This is Rebecca's Typepad Profile.
Join Typepad and start following Rebecca's activity
Rebecca
Recent Activity
In the conference links, I was interested to note that the organisers welcome handcrafters. I don't think is something that I would read at an Australian sheep conference. In your experience, is the significance placed on handcrafters involvement peculiar to Iceland and the cultural importance of wool there?
Commented Sep 28, 2014 on Iceland 5 - Ullarselið at The Independent Stitch
Iceland 5 - Ullarselið
After our visit to Ístex, we drove north to Hvanneyri and the Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI), which combines strong research with a mission of teaching. Thanks to Google for the map. Through this year's North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool Conference, I was delighted to be able to me...
I have seen raddle marks to show where the ram has been but never a dyed in the wool ram to show where he is! There would be no hiding with a fleece in that colour. Rebecca
Commented Aug 19, 2014 on Cunningsburgh (Shetland) show, part 2 - sheep at The Independent Stitch
Cunningsburgh (Shetland) show, part 2 - sheep
It was easy to spend most of my time around the sheep area at the Cunningsburgh show. There was a lot going on. Initially sheep were arriving and getting settled into their pens, although by the time I got there at 8:45 most were in place. This is a not-quite-complete view of the sheep section. ...
Thank you for including the names of the craftspeople with their work. So often, names become separated from textile works. These are great works. You mentioned that US shows can be much larger. Which ones would be the largest and would they also include sheep judging?
Commented Aug 19, 2014 on Cunningsburgh (Shetland) show, part 3 - other fibery things at The Independent Stitch
Cunningsburgh (Shetland) show, part 3 - other fibery things
I didn’t see everything at the Cunningsburgh show, even though I think I was there for nine hours. No, it’s nowhere near as big as the major festivals in the U.S., but there was an abundance of things of extreme interest and quality. I only saw the horses and ponies from a distance, and didn’t e...
Just fascinating thank you. Is it unusual for the different breeds to be separated. I don't think this happens in Australia - my understanding is that the wool is separated into ultra fine white, fine white, mixed coloured (sent to developing countries) and carpet. Rebecca
Commented Aug 9, 2014 on The British Wool Marketing Board, part 2 at The Independent Stitch
The British Wool Marketing Board, part 2
Continued from yesterday, a visit to the British Wool Marketing Board, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. . . . ___ Graders are looking at length, color, strength, and cleanliness of the fleece. For example, if there’s too much vegetable matter, the wool goes into a bin with the correct grad...
Your poaching of terroir for fleeceis both pertinent and profound. It highlights similarities between the way food products are thought about within the Slowfood movement and how fibre is thought of in the Fair Fibre movement. It captures both the effect of the environment and culture on the development of particular fleece characteristics and potentially the effects of sheepon the landscape. It places the fleece firmly on the back on an animal on the earth. I am thinking particularly here of Australian breeds, specialised merinos producing superfine fibres on our impoverished, fragile soils and Polworths, bred specially for the higher rainfall of the Otways. Terroir is a marvellously rich term that will bear more exploration. Needleandspindle.com
Commented Feb 6, 2014 on Wool and the idea of terroir at The Independent Stitch
Wool and the idea of terroir
This is another post about my trip to mainland Scotland, Orkney, and Shetland, although it's also another digression from the chronological/topical sequence. It's about fleeces. And because my blog posts are never long enough, I'll add that the Rare Breeds Survival Trust has just released its 20...
Rebecca is now following The Typepad Team
Feb 6, 2014
Subscribe to Rebecca’s Recent Activity
0 Favorites