more information about the artist of September! I can tell you right here that it is a very mesmerising piece of art! But, you will know more very soon! Promise!

Another very exciting thing to mention that finally we have received a long awaited delivery of our sock yarn that is especially spun for us by a local mill. We ordered way back in January, but had to wait til now for the huge amount of yarn to be ready! It is so worth it though and I am so happy to announce, because of this shipment I decided to put a BIG SALE on for our hand dyed sock yarn of existing older colourways we have in stock now, to make room for new exiting colourways! PLUS: I can offer you a few kilo cones of sock yarn as well ! Fabulous if you want to dye your own or if you have a big project! The cone price and the skein sale prices are not to be missed, so don’t wait too long!

with the weather here being super wet and pretty chilly, I think it’s time to put your feet up over the weekend and have some knitting fun ! You can find me close to the wood fire for sure, spinning and knitting..well, not at the same time🤣 

I have lots of custom orders of handspun angora yarns to do, so the wheel will be purring and so will I.

have a wonderful weekend everybody and next week, you can look forward to a brand new offering of something very special! Shhhh…not saying anything…..yet!

To go the the Yarn Sale Extravaganza, please click here: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/whats-new

big hugs

Charly

The universe and everything

 

Well…I suppose I should have known: buying a 12pack huge box of tissues was just an invite to get the flu 🤣 I wonder what happens if I stock up on toilet paper?…no, please don’t tell me…I don’t wanna know🤣  instead, I have to put my feet up and get lots of rest and soup into me..lol

This week I did over-do it a tiny bit I think: prepped and dyed a huge custom order of a few kilos, spun and dyed lots of yarns, dyed more sock yarns for a restock of the shop, prepped and dyed more gothic and Romanov tops , also in new colourways, to restock the shop and , of course, started blending, prepping and dyeing the August club fibres and yarns! All in all, a “mere” 50 kilos of fluff and yarns not even mentioning the wallaby and possums batts I did “on the side”…

Apart from needing lots of sleep and a lot of tissues at the moment and soup, I still have my sense of humour, which is a good thing, but I do not have an excess of a lot else needed to function at my normal energiser bunny self…. 
This unfortunate turn of events means that the club parcel shipping will probably be delayed a few days..  I will keep you informed on my socials of course! 

I uploaded a little video to give you some more information on the artist of this month, here’s the link if you’d like to see more : 

 

 

Just in case you missed the teaser label for August clubs, here it is

Next week, I will hopefully have a little bit more to say and still have some tissues left 😜 I am going to put my feet up now and recover as fast as humanly possible..lol

have a wonderful weekend and lots of fun ! 

big hugs

Charly

Smile ! Babydolls are here !

 

How this week has flown at warp speed ! So many fibres blended and dyed, fibres prepped for the august clubs and new adventures on the horizon. No wonder I don’t get out ..at all ! Lol

At least there were no dramas, no hiccups, well, apart from the fact that my wattle allergy (yes, this is apparently a thing …who knew?!) is raging since the bright yellow flowers on the wattle tree are in full FULL bloom at the moment. Safe to say, even Covid will have no chance of entering my immune system since everything is absolutely, totally blocked off to all other foreign inflaming entities….lol how ironic, I should emigrate to a country which has the wattle as their national floral emblem 🤣 

There’s no better way to take your mind of things  than…a new super cute sheep adventure : the Babydoll Southdown! 

The Southdown is undoubtedly the oldest of the English down breeds and was the first recognised breed of British Sheep to be introduced into Australia.

Records show that Reverend Samuel Marsden imported Southdowns from England soon after his arrival to Australia in 1793. After 1950 the popularity of the Southdown started to decline and breeders took to developing a heavier and longer Southdown, larger in size, with longer necks, cleaner faces and less wool around the eyes and ears - a breed to suit the Australian market.

During the change from the small compact Southdown to the large modern Southdown, a few studs continued to breed with the small bloodlines and the type of Southdown we now call Babydoll survived. Finding favour among hobby farmers, vineyards and orchards with their docile temperaments and ease of handling, Babydolls were fast finding a place among sheep owners Australia wide. 

Maturing between 45-62 cm in size these friendly sheep with their woolly face and legs, teddy bear smiles and adorable lambs are in great demand with eager buyers sometimes finding themselves on long waiting lists. It is estimated there are less than 350 purebred ASSBA registered Babydoll type ewes in Australia with most breeders eager to add to that number. Although they are now called Babydolls due to their similar size and look of the American Babydoll, there have been no imports from America. Often also referred to as Olde English Babydoll Sheep our Australian Babydolls do not contain any bloodlines of this American breed either. 

Babydoll Southdown sheep are known for their docile dispositions. For this reason, they are often kept as pets, but they are also used in a variety of ways such as grass mowers and weed eaters in vineyards and orchards. They are small in stature and are easy to handle. Their small size and efficient metabolism requires less acreage per animal compared to other breeds of sheep: they are referred to as being “easy keepers.” 

The baby dolls Fleece is fine, tight and dense with medium to medium-fine crimp that is soft and springy.  Most old-type Southdowns – by this we mean the off-white Babydoll Southdowns – are evaluated as having wool that is 1/2 to 3/8 blood.  1/2 blood translates to a 60 to 62-skein spin count and a fibre of 21 to 25 microns in diameter, with medium-fine crimp and a 2.5 to 3″ staple length.  3/8 blood translates to a 58-skein spin count and a fibre of 24.5 to 26.5 micron in diameter, with medium crimp and 2.5 to 3.5″ staple length.  Many of the black Babydoll Southdowns are 1/4 blood, which means that they have coarser fleece than the off-white Southdowns. They usually have a 27 to 31 micron count, medium-coarse crimp and 2.5 to 4″ staple length.  Typically the off-white wool is more valuable because it can be dyed any colour. The babydoll white tops I used as a base here are 21micron ! And combined with cashmere, silk and Tencel the softness and close tops skin wear is amazing!

The typical Babydoll Southdown is an off-white color with muzzle and legs that is a shade from very light tan to brown to cinnamon to mousy gray. White and off-white are terms that are often used interchangeably – some people refer to these sheep as “white” while others refer to them as “off-white.” The colour of the muzzle and legs of an off-white sheep should be some shade from very light tan to brown to cinnamon to mousy gray. Mottled shades of these colours are accepted, but even Colours are preferred. The short coloured fleece and hair on the muzzle should ideally cover the entire muzzle and extend from the corners of the mouth to a rounded point between the eyes on the adult sheep. They seem to be wearing a permanent smile on their cute faces 😃

The Australian babydoll societies views on crossing a Southdown with a Babydoll are no longer in the best interest of the breeds. The Babydoll Southdown is an example of a breed that has now split into two separately called names, while still being essentially the taller and smaller versions of the original Southdown breed. The larger version of the breed is referred to as simply "Southdown," while the smaller version is known as the "Babydoll or Babydoll Southdown" to differentiate between the two sizes. Although once they were technically Southdown sheep, they have become recognized as separate breeds due to the significant size difference and now distinctly different characteristics.

Babydoll sheep are popular as "organic weeders." They are often used in vineyards as well as orchards because they don't hurt the tree trunks or shrubs and they fertilize the soil while they graze. In vineyards and orchards, they're usually too short to reach the grapes or fruit on the tree, so they keep their eating to unwanted weeds and overgrowth. Some vineyards also find that "the little sheep in the fields created a tremendous draw for workers and visitors and resulted in goodwill for the winery," according to the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.

Babydoll ewes are good mothers, according to breeders, and often have twins and occasionally even triplets. They like to stay together and don't typically wander off and get lost. They thrive on companionship and like to stick together. You should never have just a single babydoll sheep.

Spinning this Babydoll blend is amazing and easy : it has been blended very well, so even if you consider yourself a beginner spinner, you will love to get your hands on this.

Southdown babydoll is a down like, springy “perfect for socks” fibre ! It is versatile, resilient, medium handling wool, that have dense blocky fleeces , almost rectangular staples that tend to hold together well. It is light, soft, and grippy; perfect for a modified half-backward/half-longdraw double drafting sort of technique that lets you spin super fast, and then squish out the air before wind-on (because socks have to wear well). Fast as well as woolen. Firm as well as worsted. The best of both worlds. Southdown is not over eager to felt so whatever you make may be machine washed (try a swatch first though!). I have combined it with another breed not so eager to felt either : Blue Faced Leicester! 

There are new colourways as well! I am especially proud of the “flying monkeys” with a combination of pastel pretty pink, coral, deep gold, fresh mint and a dash of happy bright wizard of Oz green; and “Ankh Morpork” inspired by the amazing Sir Terry Pratchett’s mythical city of his Discworld novels.

I am also extremely happy that for the first time in a long time I have been able to create an absinthe green that is epic and just what I wanted  in “frozen lake”. Every fibre base is different and takes all the dyes differently. That is exactly why I am so excited about Babydoll blend tops …they exceed my expectations of dye uptake and being absolutely fabulous.

As usual, only a limited quantity available ! It took me a year to get enough fibre to blend this batch 🤣 

You can go here on the IxCHeL website to start shopping for your own babydoll : https://ixchel.com.au/products/babydoll-southdown

Wishing you all a fabulously fun weekend with loads of happy spinning and crafting !

big hugs

Charly