Wovember

This month is Wovember. The purpose of Wovember is described on the website as 'The idea is to show our collective appreciation of WOOL by wearing as much of this fabulous fibre as possible, and celebrating WOOL and its unique qualities in stories and pictures throughout the month of November.' Wovember was started in 2011 by Kate Davies and Felicity Ford.

Wovember is also a campaign to reclaim the term wool in textile labeling so that the word 'wool' can only be used in reference to the fibre grown by sheep. There is a petition on the website you can sign to support the campaign.

The focus of Wovember this year is Closing the Gap. The Wovember website this month will be focusing on the whole story of wool from its growth on the backs of sheep, how it is harvested and processed through to the finished objects created by craftspeople.

You can join in Wovember by visiting the website throughout November, the website is being updated daily with beautiful photos and wool related posts. There is also a photographic competition. You can send in your wool related photos throughout the month. For details on how to enter the competition please see the Wovember site.

I have put up a prize for the photographic competition - a £20 voucher to spend on anything in the Shearer Girl Yarns shop. So get busy with your camera!

Woolly Wednesday

Don't forget, this week is Woolly Wednesday once again. I shall be over at Spinspiration on Wednesday blogging about my latest spinning project. Do come and join the party. If you have been busy with fibre you can link up your blog and let us know about your projects.

Woolly Wednesdays

After a brief holiday, Spinspiration and Woolly Wednesdays are back. I will be joining Spinspiration as a co-blogger. 

Some of you may already know of Woolly Wednesdays over at Spinspiration. The first Wednesday of each month there is a link up for spinning and other fibre crafts. You can join in by linking your own blog post about your fibrous adventures. 

Woolly Wednesday was started by Dawn and Kelly in February 2011. The idea was, and still is, to provide a warm friendly supportive place where people can share their handspinning and wool craft experiences, whatever their level of ability or experience.  

Kelly has now emigrated so I will be helping Dawn. The first Wednesday of each month you will find me over at Spinspiration, starting this week. Do come and join in on Wednesday!

New Addition to the Website

I'm pleased to announce there is a new addition to the website. My lovely web developer, Simon at Aflier.com, has made a vague idea I had into reality. 

I am always interested in the life of my products after they have been sold and often customers get in touch to share pictures of what they have made. I wanted a place on the website where these imaginative and stunning projects could be displayed. 

May I introduce the new Customer Creations webpage. Do have a look and see what people have been making. I have more projects to add, we wanted to make sure the technology was working properly before adding too many. Please do make use of the new social media buttons to share anything that catches your eye with your friends.

If you have used a product purchased from Shearer Girl Yarns do get in touch and we can add your project to the page. It doesn't have to be a finished item, for example if you have bought Power Scour from us and you would like to share pictures of your lovely clean fleece that is fine too. Or if you are using our stitch markers, even with yarn from some where else, you can send us your pictures. You can contact me at lydia@shearergirlyarns.co.uk or through the Contact Us page of the website.

Caption Needed

I took this picture at the Weald and Downland Museum Rare Breed Show. Instead of traditional hay nets the sheep had these things that look like shopping bags. This picture demands a caption but can I think of one? Maybe you can help. Can you suggest a caption?

Shearing Gerbils at Townings Farm

Saturday I had a new experience: shearing gerbils. It was the Vintage Harvest Fair at Townings Farm, East Sussex. Townings is a family run farm specialising in traditional breeds. They raise Longhorn and Sussex cattle, Saddleback pigs and Hebridean sheep. 

At the Vintage Harvest Fair, the public can meet the animals, see vintage farm machinery in action, browse the craft stands and watch sheep shearing. That's where I came in. This was only my second public shearing demo, a scary proposition in itself. 

Being September, the adult sheep had all been shorn. However September is the traditional time for lamb shearing. So I in my enthusiasm had agreed to shear Hebridean lambs in public. Hebrideans are small primitive sheep. They have all their wild instincts intact and they have as many as four horns. 

I don't have much lamb shearing experience so I went along in the week to practice. I may as well have been shearing gerbils, or ferrets as one helpful onlooker suggested. Trying to hold the lambs was like trying to grip a bar of soap in the bath. You can grip an adult sheep with your knees and thighs. The lambs didn't reach my knees so I found myself bent into all sorts of contortions trying to hold the lambs with my lower legs while bending down enough to shear them.

This was shearing in miniature. When I was going round the fiddly bits between the hind legs I really wanted to switch to a nasal hair trimmer. The handpiece felt far too big for the lambs' dainty contours. Not only were they tiny, they also wriggled and squirmed and stabbed me in the legs with their horns. 

Weird things happened. On the long blows, when the sheep is lying on its side, you tuck your left foot under the shoulder. I did this and several times I ran into my toes with the handpiece. This never happens shearing adult sheep because unless you are a clown the sheep is a lot bigger than your feet. 

On the long blows

The lambs seemed to be able to get their toes on the floor or push against my legs however I tried to hold them. I think their legs are longer in proportion to their body than those of an adult sheep so when held in the same way as an adult the lamb can get its feet on the floor and escape.

This position isn't in the manual

Or maybe I'm just making excuses for poor technique? I do know I need to get more practice shearing gerbils, sorry - lambs.

Tunbridge Wells Festival

Last Sunday I was sitting in the middle of the street in central Tunbridge Wells spinning, much to the curiosity of the general public. No, I hadn't gone completely mad, I was taking part in Tunbridge Wells Festival. 

This festival is a new event started by Stephen Mason, a local businessman and Chief Executive of Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells. Profits go to a number of local charities, notably Hospice in the Weald. Some of the roads were closed to make way for the many attractions, there were craft stalls, a stage with live performances, street entertainers and fairground rides for the children. 

Having a niche business, I don't do many general events but I decided to support the Tunbridge Wells Festival. We were fortunate with the weather, the day before it poured and I was rather worried but on Sunday the sun shone and the crowds came out. 

I had a lovely day, sitting in the street spinning. A couple of small dogs took fright at the movement and a few children thought it would be fun to grab the turning wheel. Many people who stopped for a chat had never seen a spinning wheel in action. There were the usual reactions: 'how do you sew on that?' 'is that a spinning jenny?' 'look at that lady knitting!'

I was spinning a silk/baby camel blend and I heard many parents carefully explaining to their children that this was sheep's wool. Note to self, when spinning in public - stick to wool. 

I haven't spun much silk, the next day my hands felt puffy, does anyone else find spinning silk hard on the hands? What reactions do you get when you practice your craft in public?