A fluffy universe

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell)  once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: "What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise." The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?" "You're very clever, young man, very clever," said the old lady. "But it's turtles all the way down!"

What if it is fluff all the way up and down? Well, it is has been for me for  as long as I can remember really and this week in particular.

Not only was there a lot of prepping and dyeing for this weeks update (more on that later) but there were also about a hundred kilo of various fibres to process, prepare and blend. I am VERY excited about this because there is new Romanov, a very fantastic new Viva Frida with agave cactus, Guanaco and a very, very exciting two new blends I have been working on behind the scenes…safe to say, I am absolutely knackered…lol I could do with a nice relaxing holiday and some sunshine.

im at this point that know can’t sleep at all because for some reason or another my pelvis decided that it doesn’t want to belong inside my body anymore..I guess I need to stay put, relax and get some rest and relaxation at hey say. Too bad my brain doesn’t agree, so I am going to try and strengthen my core and muscles and walk more…less time to work in the dye room and blending , but..more time to forage 😜

(sir Bear II, relaxing on the verandah)

Fir this weeks update I have prepared something extra, EXTRA special: Bunny Bison Bliss tops! Newly, freshly blended and upgraded. There is a lot of science and mathematical precision in how to match what I have in my mind what would I to create as an easy to spin top. This means that you. It only have to prepare the fibres very, very well and calculate how much you can blend all the fibres together. You have to remember that the more you blend, the more there is a chance to create nepps. Whatever you do, you do NOT want nepps. Nepps are like torn off little ends of fibre. The finer the fibre the more teh chance you can damage it by over processing, so it is a very, very fine line.

I am extremely proud to offer you this new version if the IxCHeL Bunny Bison Bliss tops and new colourways as well.

You can find them all in the what’s new section on the IxCHeL shop here : https://ixchel.com.au/collections/whats-new

and that is not all! I also have awesome mulberry silk tops: silk is not for the faint hearted they say: not only to spin because the staple length is so long but also to dye the silk fibres. It is sooooo worth it though! Mulberry silk is sooooo shiny and works exceptionally well to use spin super fine or to use to ply your woollen yarns with or to weave with, or, why not use it to knit or crochet something exquisite!

Also, time to reveal the July club!! Here they are !

and then there is the reveal of the August club and here it is : Laura Knight with her “fine feathers” painting from 1939. I have found a fab video about her so keep an eye out on my socials because I will post it on there as well. Laura Knight is totally inspiring: in 1936 she became only the second women to be awarded full membership of the Royal Academy, she was a known war artist on the front lines in ww2 and painted the Nuremberg trials after ww2; interested in the Romani people and people on the fringe of society. I mean, she “ran away” with the circus when she was in her fifties to capture their world in her paintings. 

Sign ups are open for the next quarter btw, so if you do not want to miss out on going on a fab art journey adventure: go and sign up for. The fibre, yarn or yarn club.

Please let me know if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable.

Have a fabulous weekend and have a great time creating lots of fun !

big hugs

Charly

Make your own Magic

 

Another roller coaster ride of a week here! It all started with an onslaught of messages why I wasn’t at the Bendigo show at first, which lead me down the path of scrolling down social media to show support for my friends at the show, which led me to discover something that made me scream: someone on the other side of the world had used screenshots of my products from my shop to sell her own (?) totally different blend products in totally different colours !?!…. I was and still am flabbergasted by it and her subsequent responses after I confronted her. I will not get into it here but the whole episode is on view on my Facebook and Instagram social media: get the popcorn out folks🤣 Anyway, to make a long story short, i would probably not have discovered this whole schlemozzle plus the fact that there are people out there, who spend time not only using other peoples product photos to sell their own which look and are totally different, but also that they tap into friends and customer lists to stack their own. It appears that even in our little craft world we all need to be careful what we buy and from who. Do a “reverse photo search” to check if the photo of the product they’re trying to sell, appears on another website or page first. I have received the advice to watermark my photos or add some I’d tag to them. Oh joy…. Anyway, the initial shock has worn off, I’m still annoyed but at the same time I am super amazed at the gaslighting, the lies and weirdness in replies I received back from the culprit. Sigh…a total comedy…. 

I did not get much sleep..nothing new there actually..lolol..there were the July clubs to finish and send off! Good news all the parcels have been shipped this week so if you are a member of the IxCHeL art journey clubs: keep an eye out for a yummy parcel to arrive !

I will share the photos of all the July clubs later this month and yes, I am already prepping the August clubs atm, so a teaser label will appear on my social media very soon with all the Information on which artist and art work inspiration it is for August.

I have also been dyeing custom orders and the shop update this week AND … been doing heaps of spinning and plying of custom orders as well. This time it was Gothic tops in rainbow. I am super biased of course… but wow this blend is amazing to spin and the yarn looks absolutely stunning  …even if I say so myself 😉

 

Next up to spin is Gothic Tops “Pumpkin King” also to spin in a fine fingering weight. I’ll share photos on my socials as soon as that one is finished as well.

I hope everybody is having a fabulous time in the Tour de Fleece Team IxCHeL ! I have seen some amaaaaaaazing spinning going on and, can I just say, some of you are spinning so much yarn I think you are going to beat the winner of the Tour de France ! What an enormous effort all of you and I cannot thank you enough for sharing all the fantastic photos on social media and with me! The Tour de France/Tour de Fleece finishes on Monday and I will announce the winner of Team IxCHeL on Tuesday ! The winner will receive a fabulous parcel but….not giving too much away yet: all will be revealed Tuesday July 25th on the Ixchelbunny Facebook and Instagram page! 
Don’t forget : All Team IxCHeL members also still have this weekend to use their tour de fleece discount! 

 

 What’s new for this week’s shop update ? Hmmmmmmm: something extremely fluffy, super soft, silky and yummmmm! Something that spins like butter ! Yes, butter! Although in all honesty I have never spun butter…well, not into yarn ..lolol

i have done some new colourways but also another “Inkheart” and here it is on the famous back ground so you can “compare” the colourway on all the different bases…so much fun to see how all the different fibres take the dye differently!

You can find the new Camelbunny Silk Cashmere tops on the shop, right here: https://ixchel.com.au/products/camel-bunny-silk-cashmere

 Have lots of fun this weekend! 
Spin lots of yarn, knit, crochet or weave: do what makes your heart sing and makes you happy. 
Be kind, but don’t take any crap from anybody!

Be your own person and be proud of what you create: you are all awesome!

Thank you so, so much for all the support and love ♥️

big hugs

Charly

 

How to stay fluffy…facing fear

  

No, this is not a self help blog…lol. It is however the telling tale of a weird fluffy human who always wants to please, say of course I can” to everybody, and , being their worst boss everrrr, saying “do more! Do more! Do more! Do everything!”. The only thing they say no to is…yes, you guessed it “ why don’t you take some time off?” And the ultimate sin “wanna holiday?”….

yes, that is me! The ultimate slave to my passion and wanting to excel at just about everything. If they haven’t found a “warp drive” yet, it’s because I have been hogging it for ages…lol

I’m also very good at hiding pain, fear, anxiety; mostly from myself. Where am I going with this? Well, for the last week or so, my messages and emails have been exploding with “see you at the Bendigo show!”, “looking forward to seeing you at the show!”, etc etc etc.. and, everytime I have to disappoint them because , after the pandemic hiatus when everything was on hold, I could have definitely gone….but…I said “No”… That in itself was a HUGE decision and I subliminally sent out messages on the  socials posting in “we’re not going to Spendigo” groups, saying this to people at my  latest show in May at the handknitters guild show….which was also super hard! But, obviously was not direct or forceful enough to myself or others🤣

I thought I had it ALL under control…until this week..because of course I did not have any control whatsoever…lol 

Yes, that was me…2012..if you thought I didn’t dress to the occasion even if there’s no occasion you would be mistaken…lol proof is in the fluff 🤣

I was running around like an energiser bunny, setting up my stall at the Bendigo show…organising things, making sure people don’t park in t wrong spot in front of the door of the shed, running to woolcraft with my donations, running everywhere (except the toilet, I have a market bladder they say😜), not eating (I survived on hot chocolate or coffee…in my mind there’s nothing worse than biting into something and a customer comes up and you spit out your sandwich on their jumper) and believe me , when you take a bite, they know and they come! Lol. Ofcourse you don’t have to be like this! I’ve seen fellow stall holders eating lunch, chatting, being away from their stall, delegating, having a great time shopping and seeing what’s going on at the show…Me? Eh…of course not! I’m so determined, focussed, and feel the need to always be there! I can’t help it. That’s me…I will give my right arm, eye, all my attention and time and more…that’s me: I can be hilariously serious, determined and so focussed, people could come at me yelling “there’s a huge stampede of bison heading this way and you’re right in the path! Get out!” And I would stay iin my stall, fluffing up all the hand dyed  tops and yarns and protecting my fluffy hand dyed babies (no, I did not bring bunnies to the show…they would literally die of being cuddled too much..).

and it’s not only AT the show I’m like this…no, I am like this ALL THE TIME! Desperately trying to be so organised and concentrated while my brain yells at me “chaos!” ..lol

For months I would have had a work schedule resembling of what a small group of people would have to accomplish…I set myself tasks that are almost unattainable. I am sure that if I were an athlete putting this kind of time and effort in: I’d be running faster than Usain Bolt or die trying….and people, that is basically what I have been doing since I started this fluffy adventure in 2004…that’s almost twenty years! Still cannot believe that!

anyway I digress and before I mutter along again here’s what I mean with working all the time and a lot….this was my stall at the show…I brought so much stock, I could have filled the whole shed…lol 

 

And there was more….much, much more……..

so, yeah, I’m being inundated by messages “looking forward to seeing you at bendigo show!” After being at the show since 2005 I suppose everybody thought I was a fluffy fixed feature🤣 but, I am not going to be there. I apologise to all of you who expected me & my wall of fluffy colour there after the pandemic hiatus. So, why am I not there? Did I win the lottery? Am I on a world cruise? Am I retired? 😱Well people, I can honestly say “NO” to all the above🤣 I am still working hard dyeing, spinning, painting, trying to earn a living without keeling over, because, let’s face it, I am famous for going totally over the top with everything: I’m not neurotypical… After my surprise cardiac arrest in 2019, I have had to admit I can’t “work like an energiser bunny” anymore, even with my bionic implants.

Just to explain how exceptionally hard headed I am: after the cardiac arrest in june 2019, I kept on dyeing the mountains of fibres & yarns for the show that July. Ar that show I could hardly walk, breathe or do anything; I was yelled at by some to SIT DOWN! continuously and was laughed at by others…I sincerely believe I have some ptsd from that whole experience. Did I stop? No!🤣 of course not, because what I do is my only source of income. I don’t do what I do as a side hustle: This is my life….and my work and I love what I do.

am I going to miss being at Bendigo? miss seeing friends? miss a lot of income? Yes,yes and yes, but I can’t physically (& mentally)handle everything that comes with it: the mountains of dyeing, packing, the setting up, the standing and running around for three days, the packing up, the organising…everything.

Truth is, at this moment, I am working as hard as i can, but I cannot stand up straight anymore ( hunchback of Notre Dame comes to mind …the bells! The bells! 🤣) , my back is killing me and my heart doesn’t let me be that energised anymore. It’s like someone pulled a lever and said : this is your limit, you cannot exceed it…sorry! And you know what? It pisses me off! And it scares me..I still do not like saying “no I can’t “…. I am trying though. I am trying to be nice to myself and desperately trying to not feeling guilty. I’m still working on it…

This  was extremely hard to write..Maybe I’ll make it to the show next year..in a more subdued form ( yeah yeah…you can stop laughing now…lol), who knows..in the meantime, I’m still here online with fluffy goodies available in my IxCHeL shop! 

I’ve been concentrating on custom orders this week and lots of dyeing of the July clubs, which will be shipped next week! I haven’t had any time to dye or make new blends up though (hides in a corner …trying not to feel guilty and inadequate…rofl). There are loads of new things hopping your way though!! I just need a bit more time !

the sign ups for the fourth quarter of the Art journey clubs are open now! The last one of 2023 !! And you can find them here: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/clubs

 Can you believe it how fast this year has gone?  **runs off in panic** (well, that’s a lie actually, I do not run…no, not even if a bear would chase me, but I’ve not had the pleasure to test that yet….and not planning to either 🤣)

Have a wonderful weekend! And please, whatever you do, have lots of fluffy fun!! Do everything you want, buy all the fluff on your wish list at the show (or here in my shop…😜) : the one with the most stash wins!

big hugs

 Charly

Precioousssss!

 

 

Just imagine having all these super fluffy soft rare breeds in your own back yard, ready for their coats to be combed, given cuddles and then your precious yarn spinning can begin ! A dream? well, I guess, but this is what I dream about so there I go, sourcing all those fibres sustainably and combine them all together.

Blending these fine fibres together is a very delicate business! Not only because it is very expensive to get wrong, but also because all these precious luxury fibres are fine and if you were to handle them wrong by carding them too much or abbrasively, you will get nepps. Nepps are littel annoying bits of broken off ends or the fibres. When you abuse the fine fibres by carding them too mauch, scouring them harshly, or blending them too much, nepps are what you will see appearing in the end product and believe me, nepps are okay if you you are spinning an art yarn or a tweedy looking yarn, but if you are aiming for a consistent fine or lace yarn, you do not want to spend a LOT of time picking out little bits out of you yarn WHILE you are spinning. Its annoying and time consuming and it does not make the spinning a relaxing and fun experience. Since it is relaxing fluffy fun I am after - and I hope you are too - I aim to care and blend these fibres very, very carefully. As you can imagine, this whole process takes a lot of time, but there is no point of rushing anything. Rushing things will give you the nepps...lol

The dyeing of these fibres are handled the same way: very Carefully, without harsh temperature changes, rubbing or being too impatient. Si again, I have to take my time, adding the dye pigments carefully, steaming for at least 45 minutes at a medium temperature and then letting it all cool down naturally, then rinsing the next day. 

You can see all the colours available in the shop here: https://ixchel.com.au/products/precious

Here is one of the new colourways on the Precious blend tops, but there are others as well like a recent Inkheart one and Scottish Heather, just to mention a few.

A word of warning: There is only a very low quantity of this blend available and when it is gone...it is....gone....

What else have I been doing this week? well, spinning! lots and lots of spinning ! The fact that the Tour de France/Tour de Fleece is happening at the moment makes for a LOT more spinning time, mainly because I stay up til about 3am...lol Lucky for me I can follow the Tour on my tablet, otherwise Paul and I would be competing because he wants to watch the Cricket...England - Australia, Third Test. Dont ask me anything about cricket..I tried, it kinda reminds me of baseball (which I love and grew up with) but it is wayyyyyyyy slower and if there would be a Tour de Cricket spinning version, I'd fall asleep...lol

So far, today will be stage 7, I have spun and plied 5x 50gram skeins of pure angora bunny fingering weight and spun and plied 100grams of Gothic Tops "Dark Secret" fine fingering weight. Another 100grams of Dark Secret Gothic tops in the same weight to go and then its off to more gothic tops spinning for custom orders but his time in "Rainbow" and "Pumpkin King".

Custom spinning, especially if its lace or fingering weight-a fine yarn-takes a long time. Spinning while the Tour is on makes it easier for me to realise that while the cyclists are riding about 170-200km, being on a bike for 4 hours, I can only spin 50grams of fine lace weight singles...not even a kilometer of yarn !!! and I am not a slow spinner ...lol  oh well, keep treadling I say ! a in a i estimate I have spun/pied  almost 9.5 kms of yarn during the first 6 days of the tour.

It is absolutely fantastic to see all the team members of Team IxCHeL sharing their photos of their spins on social media! it's like spinning yarn in a peloton of yarns spinners ! If you want to have a look : go to instagram (or facebook) and look up #TDFTeamIxchel

What else is new? Oh yes! the July Art Journey club is on its way being prepped and getting their colourful painting done this weekend. Shipping date either Friday 14th or Monday 17th of July , depending on the drying weather.

Here is a photo of the teaser label:

This month the colourway is inspired by an all time favourite artist of mine: Edward Hopper and his "Night Hawks" painting from 1942.

Sign ups for the new clubs for the last quarter of this year (where have the months gone?!?!?!) will be starting next week and I will put them on the ixchel shop. Please let me know if you have any questions okay? Always happy to help and enable.

Have a wonderful week filled with crafty fun !

Big hugs

Charly

You can find me on Instagram and Threads @ixchelbunny, on Facebook and you can of course shop on https://ixchel.com.au/  We are always open !

Bouncy Colour Magic

 

it is always exciting to introduce something new, something that I’ve never offered before. Today is exciting!  I usually am drawn to, what some may call “weird” combinations of fibres together, like agave with sheep and angora, or even stainless steel and animal fibres, but this time, I was drawn to one breed with a multitude of colour variations. 
Combining various colour variations within one top can be challenging, but not if you prepare all the coloured fleeces seperately and then “gill” them together. The process of gilling the fibres happens after all the fibres have been carded and processed into rovings and then those are combined into a top by gently combining them together.

Most of the IxCHeL blends are gilled up 6 or more times, resulting in all the different fibres blending into one another; the more you bill, the more everything is mixed. Not this time! This time three different colours (black/brown, fawn and white) we’re only gilled once! That means you can easily distinguish the three colours in the top. That means that when you dye the top, various tonal values are introduced you wouldn’t have if the top was pure white. I absolutely looove that play on colour and it will make your yarn look absolutely fantastic!

Now, what  are Corriedale sheep?

 

The Corriedale’s story starts in 1865, when James Little of Scotland sailed with his family halfway across the world to start his new life as manager and shepherd of Dr. George Webster’s flocks in New Zealand. Romney sheep purchased by Dr. Webster accompanied the passengers of that ship. According to some accounts, the ship took on too much water during a storm in the Bay of Biscay and the crew had to seriously consider getting rid of the sheep to lighten the ship. Fortunately for the sheep that did not happen, and James Little managed to safely arrive at the Corriedale and Balruddery sheep stations in north Otago, New Zealand with both his family and Dr. Webster’s Romney sheep in good health. 

   

Little arrived in New Zealand as an experienced shepherd. For much of his life he had been tending sheep in the hills and dales in and around Peeblesshire, Scotland. He would have been familiar with the practice of crossbreeding sheep to develop new breeds; by the early 1800s sheep breeding for various traits had become almost ubiquitous among gentlemen farmers. Although less-wealthy shepherds in the British Isles may not have necessarily had the means to indulge in breeding experimentation, many would certainly have been aware of the popular science and logic behind it. However, with shepherds as a group during this period being a relatively conservative lot, not all were onboard with the idea of actively breeding for specific traits. Many just wanted to raise sheep the way they always had – with the established breeds that were typical for their regions, with no wish to change what was already working just fine.

   

Little had never encountered Romney sheep before working for Dr. Webster, but he considered himself to be a good judge of sheep, having been around them for much of his life. It did not take him long to determine that the Romneys were not doing as well as could be hoped. The Corriedale and Balruddery sheep stations were located in a part of New Zealand that was much more arid than that of the Romney’s native England, and land was full of patchy, native grasses – much different than the English grasses that the Romneys were used to. James Little, aware of how new breeds of sheep were being developed in the British Isles, had the idea to cross Merino sheep with Dr. Websters Romneys in order to create a hardier breed adapted for the region. Other shepherds in the area ridiculed the idea that new breed of sheep suitable for the area could be bred from Merinos and Romneys, and they predicted that the half-breeds would not be able to reliably maintain their characteristics from one generation to the next. Dr. Webster took a risk to his reputation and livestock by allowing Little to experiment, but by doing so proved the naysayers wrong – the resulting sheep ended up winning prizes and commanded a good price at market. Little carried this sense of accomplishment and the idea of creating new breed with him as he started his own sheep farm in the late 1870s.

   

It was after Little began to farm his own sheep that Corriedale sheep truly came to fruition. When Dr. Webster died, many of his sheep were sold to various farmers. However, Little was able to purchase Dr. Webster’s Lincoln flock. He took this Lincoln flock along with some Merinos that he purchased and continued his breeding experiments. Little was convinced that New Zealand needed its own breed of sheep that combined Merinos with a longwool breed, and he was likewise convinced that he was the man for the job.

   

Little was an interesting mix of breeding knowledge and superstition. While he had confidence in the science behind crossing breeds of sheep, he also had some curious ideas about how black livestock came to be. He firmly believed that black livestock, and black sheep in particular, were a result of pregnant ewes being exposed to the color black. As proof, he writes in his memoirs about how his and his father’s black dogs’ presence around ewes caused them to throw black lambs. Then he goes on to describe describes how a cattle operation known for its black cattle also required their employees to wear black. The link, to James Little, was clear. Too much exposure to black was the cause of black livestock.

   

His odd beliefs about the origins of black sheep didn’t stop him from eventually achieving success. Choosing to name his new breed of sheep after the Corriedale sheep station where he got his professional start, he committed to breeding his idea of the perfect sheep for New Zealand. Progress was slow at first, and Little still had to put up with a fair amount ridicule about his idea. A. W. Rutherford, well-known as a successful sheep farmer, wrote about the benefits of various breeds of sheep in New Zealand in an 1898 article for the Weekly Press. However, he chose to skip over the nascent Corriedale entirely with the eye-rolling comment, “Out of respect for the feelings of my old friend Mr. Little, I decline to take his beloved Corriedale seriously and so will pass them without comment.” However, within nine years public opinion would change. Little and his Corriedales, as well as other farmers who began raising Corriedales, were winning sheep competitions and producing both good wool and sizeable carcasses for meat. By 1907 A. W. Rutherford had changed his tune, stating that in new article that there was an increasing tendency for farmers to replace their Merinos with Corriedale.

   

The New Zealand Sheep Breeders’ Association took note the Corriedale’s popularity as well. By 1900 they added Corriedales, then known as inbred halfbred sheep, to an appendix in their Flock Book and began to debate what to call them. It turns out that although Little was possibly the best-known breeder and most outspoken as well, others had been experimenting with the same Merino/Lincoln mix. In the slim volume that makes up Little’s memoirs, appropriately titled The Story of the Corriedale, it is clear that it was quite a dramatic moment for him. Little was convinced that the idea of the breed had begun with him, and as such the sheep should be named Corriedale to reflect that. However, another representative from Otago suggested the sheep should instead be named Southern Cross. Little seems to have taken this personally, and notes with great satisfaction in his memoir that in fact the Association decided to name the breed Corriedale. In 1910, Corriedale breeders started their own association, and by 1916 the New Zealand Sheep Breeders’ Association allowed the Corriedale to move from the Flock Book’s appendix to the main book. By 1924, the Corriedale Sheep Society in New Zealand released their first flock book.

   

Newspapers and other publications soon began proudly referring to the Corriedale as “New Zealand’s Own Sheep,” and gave James Little much of the credit for development of the breed. Interestingly, it is also possible to find articles claiming that Australians developed the same breed concurrently. This would probably not be too odd of an occurrence – Merinos and Lincolns were easy to find in Australia during the same period, and it would not have been unusual to find farmers in Australia willing to experiment as well. The Corriedale breed  was established by Corbett in Victoria in 1882, and MacKinnon in Tasmania in 1888 and was officially recognised in 1922. 

   

Corriedales soon took off in popularity, not just in New Zealand, but around the world. James Little and others had successfully bred a sheep that was an ideal dual-breed, producing both quantities of wool and having a large carcass that produced good amounts of meat. The timing of the Corriedale’s development was especially fortuitous with WWI and WWII on the horizon. While many traditional breeds of sheep that could not produce larger quantities of wool and meat fell by the wayside during these decades, the Corriedale and its high productivity found nearly unmitigated success. The breed spread around the world, and today is just behind Merino as one of the most popular breeds in the world among sheep farmers.

   

Corriedale wool is very popular in the spinning, felting and knitting world too: It is a medium fiber with a width of around 25-30 microns, with a relatively good staple length of 7cm - 12cm.

It has a very well-defined crimp, and while difficult to spin very fine, it makes a wonderfully bouncy sock weight yarn, DK or heavier weight yarn. While felters love it for its ability to easily felt, knitters, weavers and crocheters will love it for its grippy-ness; fair-isle colourwork and weaving done with Corriedale won’t slip or become loose.

More colourways will be added soon but if you have any special requests: please contact me anytime!  Heres the link to this weeks new blend update: https://ixchel.com.au/products/corriedale

Before  I forget a very important event:  The Tour de France is starting tomorrow night at 8pm AEST, which means it is TOUR DE FLEECE TIME! 
There is still time to sign up for Team IxCHeL tonight  until July 1st when the Tour de France starts! 

There are no requirements other than having fun, sharing your spinning photos and spinning IxCHeL fibres…easy peasy! There is a prize to be won at the end though! A super prize pack of over $100 of IxCHeL fluffiness and maybe even a spindle ! 
All you need to so is sign up by emailing me at hop@ixchel.com.au , before July 1st and you will receive an email from me with all the details and your discount code! Yes, you will receive a discount code for all your fibre purchases during the tour de fleece! How good is that!!!!?

Have a fabulous weekend and happy, hoppy spinning !

As my favourite Doctor Who used to say “Allons-y!” (Let’s go!)

big hugs 

Charly

Something French to get you in the mood for Le Tour

 

It’s been an exciting week again..well, not like I climbed Mount Everest or went diving for the Titanic, but still…exciting enough for me…lol and, let’s face it, far less dangerous…I mean what is the worst that can happen spinning yarn or dyeing fibres? I’m sure there’s a song in there somewhere…..but …that’s for another time 😜

It is always a big adventure for me anyway, to dye a new batch of fabulous fleece and whip it into something fluffy. With the Tour de France fast,y approaching, I thought I’d get all of you in the mood for the Tour de France..eh I mean..Tour de Fleece…with some amazing supersoft and bouncy French Rambouillet, straight from Le Bergerie near Paris ♥️

Also, you can still sign up for Team IxCHeL until July 1st when the Tour de France starts! There are no requirements other than having fun, sharing your spinning photos and spinning IxCHeL fibres…easy peasy! There is a prize to be won at the end though! A super prize pack of over $100 of IxCHeL fluffiness and maybe even a spindle (like I did some years ago! See photo below). All you need to so is sign up by emailing me at hop@ixchel.com.au , before July 1st and you will receive an email from me with all the details and your discount code! Yes, you will receive a discount code for all your fibre purchases during the tour de fleece! How good is that!!!!?

What else has been going on? Well, heaps of dyeing during the day and spinning at night…lots of custom orders are on my spinning list, angora bunny, angora and silk, gothic tops and some very special guanaco too. Plus, there are always the in between annoying things like dealing with suppliers, quarantine and import authorities…aaaah bliss…NOT, lol The things I do to get my hands on some special fluff sometimes go wayyyy over my head, but then my heart kicks in and tells me “Special fluffiness: It’s your mission in life” 😜🤣 

All the June  clubs have been shipped mid June, so it’s almost time to share the photos with you this weekend on the @ixchelbunny Instagram and Facebook page: keep an eye out!

For tonight’s special blog update I planned a fibre I haven’t offered you for a long time and I have to say super amazing to work with: French Rambouillet !!!!! What a fantastic looking specimen the Rambouillet is. Also known as the French Merino. And, here is their story: 

 

During the 16th century, England’s frequent rival Spain began to develop a new breed of wool, one that would turn the global wool market upside down. Sheepologists differ in their theories of the Merino’s precise origin, though most believe that its ancestors came from North Africa. Whatever the source, Spanish shepherds recognized the potential of this emerging breed of sheep. They began to refine the breed, amplifying desirable traits like the wool’s fineness. In time, they had developed their own sheep breed: the Merino. As the quality of Spanish wool improved, so did its fame. Aided by Ferdinand and Isabella, who issued land reforms that favored shepherding over food crop production, Spanish Merino became the premier quality wool in the European market. 

 

Not surprisingly, Spain jealously guarded its monopoly on Merino wool. Exporting Merino sheep was a criminal offense, punishable by death. While Spain permitted a small quantity of Merino wool to be exported, it was only because Spanish factories couldn’t process it all. And oh boy, did France covet Spanish wool! In 1783, France’s king, Louis XVI, purchased a large property near Versailles from one of his many cousins. Louis XVI intended to use the Chateau de Rambouillet to expand his hunting grounds. (Fun fact: When his wife, Marie Antoinette, first saw the chateau, she reportedly burst out with “Comment pourrais-je vivre dans cette gothique crapaudière!”—which translates as “How could I live in such a gothic toadhouse!”) A few years later, Louis XVI built an experimental farm at Rambouillet, the Bergerie Nationale, to study animals, plants, and trees from other countries. 

A request was sent in the king’s name to another cousin, Charles III of Spain, offering to purchase some Spanish sheep. In 1786, Charles agreed to sell several hundred heads from his prize flock to France. A total of 366 sheep, accompanied by Spanish shepherds, survived the trip and were settled at Rambouillet. 

 

One source proudly notes: “Observe that this flock, obtained for the king of France, was not a gift. These sheep were selected by the best experts, and all the best qualities of the finest races were represented.” Score one for la France! After a rough first winter, the flock began to multiply. In the meantime, political heads began to roll—literally. A devoted scholar named Professor Gilbert protected the flock from the ravages of the Revolution. Gilbert later set out for Spain in search of more Spanish sheep, but his attempts were less successful this time. Political relations between France and Spain had deteriorated. 

Many Spaniards were hostile to the idea of selling more prize Spanish sheep to their political rival. Gilbert persisted but became ill in 1800 and died while visiting a Spanish shepherd. As the Spanish Merino industry began to deteriorate, the French went flocking wild. They kept their newly acquired sheep at the Rambouillet farm under tight control and got to work. They refused to allow other sheep breeds to mingle with their flock and closely regulated the breed’s availability to other farmers. Some say that a few particularly fine English long wool breeds were carefully crossed with the Rambouillet to improve the wool, although we don’t know for sure. By 1870, the Rambouillet breed was the star of the show at the Paris Exposition, leading one jury member to describe it as “the most perfect type of fine wool sheep in existence.” 
So exactly what makes the Rambouillet such a fine figure of a sheep? That depends. From a sheep farmer’s perspective, Rambouillet are larger and sturdier than their Merino cousins. Their wool is more plentiful, too, with a fine and soft hand. Rambouillet are a dual-purpose breed, providing high quality meat as well as beautiful wool. They also adapt well to harsher conditions and can thrive even with relatively sparse vegetation. From a knitter’s standpoint, though, the best thing about Rambouillet sheep is their wool. Rambouillet wool is next-to-the-skin soft—some knitters describe the hand as “cotton-y.” It takes dye beautifully and has excellent elasticity, giving it bounce and spring. Its loftiness gives it an airy feel and makes it cozy-warm. These tops are the direct descendants from this royal flock from France and are 19 micron. Rambouillet is very bouncy, fluffy and is next to skin soft with a very nice handle for hand spinning, happy to be spun woollen or worsted. 

 

Whether you just started spinning or have spun for years, Rambouillet is perfect. There’s something about this wool that inspires joy. Rambouillet sucks up the dye and yields rich opulent colours. Rambouillet just begs to be spun into a fabulous rich yarn. If you love felting: Rambouillet felts very easily.

The IxCHeL Art Journey club sign ups for the next round (third quarter: July, August, September) starting in July  are open for just ONE more week !! So, if you want to be part of some awesome fun and receiving a yarn, batt or fibre lovingly hand dyed and inspired by a unique artwork : Please sign up ! You will receive a fluffy parcel every month with an extra surprise too ! All the information on all the clubs you can find here : https://ixchel.com.au/collections/clubs

 

Better show you everything about tonight’s offering !

Have fun !!!

To order: click on the link  the IxCHeL shop to see all the new colourways on French Rambouillet tops : rambouillet

Rambouillet Tops 

Pure French Rambouillet

100+ gram tops

Natural

Pinktastic

Forest Goblin

Autumn Leaves

Wizards

Inkheart

Dark Secret

 

 RABBIT ON !

((hugs))

Charly 

Time to hop on your wheel !

 

First things first: all the June clubs have been shipped this week ! Yeah! I have added a sneak peek of the carding of the June batt fibres on my Instagram and Facebook accounts, so if you haven’t seen those yet, please have a look.

the sign ups for the next round, the third quarter, starting in July are still open til the end of June, so if you want to re-join or join as a new member, please go to the club sign up pages here: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/clubs

i will start sharing more photos of the June club featuring the fab artwork inspiration “white rabbit and family” from Mirka Mora soon, so keep an eye out on my socials.

After several monster sessions of carding, dyeing, packing the clubs and shipping them to all the members, I have been dyeing more gothic tops to restock recent colourways that sold out but also one new one that I absolutely LOVE: Inkheart.

Here is a photo: 

I just love the dramatic deep indigo blues and teal colours together! Mysterious and inviting at the same time♥️

In between all of this (and more…like prepping new blends, dyeing and custom spinning heaps of fluffy yarns) my brain was telling me to do something extra fun !

It’s an event I totally love and have been doing for over ten years (give or take a few years in between that I didn’t because well, I was so overloaded preparing to go to the Bendigo wool show, I just couldn’t handle that extra work. But, since I’m not going to be at the Bendigo show this year, it means extra time for some cycling…eh…I mean….spinning in the Tour de Fleece !)

Join the IxCHeL TdF team on FB/Instagram before July 1st and get a chance to win plus get awesome discounts !

 🐰🚴‍♀️🚴🚴‍♂️🐰

What is TdF or Tour de Fleece ? 

It started yeeeeears ago with a brilliant plan to combine the love for cycling and watching the fabulous Tour de France with spinning yarn! In a way, all yarn spinners are treadling peddles too, which is basically the same action as cycling. Only, we tend to be stationary, creating kilometres of yarn, NOT cycling  kilometres of road…..lolol. So, although we may not use quite as many calories climbing mountain peaks like the champions in the Tour de France, we are definitely treadling a LOT to create yarn ! 

Btw, you can wear anything you like while participating in the TdF, although you may receive extra points wearing bunny ears 🐰 or a tiara 👑

Goal of the TdF

The goal of the #TdFTeamIxCHeL  is to have lots of fun spinning yarn, while watching the Lycra clad cycling champions on their bikes in the majestic French countryside (even if it’s only five minutes or the replay at a more convenient time for those of you who are not night owls…)

How do I join the IxCHeL TdF team?

You can join the IxCHeL TdF team by 

1. Emailing me at hop@ixchel.com.au , or
2. DM me on Instagram @ixchelbunny , or
3. PM me on the IxCHeL Facebook business page here: https://www.facebook.com/IxchelYarnsAndFibres
4. Post a photo or photos daily (preferably) or as many times as you want (or can) and tag it with #TdFTeamIxCHeL 
5. Follow me on Instagram @ixchelbunny
6. Every post with tag #TdFTeamIxCHeL on Facebook or Instagram will get you an entry in the final draw of the Team IxCHeL TdF winner on July 24th. The more entries, the more chance you get to win a fabulous fibre prize pack😉

Is there a Deadline for joining the IxCHeL TdF team?

Yes, you have to join before July 1st 2023

What do members of the IxCHeL TdF team get?

Apart from having fibre fun of course 😜 : Everyone who signs up gets a discount code of 10% for their fibre and yarn purchases from June 16th 2023 until July 23rd! (Excluding clubs, tools, Ashford products and dyes). Everybody who joins will receive their discount code by email.

But wait! That’s not all !! At the end of the event, on July 24th an IxCHeL TdF member will be randomly chosen to win a special prize pack worth over $100! The team IxCHeL winner will be announced on the IxCHeL facebook and Instagram page plus will receive a personal email.

What do you have to do to join the fun?

Join the IxCHeL team TdF and post as many photos explaining what you are spinning on Facebook and/or Instagram. You have to spin IxCHeL label fibres and blends.

Are you excited? Well, I am! Ready, Set…..JOIN NOW !

Next week it’s time for something NEW: straight out of the dye pots! A fabulous hand dyed fibre that is amazing to spin ! More about that on the next blog , next Friday !

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Big hugs

Charly